Throughout our lives, we have occurrences or experiences that stay with us because of their impact, whether on an emotional or physical level. The occurrence or experience seems to shape us or cause our direction in life to change in some way. We find these experiences to be momentous or maybe soothing or moving. So, we cling and every so often reflect on these experiences of coincidence or divine intervention.
If I broaden my view, I be need to consider the wisdom within, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne’s. The book explains how thoughts and the law of attraction come together to make things happen. If we change our thoughts, believe and live as though we have the things we want, this positivity will cause the universe to align and make this happen.
“Coincidences are not accidents but signals from the universe which can guide us toward our true destiny.” – Deepak Chopra
For me, I deem the origin of the experiences I’m about to share, to be divine in nature. I don’t feel they are coincidences. If you ask my girls whether these experiences are coincidences or caused by divine intervention, my younger daughter would say, coincidences. My older daughter, being a little bit older and having experienced more of life, is more reflective, she would say, there’s something special about the experiences. She is not ready to say it’s divine in nature or just life.
Divine Intervention
Before we move forward, let’s define and interpret ‘divine intervention‘ so we’re on the same page. I think it’s fair to say, this is when a diety gets involved with human happenings.
So what does this really mean. For me, I believe divine intervention can be a strong inner feeling, calling, yearning or occurrence that can’t be explained by what’s taking place at a point in time. Or hearing a voice within your being, leading you in a direction.
Coincidence
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionay, a coincidence is “the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have some connection.”
In an article, Are Coincidences Signs from God?, Sharon Hewlitt Rawlett indicates, ‘A 2009 survey of people affiliated with the University of Missouri-Columbia found that “the most strongly endorsed explanations for coincidences were God and fate” (Coleman, Beitman, & Celebi 2009: 269).’
To complicate things further, from the quote above, it seems some also interchange coincidences, divine intervention and destiny. Read the articles by Sonya Downing and Stephanie Englehart to learn more.
Is God always there guiding our lives so divine intervention is nothing other than normal course? Okay, different points of view. You as the reader, must decide for yourself. Look at your experiences and see what you think.
I’m including some experiences we can look at and evaluate. You see where you land with each of these. I can’t logically fit these occurrences in the category of coincidences. My litmus test is to first see if the experience was random or moving. If the experience was random and really caused no emotional tug at the heart, I consider this more of a coincidence. If the experience was emotional and in the end provided comfort, to me this is of a divine nature. An experience, like a healing balm, that allows us to move forward toward change, closure or renewal is divine intervention.
An Eagle Brings a Message
After my dad had a stroke, a cousin called. She wanted to know what happened to my father. We still hadn’t called to tell our family about his stroke. My cousin explained, while fishing with her sister, an eagle flew overhead and started circling their boat. They moved the boat and the eagle followed and continued to circle above them. My younger cousin told her sister, something happened to Uncle Johnny. Her sister didn’t understand. My younger cousin elaborated and said, it’s the eagle, it’s his message, we need to go home now.
Our priest explained to us, John the Evangelist symbolizes the eagle. My father’s name was John. Was he getting the message out to the family through God? The priest also said, the signs are there for those who are willing to see them.
A Kiss Good-bye
My 8 year old niece, was with her other grandfather when we called and said my father passed away. He began explaining what happened to her Papa John. My niece said, I already know, he kissed me on the cheek good-bye.
A Message of Hope
Adopting our second child was a long journey riddled with so many emotional ups and downs. The process to bring our younger child home from start to finish was three years and seven months.
You couldn’t imagine our joy when after three years and two months of waiting, we had our daughter’s picture in hand. We were going to China. Within a month, all of the last required documents were in place. We were set, we just need approval from China to travel. We were so elated and antsy , we could’ve jumped our of our skin.
March passed with no news. Thankfully in April, we contacted a store in China that could visit the orphanage and bring gifts. We sent treats, clothes, toys to be shared and an album with some pictures of us and her home specifically for our daughter. The woman from the store surprised us on Easter morning, with pictures of our daughter. It was truly a gift from God. We were ecstatic. This kept us going.
