History Main / InMysteriousWays

* Parodied in ''VideoGame/FableIII''. After completing one sidequest, the villager you helped exclaims that the gods must have sent you to help him out. He then starts to examine this idea more deeply and reasons that it would be logically inconsistent to credit good things to divine will whilst at the same time writing off the bad as mere misfortune. Hence, not only was you saving him all part of the plan, but so was him getting into trouble in the first place, the stress he went through, and every minor problem he's ever faced. He ends up desparing at a Universe that is at best indifferent to human suffering and at worst actively malicious.

Implies ForWantOfANail. Usually overlaps with GambitRoulette, which is about plans relying on seemingly chance events in general. Compare MaybeMagicMaybeMundane and ButterflyOfDoom. Often used as flimsy justification for DeusExMachina and AWizardDidIt. Contrast DivineIntervention, when it's very obvious that the deity was taking action. Compare ''and'' contrast AnswerToPrayers, when the deity gets involved because their followers asked; it's an open question how clear their involvement will be.

* This is the title of [[GospelRevivalNumber the opening number of the musical]] ''Literature/TheColorPurple'', celebrating God's power to bring good out of evil.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E20Godfellas Godfellas]]", {{God}}/satellite/satellite which collided with God believes that God ''should'' behave in a mercurial fashion. Unlike many examples, it actually explains ''why'' it believes this way: if a deity does too much for its people, they will become dependent on it, but if it does too little, then its people will not be able to deal with problems beyond their abilities and will lose hope. By working in mysterious ways, the people are motivated to work hard and expand their knowledge, but can still receive help if they need it. This is a stark contrast to how Bender plays God to some tiny sapient beings living on him. By asking them to do him favors, he inadvertently introduces crime, while maiming and killing hundreds, if not thousands. By trying to help, he kills scores of them and destroys many of their crops. By doing nothing, those he hasn't paid attention to feel ignored and eventually wage all-out war that results in mutually assured destruction, using weapons built from Bender himself. Speaking with the nebula changes Bender, who goes out of his way to rescue trapped monks who Fry suggested God could take care of. Such an act is done of Bender's own will, but only because of the nebula's influence, so the nebula ''does'' save the monks, though they will not credit him, thus showing his philosophy in action.

** It's implied throughout Creator/JRRTolkien's work that Eru (AKA God) has his hand in everything. Gandalf in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' explicitly states that "Bilbo was ''meant'' to find the Ring in ''Literature/TheHobbit'', and ''not'' by its maker." It's more complex than that, since one of the Gifts that Eru gave to Men (including hobbits; as opposed to Elves) was ''true'' free will in the sense of [[ImmuneToFate fighting fate]]. As is pointed out in ''Literature/UnfinishedTales'', Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and Frodo was meant to bear it, and Gandalf was meant to guide them both. But Bilbo and Frodo could have refused to leave home, and Gandalf wasn't "even allowed to try" to compel them. And Gollum slipping in the Mount of Doom to his death was stated by Tolkien to be His direct intervention.

God (or suitable [[GameMaster equivalent thereof]]) works in mysterious ways. How mysterious? Really mysterious. Like, chaos theory mysterious. Who knew that ending a war could be as easy as helping one little old lady cross the street -- or letting the GirlOfTheWeek get [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries run over by a truck]]?

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Anime/TokyoGodfathers'' ties the fates of three homeless bums with that of an abandoned baby called Kiyoko. There are {{Contrived Coincidence}}s, multiple girls with the same name, and multiple destinies converging [[WeirdnessMagnet on this one baby]]. Hilariously, it ''works''.
* ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'': This is how the ''Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}'''s Counter Force works. A series of events and choices, each of them meaningless on their own, were "nudges" to get Shiki in just the right place and time to stop Araya from destroying the world. This method can fail if the Counter Force's selected agents don't perform their tasks properly or the threat manages to overcome them. [[GodzillaThreshold If the situation becomes unrecoverable]], Counter Guardians arrive to eliminate the threat and everyone within a few miles or so.
[[/folder]]

* ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'': Mentioned early on with the story of the Book of Job, where Job asks God for an answer as to why his life was ruined and gets a response he cannot comprehend. In the last issue, Hulk and Joe Fixit come face to face with the One Above All, and Hulk asks why his life is so horrible. The One Above All responds in a similar fashion, soon irritating Joe, who figures he's not going to give them a straight answer. It's then implied this was itself a plan.

* ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'': Defied by the [[TopGod Alicorn Elders]]. Being [[AnthropomorphicPersonification living embodiments of Wisdom and Empathy]], they have no reason not to be straightforward in their rare interactions with mortals, and do not manipulate things in their favor, being strong believers in free will.
* In ''Roleplay/AlchemicalSolutions'', Autochthon. Sadly, not always in [[{{CloudCuckooLander}} good ways.]]
* In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' fanfic ''Fanfic/LessonsFromTheMountain'', during his soul's trial, [[AntiHero Maedhros]] asks Manwë -the King of the [[CouncilOfAngels Valar]]- why he never granted him a quick death when he begged for it during [[GodOfEvil Morgoth]]'s torture. Manwë replies that he intended to release him from his torment as soon as possible.

* ''Fanfic/TheSecondTry'': When Shinji complains that he and Asuka have failed to change the past, [[spoiler:Kaworu cites this trope and points out that even the small changes they've made have improved the outcome, resulting in Toji playing a critical role in fighting back the MP-EVAs. It also seems likely Kaworu guided Rei and Aki into meeting, which was the catalyst for Rei refusing her role in Third Impact.]]
* In ''Fanfic/{{Constellations}}'' Amaterasu convinces Taylor to start working at a rundown shrine, which in turn results in her doing chores for her neighbors for small favors. As a result the local Japanese population is reinvigorated, Oni Lee becomes more human, and Sophia's arrest goes sour, turning Taylor's life around.
* The four are baffled by many of the changes made to C'hou in ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'' since [[Fanfic/WithStringsAttached they left six years ago]]. The general explanation is that “the gods changed it,” and they learn directly from the gods themselves that they made the changes to please both the G'heddi'onians and the skahs. This doesn't suffice; very little makes sense to the four, such as the obviously ancient cliff dwelling that seemed to have been created only three or four years ago. Why make it ancient? However, everything makes a ''lot'' more sense after they find out [[spoiler: they're in a giant telepathic {{MMORPG}}, the gods are fake, and the changes were made because of the RuleOfCool]].

* The AlternativeCharacterInterpretation version of the events in ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' is that God purposely let [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Azrael's]] goons mug Him just so s/he could resolve the Bartleby/Loki situation and further propagate the line of the last scion.
* ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire,'' where justification is given for the main character's [[CrapsackWorld crapsack life story]], and eventual rise to the richest of the rich, in three words: "It is Written." For every question on ''Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,'' [[spoiler:except for the last]], Jamal knows the answer [[ChekhovsGun by virtue of some dramatic or important event in his life]], to which we are treated.
* Film/TheAdjustmentBureau may or may not work for {{God}}, but their main approach is to gently nudge things in the "right" direction in order to follow "the plan".
* In ''Film/{{Signs}}'', one child's asthma, another child's obsession with leaving half-full glasses of water everywhere, a washed up brother's old baseball career, and even his wife's dying words were apparently all part of God's plan to restore a priest's faith by helping him foil an alien invasion.

* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'': Cain considers the GodEmperor to be this, remarking several times that his life could have turned out radically different, but the Emperor works in mysterious ways and/or has a twisted sense of humor.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** This trope is invoked on several occasions, usually by Knights of the Cross. Harry usually does not take this as an acceptable answer.
** Lampshaded in one of the later books, with Harry basically asking someone "They tried the "mysterious ways" line on you too, huh?"
** In the novel ''Small Favor'' and the short story "The Warrior", the archangel Uriel deconstructs Harry's criticisms of the "mysterious ways" explanation, illustrating how through apparently random, unconnected events God had used Harry to change many people's lives for the better without him even being aware of it. Uriel further points out that it only seems mysterious to Harry because God is omnipresent and omniscient, operating everywhere, at all times. What seems incomprehensible to a mortal's point of view, rooted in a single space and time, is not nearly so to God.
** When Murphy contemplates, how can the garden of the Carpenters be still green so late in the autumn, Harry answers: "[[{{Pun}} Sod works in mysterious ways.]]"
* ''Literature/FindingDarwinsGod'' uses this as part of its demonstration that acceptance of evolution does not actually ''have'' to have any effect on one's belief in God, as a deity who can create life through manipulation of natural laws would have a greater claim to omniscience than one who could create life from dust. Deals primarily with Christianity and makes excellent points about how a truly omnipotent, omniscient God working in evolution is not only ''more'' impressive than the "boom, stuff happened" God, but also completely compatible with Christianity.

