Coincidences are defined as ‘a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.’ William Temple was once told that there was no such thing as answers to prayer; any apparent answer was just a coincidence. His answer was ‘When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don’t, they don’t.’
Christians do not really believe in coincidences; they speak instead of ‘God-incidences’, how God intervenes in our lives, especially as we pray. The book of Esther tells the story of God’s intervention to save His people from extinction; the Jewish festival of Purim (celebrated to this day) commemorates this divinely orchestrated salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian empire from Haman’s plot to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day. This miracle came about through a series of apparently chance happenings (Esther being chosen to be the king’s wife after his first wife fell out of favour, Mordecai happening to overhear a plot against the king and reporting it so the king was saved, the king being sleepless one night and therefore being reminded of this event, Esther being willing to alert the king to Haman’s plan to kill all Jews.) In reality, God’s hand can be seen throughout the book, and we are made aware, once again, that God works in miraculous ways to protect and deliver His people. We may not always be aware of what God is doing behind the scenes in our lives, but we can trust Him to lead, guide, protect and provide, as He did for Esther.