May passed and other people with the same paperwork dates traveled to China. Our agency couldn’t explain why our approval to travel hadn’t come. By the end of June our spirits plummeted. We made calls to our agency trying to find out the problem. We felt something had gone so wrong.
The Rainbabies
Life continued as we moved into July. I pulled out a picture book we recently purchased, The Rainbabies by Laura Kraus Melmed and read it to my older daughter. It was about a couple that had been blessed with comforts, but not with a baby to love and call their own.
One night the luck of the Moonshowers brought them 12 rainbabies to love. Not too long after, a man came to their door. He was a messenger sent by a woman of wealth. The messenger offered the couple wealth, a moonstone, in exchange for the rainbabies. The couple refused.
The messenger took the moonstone and placed it around his neck. At this point, the messenger transforms into Mother Moonshower.
Mother Moonshower thanks the couple for protecting her children from dangers born of water, fire and earth. The couple proved themselves to be worthy parents, but the rainbabies could only grow properly with Mother Moonshower’s help. As a gift she gave the couple a baby girl with hair like the midnight sky, Rayna.
I lost it; I could not stop crying. In our paperwork, we named our daughter Rayna. I knew the message was clear, God was going to move mountains so we could bring our Rayna home. There was no longer doubt about the success of this adoption.
A week later, we received a call at midnight from our agency. Our agency reached out to the Chinese Ministry and received our permission to go to China. Two weeks later we were in China picking up our daughter, Rayna.
I feel God provided the hope and inner strength, I so needed, but could no longer muster. After this experience, I knew with all my heart that we were bringing Rayna home from China.
Coincidence or Divine Convention?
Coincidence, divine intervention or the law of attraction, you decide. For me, I was at a low point and had lost hope that the adoption would take place. My resolve dwindled with each passing day. I believe God interceded and set events in motion, from including The Rainbabies in the pile of books ordered, to my selection to read it that day when I was at a low point.
Maybe some would say the ordering of this particular book, and decision to read it at this particular time was a coincidence. I believe this was divine intervention. The story, the daughter’s name being Rayna, it felt like more than a coincidence. It was as though God was speaking directly to me. He let me know he was going to make this happen.
We had picked the name, Rayna because the name meant, “Song of the Lord.” My husband and I had said, if this adoption was going to happen, it was God who was going to make it happen. We felt it was a perfect name. And in the end, he sent us a message and blessed us with Rayna.
We each have to listen to facts and decide what’s logical and what feels like our truth. Then we have the facts to make decisions as to what we want to believe. I believe in divine intervention.
Sonya Downing’s brother would disagree with my view. He would say, God is always working around us and making things happen. So it was divine but not divine intervention.
Deepak Chopra thinks coincidences are signals from the universe. Does Deepak agree with the law of attraction? Were these experiences moving me toward my destiny?
I just think each of these experiences were divine. I also believe, God intervened and shared his plan. He touched my cousin’s heart, my niece’s heart and my heart with his message. My cousin knew a message about my father was being passed to her. My niece knew her Papa John had to leave her, but not before saying good-bye with a kiss. I knew Rayna was coming home. He gave us the healing balm we needed to accept and move forward.
Grace helps us understand the mysteries within the church. Maybe for my cousin, niece and myself, grace provided us the faith needed so we could witness his acts of divine intervention.
I would love to hear your stories and let me know what you think. Are these examples of coincidence, divine intervention or the law of attraction? Send some of your own examples. I would love to hear them.
Read More About Coincidences, Divine Intervention and The Secret
Sonya Downing, Christianity.com Contributing Writer, What is Divine Intervention? – May 12, 2020
Stephanie Englehart, BibleStudyTools.com, Does God Work through Divine Intervention? – Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Rhonda Byrne, The Secret Book Summary, Shortform.com
Sharon Hewit Rawlette, Ph.D, PsychologyToday.com, Are Coincidences Signs From God? – February 5, 2020
