I’m sure something like this has happened to you. You purchase a brand new maroon Honda Accord. While driving around town the following week you spot an unusually large number of Honda Accords on the road. Not only that, many of them are maroon!

Or here’s another scenario. Sometime during the day you hear a reference to an old 80’s song and you remark, “I haven’t thought of that song in years!” Later, in your car (possibly your new maroon Honda Accord) and turn on the radio. Before you pass through the first intersection the station is playing the same song! Weird! You haven’t heard this song in over five years and now it’s been referenced twice in the same day.

What is going on here? Is there some mystical force influencing car buying habits? Do cars have some internal instinct that drives them to seek out their own kind? Do radio DJ’s have ESP and can sense what songs people want to hear? Probably not.

Instead, it is most likely an occurrence psychologists call the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon.[1] This happens when you see or hear something that is either new or makes an impression and your brain is “tuned” into that bit of information, bringing your attention to it when it is encountered in the world. The reality is that there are about as many Honda Accords on the road as always or you’ve heard that song a couple of times a month for the past five years, however, because they are fresh on your mind, you notice them more now while, in the past, you wouldn’t have given them a second thought. God’s sovereignty aside (Matt. 10:29-31), these are just coincidences.

Another type of coincidence happens when you and a co-worker wear similar outfits; say khaki pants and a green polo shirt. A third co-worker wearing something completely different looks at you two and exclaims, “I guess I didn’t get the memo.” Obviously, there was no memo. But there is a finite number of colors and clothes styles. When you narrow that down by acceptable workplace attire, it is very probable that on any given day two or more people in the office might be wearing similar colors and style of clothes.

Still, every now and then I see God’s hand working in the various “coincidences” of my life. Most commonly this happens when I am reading or studying a certain passage of scripture. There have been several occasions when I’ve heard a podcast or sermon teach on a specific passage I’ve just read during my devotional time. Of course, it’s very possible there is some Baader-Meinhof going on here, but God is a teaching God (Psalm 25:12, Isaiah 54:13)) and I can’t rule out the possibility that His hand is working to direct me to truths He wants to reinforce at that moment.

So why all this sudden interest in coincidence? This past week I encountered a “coincidence” that might have God’s fingerprints all over it. I am currently reading a book that deals with the scientific study of multiple spacial dimensions beyond the three we can perceive (length, width, and height) and how these dimensions help give us a better understanding of scripture. (Look for my review in the upcoming months.) The other day, while searching for something totally unrelated, I came across a YouTube video that demonstrated how a sphere would behave in four spacial dimensions. (I’ve linked the video below.) Neither the book nor the video are associated with each other. One has spiritual implications, the other purely scientific. Yet, both used many of the same illustrations to explain multiple dimensions and stated many of the same scientific data.

Prior to a couple of weeks ago I knew nothing about extra dimensions except in a science -fiction sense. Furthermore, other than hearing about the book a year ago, I hadn’t even thought seriously about a multi-dimensional existence before this month. Now, in the span of a week, I two independent sources discussing the topic. Call it coincidence or relegate it to a phenomenon, but I like to believe it was God directing me to a secular video to reinforce what I was learning in a book that was teaching me about Him. Even if I’m way off with that theory it’s okay. I’m still growing closer to God through my knowledge of Him…

And that is just fine with me.

---

Sources:

1. Kershner, Kate. “What’s the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon?” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 8 Mar. 2018, science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/baader-meinhof-phenomenon.htm.