Serendipity

Serendipity: |serəndipitē| n. Seeing God's providence in something unexpected.

Look up the word serendipity, and you are bound to find some pretty interesting definitions. The Oxford English dictionary describes it as the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. The Merriam Webster defines it as the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for. For me, I see it more as God's sovereign hand at work, so serendipity is simply us getting a glimpse of His glory, work and Divine providence at a given point in time.

I experienced this very recently. As you know, God has been doing some significant things in my life since having read Generation Ex. Some of these things, I have written about in posts on this blog. I recently commented on Jen Abbas' blog (the author of Generation Ex) thanking her for the encouragement her book has brought me. Apparently, the fact that God was still using her book to bring about encouragement really encouraged her that week. Check out her post on the subject and my subsequent comment.

This week, at BSF, we studied Paul's doxology at the end of Romans 11. Paul breaks forth in praise to God after revealing to his audience the wonders of God's salvation plan. Verse 33 stood out for me:

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!

This significant thought came about: We may never know the full impact of what our obedience to God will bring about for others. Paul reminds us that God's paths are beyond tracing out. But sometimes, perhaps in mercy, God gives us a glimpse - call it moments of serendipity. In a great twist of irony, God, in His grace uses even divorce, an act that brings about so much consequence and pain, and works it for His good and purpose.