Quote from Forum Archives on November 9, 2010, 1:28 pm

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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11.09.10

Coincidence or Providence?

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt
you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. - 1
Peter 5:6-7.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but
is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance. - 2 Peter 3:9.

Can you imagine this, you are laying in bed having a hard time going to
sleep, and decide that you will get up for awhile. Maybe, look at the
Internet, read a little, because you just cannot sleep. It's 2:00 am in the
morning, why can't you sleep? As soon as you walk away from your bed, you
hear a terrible noise as a car smashes through the wall of your bedroom, and
smashes the bed you have just left! Unbelievable! But it happened to
Demitrios Bisbelis in Melbourne, Australia. Demitrios says, "My bed's been
disintegrated. It's completely shattered. I'm sure I wouldn't have made it
had I been in bed at that time." Reportedly, the car hit a curb, launched
into the air, crash landing into Demitrios' bedroom, and bed. Police
authorities report the driver and a passenger escaped without injury.

Was this just a coincidence that Demitrios decided to leave his bed at just
the right time to escape severe injury and likely death? Coincidence is
defined by dictionary dot com as being: "a striking occurrence of two or
more events at one time apparently by mere chance." According to the
definition there was a coincidence, which has occurred. But was it more than
a coincidence? Was it not just a coincidence, but providence? Providence, as
in God spurring Demitrios to rise from his bed at just the right time to
spare his life?

>From reports about the incident we do not know whether or not Demitrios is a
believer in Jesus. We do not know his background, or what has been going on
in his life. Was God trying to get his attention? Why would God care about
Demitrios or anyone who is not a believer? Because as we are told in 2
Peter, God "is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance." Does God always intervene
providentially to spare the lives of those threatened with danger? No. So,
if I were Demitrios, or anyone who has escaped death or severe injury; I
would be examining my life, and seeking the Lord to hear from Him about the
event. The Bible says that God is "longsuffering" - not that He will endure
rebellion, and rejection, forever.

As believers in Jesus, we can see the events that occur in our lives wrapped
in the providence of God. We can say with the Psalmist:

The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
Forever. - The 23rd Psalm.

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