this, not because he was

My brother called me the other day to express amazement that "everything was falling into place" for him. He was doing well with his job. Things that he'd been working on were paying off. Despite his recent success at work, he was expressing some concern with the long-term future of his company, and "suddenly" he received a call from another company looking to set up some time to chat. So he called just to stress his happiness that things were clicking.

My response was that nothing is coincidental and everything happens for a reason -- an obvious indirect reference to the working hand of God. His response to me was, "I don't go to church and do good things like you. Why would God make anything line up for me?"

A fine question. It's really the polar opposite of (but very clearly related to) "Why do bad things happen to good people?" And it's part of that grand subset of questions, "I don't understand why God does what He does." And frankly, even for a believer, there is no clear answer to that question.

The Lord can make things line up for His enemies -- and that is the very definition of grace and love in Rom5. The Lord can make things tough for those who love Him -- the definition of trial told throughout the Gospels. The question should never be "why?" The question should always be "Who?" and "What now?"