Welcome reader! As I noted the other day, I believe I’ve been censored, so the remaining few of you who are able to read this are lucky…. or is it really luck? Last week I proposed that just as time, light and gravity can vary in the cosmic scheme of things, so reality itself can be locally altered, bent, warped or negated. This is the nature of what we call “a miracle”. Some miracles are observed: some are not. This week I continue the subject, if only for my own clarity of thought on the subject.

Last week I wrote that, “While the universe is as real as it can be, and while I know that matter is solid, and while we really do exist, and while time really does pass from the past into the future, our own little slices of reality can be altered according to the will of God”. God’s universe is one of integrity and He does not deceive, but He is able to change whatever He wishes to change, on a small and seemingly insignificant scale or on any scale you could imagine. A God who can design and maintain the cell, butterflies and the rolling of the cosmic spheres in perfect harmony is able to change whatever He wishes whenever He wishes.

FREE WILL AND COINCIDENCE. I’m convinced that many changes to the fabric of reality occur in our lives which we don’t even notice immediately, if ever. Sometimes we put such episodes down to luck, coincidence, Karma or fate. There are some who are convinced that there is no such thing as coincidence and that everything is ordained. If this is the case there is no such thing as free will and we are just automated, mechanised beings with no real love or choices. Decision making powers are just illusion and the Biblical Scriptures are a divine narcissistic deception.

The mistake made comes while recognizing that God is omnipotent, is involved in our world and has a plan which is unchangeable and unstoppable He therefore also drives everything and everyone and nothing we can do, even if we think we are going our own way, makes any difference. It makes much more sense to me that God knows the end from the beginning-not that he arranges all things from beginning to end. “God works all things together for good”, says Paul. He is able to direct all things-good and bad-to His desired end. The little things cannot prevent the big plan of God from being fulfilled-in fact they all act to help fulfill it, and He saw them all taking place anyway, long before the creation. Who is going to successfully resist Him? The dark alternative is that God planned for Satan to rebel along with a third of the angels, arranged for Adam to fall into sin and set up millennia of wars, famines, plagues and wickedness, just so He could take a few million to heaven but send billions to hell.

GOD’S WILL. Coincidence, I’m convinced, is a perfectly Godly, healthy, real and natural phenomenon, but there’s a limit to coincidence and we sometimes wrongly name it as such, as I’ll explain later. I also believe that humans do possess a genuine and operational free will. However, God has all coincidences and wills in His view and blends them all with the many, many things that He does steer and arrange, so that they all become a part of the whole. Nothing can happen to upset, surprise, change or thwart the plan of God or the will of God. Nothing that mankind wills to occur can alter that plan or its ultimate outcome. God is God, and we are not.

BALANCE. Putting these two thoughts together-that humans have free will and that God is in ultimate control of all things-perhaps the only really important thing to be aware of is that we must do our best to live according to His principles. Are we pleasing to Him, or are we in rebellion and therefore standing against the One who has all power over our very souls? However, beyond that we all (or at least I do) often ponder the extent to which forces beyond the physical are at work in our lives, or perhaps I should say, how much the spiritual affects the spiritual. Since God made all things, and since God is Spirit, perhaps it’s a big mistake to separate the physical part of our existence from the spiritual. Perhaps they are interrelated in many more ways than we realize. Perhaps the things that happen to us, while not necessarily being “planned” and executed by God without our knowing, are at least sometimes and somehow acted upon by that which is spiritual.

UNSEEEN WORLD. Paul wrote that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood”. He was focusing on the reality of persecution and harassment he and other believers were suffering. He was suggesting clearly that the opposition which apparently comes from people with small minds and a resentment for anyone not thinking their way was actually spiritual opposition; that those who just thought they were doing their own thing were instead doing the will of Satan and his minions. Paul said that some are taken captive to do the will of the devil (2 Timothy 2:26) and John went on to say that “the whole world is under the control of the evil one” 1 John 5:19).

KINGDOMS. Jesus also said as much during his ministry, and when answering Pilate he said, “My kingdom is not of this world”. Then whose are the kingdoms of this world? Jesus had refused Satan’s offer of the kingdoms of the world, meaning it appears the kingdoms belong to Satan. The Biblical truth is, therefore, that there is a dark spiritual power which holds the world of men and women who do not belong to God in its sway. They think they are free to think and act as they wish and perhaps to an extent they are, but the truth is that they are held within the confines of spiritual darkness and the rejection of the ways of God. This explains much of what we see and hear going on in our world. It isn’t a matter of reason and logic winning people over to the right way of thinking-the world is unavoidably trapped in a direction and a godless way of thinking until individuals come to faith in God and the gospel of Christ.

