How often do we tell ourselves that the events in our lives are random? When we pause to replay the tape of our past, it can seem like coincidence drives much of what we experience. I know for me, I’ve been tempted to take credit for the things I’ve accomplished — even the missteps I caused myself.
But then the age-old question surfaces: Who’s really in charge here? Is it God — some higher power pulling the strings — or do we truly have freedom of choice?
In Forrest Gump, there’s a moment of profound honesty when Forrest stands at Jenny’s graveside and says, “I don’t know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze… maybe it’s both. Maybe both is happening at the same time.”
That thought has always stayed with me.
To me, God created us in two forms: one eternal, destined for something greater — and the other human, equipped with free will, the capacity to think, to act, and to believe. Somewhere in the mystery between sovereignty and self-direction lies faith.
However you choose to look at it, we are something miraculous. Our very existence is astonishing. Even this moment — you, reading these words, pondering them — is its own kind of wonder.
So what’s the purpose of it all? Only God knows. But perhaps that’s the beauty of it. Let us rejoice in our form, and in the quiet certainty of our eternal purpose. As a friend once told me, “There are no coincidences. That’s just God’s way of staying anonymous.”
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
— Romans 8:28 (NIV)
