Coincidence
according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary
a noun, meaning
: a situation in which events happen at the same time in a way that is not planned or expected.
: the occurrence of two or more things at the same time
: the state of two or more things being the same
Coincidence
according to me, based on experiences in 2014
neither noun nor verb, because
it does not exist.
I'd even go as far as to apply that logic to other, related concepts: happenstance, serendipity, chance, fate, fluke, luck, right place/right time...whatever name you want to use to describe the randomness we encounter living life every day. In 2014, I learned none of these things actually exist.
It's a bold, strange statement, given the year I had. There were many high points and when the low points came, it didn't take long for them to be turned into something positive. It would be easy to mistake so many of the incredible things that happened this year for something other than what they were: intentional manifestations of a God revealing himself in every possible place.
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me.
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
Isaiah 46:9-11
As I was praying the other night, reflecting on the year, the thing I came back to over and over again was how much God has used the last 12 months to show me just how much brokenness exists in the world. Whether it was revealed through distant circumstances (like the shooting in Ottawa or AirAsia crash) or more direct means (like the hurting and broken people I know personally or through my line of work), 2014 really brought the suffering of others - the extreme and the every day - into focus and as a direct result, shifted and changed my perspective in a lot of important ways.
Because how could it not? How can a person confront the reality of brokenness and NOT be changed as a result? And how, given that reality, can coincidence or serendipity or randomness or whatever be an acceptable reason or justification for any of it?
To me, it's not. So the natural next question: what am I going to do about it?
This is the question that has the ability to keep me awake at night, the question I dwell on in my down time. The question I confront God with all the time in prayer. It's implications make it important - it is, in essence, what forms the backbone of the kind of life one wants to live.
It's heavy nature has also made it problematic for me because I spend so much time seeking answers to questions - is this where I'm supposed to be, what I'm supposed to be doing, where I'm supposed to be going, etc. - I lose sight of the point.
It's not about me. It never has been. It's all about God.
In mere hours, 2015 will be on us. This is the time where people look at where they've been and make resolutions and plans and goals to improve their future outcomes starting Jan. 1.
I gave up on resolutions a long time ago (when I realized nothing magical happens when the calendar changes) but I do have some areas I'm going to focus on, this year and beyond - putting all my energy into living a life focused on the pursuit of holiness and closeness with God, on reducing the suffering of others and on loving on purpose and like I mean it. Those are really vague statements and I'll be honest - contrary to my obsessive, type A planner nature, I don't have a detailed plan of what that looks like. That would normally freak me out, but in this case, I'm pretty calm. I don't want hollow or forced; I want it to be authentic. Natural. Real and intentional and entirely counter-cultural.
I'm realistic enough to know there's no possible way I can do this of my own accord. It's going to take a whole lot of grace and trust and just letting God be God. I'm also realistic enough to know there are times I'm going to fail miserably.
But that's the call. And it's worth it.
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Galatians 6:14