NO SECRETS. So much for the unbeliever: what about the believer in Jesus Christ? Are there constraints upon us? My first thought in answer to this is the nature of some of my own experiences. The verse, “Be sure your sins will find you out” comes to mind. Solomon wrote,

“Do not revile the king even in your thoughts,
    or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
    and a bird on the wing may report what you say” (Ecclesiastes 10:20).

Jesus himself confirmed this principle, as recorded by Luke:

“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs” (Luke 12:2-3).

There’s an abundance of evidence from Scripture that all we do and say is open and manifest not only to God but to the entire spirit world. Even our thoughts are known and Jesus commonly identified people’s motives during his earthly ministry. So then, our minds and hearts are intimately known and attended.

The example of Job’s suffering demonstrates to us how the spiritual can and probably does operate in our lives. It’s obvious that Job suffered far more than most of us do, however the abiding principle is that the entire spiritual dimension is somehow interested and connected to our lives. In short, Satan wanted to test Job’s faith and God allowed him to.

PROVING AND STRENGTHENING YOUR FAITH. One of the most unfortunate aspects of the story is that Job blamed God for what Satan had done to him. We are all prone to questioning God when things go wrong, but is God really to blame? Is it really all coincidence or bad luck? The fallen spirit known as Satan tested Job in physical, tangible ways. Reality was bent; altered, warped and tinkered with by a spirit being. Additionally, it’s clear from Scripture that just as Job, Adam, Peter (“Satan has requested to sift you like wheat”) and Jesus were all tested, so we are all tested. Peter and Paul both made this principle plain:

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

God, says Paul, opposes the proud. How does He do that? Does He send a letter of complaint to the guilty one? No, He acts to frustrate them and may even deny them the light which they would only reject anyway. He confirms them in their darkness and sin. It’s a spiritual operation which brings both physical and spiritual consequences.

WARPED REALITY IN OUR LIVES

MURPHY’S LAW. As a part of the Curse which brings frustration and problems for us all, and all the other things which cause trouble in our world such as selfishness and harmful philosophy, what we sometimes call “bad luck” is irritatingly present for much of our lives. I wrote a lengthy article many years ago about this phenomenon known in the United States as “Murphy’s Law, in Britain as “Sod’s Law” and no doubt known the world over by many other names. It says that no matter what the odds are against the wrong thing happening, it will happen anyway, seemingly as an act of spite from some unseen force. I’ve observed this law in operation many times over in my life, and while I’m sure “luck” or “bad luck” or plain and natural coincidence is often at play, I’m convinced that sometimes there’s a spiritual component to events and outcomes, even in seemingly small and trivial matters. Such events are not described in the Bible as “Murphy’s Law” or any such thing, but I can assure you that on many occasions what happened to people could have been seen as such by them. Whether or not they recognized the hand of God or demonic forces at work in the situation, you can be sure they were shocked at what had happened against all the “odds” and against all reasonable likelihood or logic. Biblical examples range from seemingly insignificant things all the way up to civilization-changing events.

We can, of course, put many “Murphy’s Law” events down to bad management, coincidence, evil intent, natural conditions such as storms, or ignorance of important information. We could argue over what extent even these things may be affected by the spiritual if at all. In many cases it’s impossible to know. What appeared as irony, luck or Murphy’s Law in the Bible are in fact miracles: the hand of God being seen to be supreme over all events. people and circumstances. They are a warping of reality, sometimes locally or even perhaps sometimes globally. Here’s one prime example.

Jesus told the story-a parable-of a farmer who had so much grain from his harvest that he told himself he didn’t have to work for many years, if ever again. He decided he would be able to relax and have a good time from now on. On the face of it this seems like an innocent conclusion. He had, after all, worked hard before in order to produce this bumper harvest. The problem was that the Lord didn’t come into his equation. Instead of wondering how he could bless the Lord with his riches-which after all were a blessing from God or allowed by God-he thought only of himself: life would be all play and no work. However, God had a different idea, and God said, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (Luke 12:20).

Imagine the farmer that night, feeling his heart attack coming on, having no emergency services to call on, and seeing his retirement plans slipping away, on the very day he had felt so pleased with his fortunes. This may not be what we call “Murphy’s Law” because it’s not “bad luck”, but it sure seemed like terrible “luck” or an awful irony to him.

