Earlier today I wrote this thought down for a friend: "God intervenes, or does He? Trick question on God's Sovereignty - can He really intervene if He is autonomously and singularly in control? . . . . . it may not be so much divine "intervention" per se . . . perhaps more likely Him choosing to explicitly and openly express His will . . . as in the case of Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus."
That started my thinking about "accidents". If God is indeed sovereign, in control of all things in the universe, then can an "accident" really occur? Can something happen that is not supposed to happen?
An "accident" due to human miscalculation, negligence, oversight, thoughtlessness, or just plain human stupidity isn't an accident . . . it happened because it was set into motion by a moment of "forgetfulness". God doesn't go around checking and re-checking torque specs on carriage bolts because some engineer may have forgotten to. Human error is just that: Human error, and there are often unintentional consequences for the things we forget to tighten, lock, turn off, or maintain.
A natural disaster, such as a flood, tornado, tidal wave, blizzard, ice storm, volcano, etc . . . not an accident either. Those occurrences are simply nature in motion as God set it in motion. They can result in natural disasters, but they're not accidents.
There is, however, "cause" and "effect". People can cause "accidents", or rather horrific occurrences, due to lack of attentiveness. They can be found at fault for triggering an event that ended with dire consequences to someone's life. Or found at blame for some catastrophic mechanical failure.
Interestingly enough the Bible never mentions an "accident". There is no biblical record of something happening that wasn't supposed to happen. Granted there were some shocked individuals when word got out about occurrences like Sodom and Gomorrah . . . that wasn't supposed to happen, but it did, and not without reason or "cause and effect".
So what about "accidents"? What about natural disasters? What about the bad things that God allows to happen that take their toll on mankind? Does everything really happen for a reason?
I never thought so, but I'm quickly changing my mind. "Accidents", or rather unintended occurrences, caused by human error may singularly be the greatest stepping stone for the open practice of forgiveness and thankfulness. Disasters, both natural and man-made, may be the single largest catalyst for kindling the human spirit and motivating us towards Godly acts of sacrifice, kindness, giving, and selflessness. Disease and human suffering resulting in our demise may be just what is intended for one to proclaim that life is found through Christ, not modern medicine and exploratory science. And when NASA blows billions of dollars on a space mission that plunges "accidently" into some nameless and forgotten orbital crater it should remind us all that it barely registers in the infinite vastness of a God who calls the Earth His "footstool" (Isaiah 66:1).
Today I found a shop light broken and half-hanging from the ceiling of my garage. I didn't see it fall. I didn't hear it fall. I examined the light, decided it wasn't salvageable, and quietly cleaned up the mess. I'm clueless how the light found the floor. That doesn't make it an "accident." It means I'm not a great detective. So was there purpose in the light falling? Perhaps it was so I could think, wonder, and conclude that "There are no accidents." And I could recognize that there is however "cause and effect". And that somewhere, in all those "occurrences", it is possible to find and recognize God's hand at work in the universe.
So . . . . . Just because we achieve an unintended outcome doesn't mean we've created and "accident". There are no "accidents". There is only, and simply, "cause and effect" . . . intended, or not.
Paul says, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:26-28 ESV) Notice he says "all things" . . . even those "accidental" and "uh-oh!" moments in our lives.
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