Coincidence?

An acquaintance the other day said "I don't believe in any coincidence". The implication was that every chance was directed/managed by God for a purpose. This is quite a faith perspective and I, thinking about my own belief, wondered about the statement "I only believe in coincidence". My implication would be that every chance is just that... chance. There is no actual direction/management by God. Clearly these are two extreme positions (all or none), but does one suggest a stronger faith? Is one a better or more faithful expression of the gospel? I am sure (and by "I am sure" I mean that "they exist", not that "surely there must be, but it's not my area", which is often the implication when we say "I am sure") that there are theological and philosophical treatises on each of these positions. Free will comes in to play, God's ability and/or willingness to act on earth, the entire existence and purpose of the Holy Spirit, etc.

But as the untrained (in theology or philosophy), let me think about what my world of coincidence means about faith. In my world, there is no higher power directing my decisions, massaging my daily routine to orchestrate a chance encounter, providing the extra second of green light or quick red to insure I am in the right place at the right time. Instead, I make decisions, based on response to stimuli. And with the vast multitude of variables in the universe, there are bound to be convergences of events that my pattern-recognition-seeking-brain sees as improbable, but fortuitous. So if I live my life this way, every event rational cause and effect (no matter how complex), where does that leave God or faith. Did I just place God in a glass jar, unable to interact with the world? Did I relegate miracle to the mundane? Maybe. But I don't think it is my role to relegate God. I choose to believe in a God who is big enough to get out of any jar I put her in. The fact that I believe, that my decision process is based on a commitment to live a particular kind of life, in itself changes the direction/management of my life. Instead of God managing the externalities of life, setting up coincidences that I respond to, God infuses the internalities of life, affecting my identity, which manifests itself through my actions and responses.

I don't want to say one point of view is "better". But coincidence makes more sense to my hyper-rational world view. Even so, I am a little bit nervous about this thought train as it seems to leave me at the platform of the "rugged individualist", which is really inconsistent with my thoughts on communal contributions to faith. But I will let it sit for awhile and see where it goes.