PRE-ORDAINED. Here’s another Biblical example. Ahab was a wicked King of Israel. After many years of his tyrannical reign alongside Jezebel, a prophet of the Lord warned Ahab that he was going to die in an upcoming battle against the Arameans (1 Kings 22). Although Ahab had rejected the warning of the prophet, on the day he decided to enter the battle in disguise-thinking that this would allow him to escape his fate-“someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor” (verse 34).

Again, this isn’t “bad luck”, it’s the hand of God, but it sure seemed like bad luck to Ahab as he lay dying. A fascinating dimension to this story is that the prophet Michaiah tells how God had called the angels together to see which of them would go out and entice Ahab into battle, and one volunteered to be “a lying spirit” to deceive Ahab. God Himself does not tempt: He employs others to do it (verses 21 and 22).

These examples show God imposing HIs will. But this is exactly my point. What we commonly see as “luck” or “bad luck” may instead be a spiritual phenomenon: an imposition of God or that of a fallen spirit. Certainly, our lives are small and insignificant in comparison to the examples of Ahab and Job, but that doesn’t put us out of the picture. Perhaps we are being tested as noted above, or perhaps in the case of “good luck” we are being blessed. The writer of Hebrews said this:

“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).

WHAT COULD THE REASON BE? Besides testing or judgment, what would be God’s motive in apparently genuine “Murphy’s Law events? Again, God is God and we are not: He has many reasons for doing what He does, and we certainly can’t know them all. However, here, very briefly, are some thoughts.

God instituted a curse on the world as a result of the rebellion of humanity against His commands. Much of what goes wrong in our world is as a result of the Curse. We think that thorns grow in our vegetable patch because that’s just what happens in gardens, but God told Adam that thorns would grow in his crops due to his disobedience. The Curse brought frustration to us and all of nature in a multitude of ways, and its future reversal will end the frustration: Paul spoke of this:

“For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope  that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:19-21).

CASTING OUT BUT NOT DOWN. It’s my personal conviction that even fallen angels are employed by God to help administer the Curse. Now take that thought and realize that angels are servants of God. And it isn’t just “good” angels which serve God, but indirectly the fallen angels also reluctantly have to do the will of God. Have you ever wondered why, when Jesus cast demons out of people, he didn’t send them directly to the abyss as they feared he would? Have you ever wondered why, if Satan causes so much trouble and leads people into temptation, Christ did not send him to the abyss long ago? Why is he still wandering the earth, and why, when he is chained for a thousand years as in Revelation, does God release him for a temporary stint of temptation? (Revelation 20:3).

The answer is that, just as we concluded at the beginning, the will of God is unstoppable, and He is able to bring about the future He foresees and wishes. In order to do that He uses anything and anyone-including Satan himself.

Why would a rock roll off of a cliff and hit our car as it passes, against all the odds? Isn’t that Murphy’s Law? Well, it may have been coincidence, it may have been a tiny outcome of the Curse, it may be that a minion of Satan just doesn’t like you, or it may be that you are being tested to see how you will react. Will you accept it as the will of God, will you shrug it off as just another odd and unlucky incident, or will you react in anger and blame God? Such things shape our character-or perhaps demonstrate what our character really is. God is interested in such things, as is the entire spiritual community.

THE LITTLEST THINGS. A number of small “coincidences” occur in my life which are difficult to explain from any natural angle. For example, in the course of my work which has involved travelling, I’ve thought to myself about a place, “I haven’t been there for a long time”. It might be years since I had been there, and yet perhaps two days later I would be called upon to go to that very place. This has happened to me many times. Why? What could God’s purpose possibly be to arrange such a thing with regularity? The only answer I can come up with to explain this phenomenon is that the Lord is showing me, or reminding me, that He knows my every thought. He is there, in my mind, when I honor Him and when I allow my mind to wander into sin.

NO SUCH THINGS AS FIFTY-FIFTY

I’ve come to the conclusion that there are often no genuine 50/50 odds in any situation, and perhaps not so many other “natural” odds. The scientifically minded, of course, will recoil at such a claim, as they would to all I’ve written here. Why would God or the devil cause some to regularly be lucky or unlucky? Why indeed, and the answer may be that just as the farmer was tested with wealth to see how he would deal with it, others are tested or confirmed in disobedience, even with apparently good fortune, beauty or success. Sometimes things happen so regularly in a frustrating or counter-intuitive manner that no-one can convince me the “odds’ are purely natural. This raises the warning to avoid risk, because the odds just may not be as favorable as they appear to be. My mother would warn about “tempting fate”: perhaps she had a good point. It may seem that the odds are 50-50 scientifically and objectively, but the reality may be totally different. While there are many Biblical examples which could be given, the one which comes to mind is this one:

“The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:33).

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