COINCIDENCE

I’ve been thinking a lot about coincidence lately. As a Christian, I hardly believe in it because I sense a Divine hand behind, over and around all the things in my life. Just this weekend, a “coincidence” happened.

 

I was on a women’s retreat and roomed with a woman I hardly knew. By the end of the weekend, we’d bonded over the fact that we both have chronically ill children with similar diseases. She’d been having a very tough time and was hardly opening up to anyone because of it. She felt nobody understood the pain her family was going through. Some awful things had been said to her by friends and family. But through conversation that started off as two women chatting came a bond that can’t really be explained, except that God was in that room and that He’d planned since the beginning of time for us to meet.

 

These kinds of things show me how much God is in the details and how He is able and willing to do things that leave us in awe.

 

I wish this kind of thing translated easily into fiction, but often times it doesn’t. As a novelist, I try to create reality or at least represent it well. In my life, the reality is that there are things I can’t explain, coincidence that appears not to be by chance. Phone calls that come at the right time, long lost friends that reappear when most needed, money that arrives right as I’ve run out of it.

 

When putting this on to the written page, however, it takes a lot to ask the reader to believe. Maybe it is easier to believe that nothing extraordinary is going to happen because that is often the case. Chronic illnesses remain. Death steals those we love. Spouses leave.

 

In the novel, we must strike a balance between the harsh reality of living in a fallen world and the faith-building delight when God shows up in unexpected ways.

 

I’ve learned through my relationship with the Lord that he requires us to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, often times to help us with our perspective so that we can see clearly the high mountain on which He wishes us to stand. So in my craft, it takes a passion and understanding of this truth to make it believable. I must show my reader that what on the surface appears to be an easy out…a coincidence that randomly ushers my character out of trouble…is in reality part of a long , rough, soul burning journey that is covered by grace, mercy and the love of a God that allows both suffering and “coincidence” to shape our character.

 

Rene Gutteridge is a full-time novelist and lives in Oklahoma City. She is the mom of two young children and wife to a musician and worship pastor. She writes in both the comedy and suspense genres. She has also been published extensively as a playwright for short comedy sketches. Her latest releases is Boo Humbug. Visit her website at
www.renegutteridge.com

 

 

Comments

[Rel]

Rene ~ great to see you posting here :) Loved your words, too, as always!

[Lisa Jordan]

Great post! When I was a brand new Christian, I mentioned coincidences to my aunt, who is an awesome role model for Christian women, and she told me they weren't coincidences, but Divine Interventions. I've come to see many D.I.s in my family. My niece has special needs and it's no coincidence when prayers are answered on her behalf. :-)

[susanna]

It is always amazing to see how God weaves "every day" miracles into our lives, isn't it? That's a good word, sister! love, Sue