* ''Literature/GoodOmens'':
** Near the beginning of the book it is said that God does not play dice with the universe, He plays an ineffable game of His own devising which might be described from the vantage of the other players, i.e. everybody, as 'playing a complex and unintuitive version of poker in a pitch black room with blank cards for infinite stakes, with a dealer who won't tell you the rules and who ''smiles all the time''' (paraphrased).
** Near the end of the book, Crowley points out to Aziraphale that an omniscient, omnipotent god would never have allowed them to prevent the apocalypse, or for that matter have allowed Lucifer's rebellion unless that was what He wanted all along. He goes on to suggest that the war between Heaven and Hell isn't so much a [[TheChessmaster chess game]] as an incomprehensibly complex game of solitaire.
* There was no god involved, but in ''The Science of Literature/{{Discworld}} III: Darwin's Watch'' Hex claims that the voyage of the Beagle was almost as significant an event as Joshua Goddelson leaving his house by the back door in 1734, leading to commercial nuclear fusion being perfected 283 years later.

* In Creator/RobinHobb's ''Literature/TheSoldierSon'' trilogy, [[spoiler:the Speck magic, as well as Orandula the god of balances]] manipulate the protagonist through a series of convoluted chains of events, most of them set off by tiny, seemingly insignificant actions, like [[spoiler:giving a stone to Caulder Stiet, which leads to the discovery of gold in the plains, which leads to almost all Gernian troops being pulled from the Specks' land, thus protecting the Ancestor Trees from being cut]].
* Creator/KurtVonnegut's novel ''Literature/CatsCradle'' introduces the religion of "Bokononism," wherein all living beings are arranged by God in groups called ''karass'', in order to advance the divine will. The members of a karass may never even know each other, and their work may overlap in bizarre, coincidental ways, but they work together for a single purpose that they'll never know. Of course, Bokononism also admits that it's all bullshit.
* ''Literature/BridgeOfBirds'' manifests this eventually, in a [[InnocuouslyImportantEpisode seemingly random,]] [[MillionToOneChance seemingly impossible]] way.
* ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'':
** It's implied throughout Creator/JRRTolkien's work that Eru (AKA God) has his hand in everything. Gandalf in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' explicitly states that "Bilbo was ''meant'' to find the Ring in ''Literature/TheHobbit'', and ''not'' by its maker." It's more complex than that, since one of the Gifts that Eru gave to Men (including hobbits; as opposed to Elves) was ''true'' free will in the sense of [[ImmuneToFate fighting fate]]. As is pointed out in ''Literature/UnfinishedTales'', Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and Frodo was meant to bear it, and Gandalf was meant to guide them both. But Bilbo and Frodo could have refused to leave home, and Gandalf wasn't "even allowed to try" to compel them. And Gollum slipping in the Mount of Doom to his death was stated by Tolkien to be His direct intervention.
** In ''Literature/TheFallOfGondolin'', Tuor is following the stream which flows through the Rainbow's Cleft when he notices three great gulls flying overhead. Ulmo the Lord of Waters/the Ainur then put into heart the desire to climb the ravine's left wall to watch the unfamiliar birds more closely, thus saving him from death in the rising tide and ensuring that he finally escapes from Hitlum.
* ''Literature/FallingSideways'' has a plot consisting more or less entirely of the main character being jerked around, tricked, told lies, arrested, told more, contradictory lies, framed, abducted by aliens, told yet more lies and finally being given most of British Columbia, thanks to the plans of a godlike figure whose real motives are an absolute headache to work out and who seems to suffer from major ComplexityAddiction. Discussed around the third or fourth set of elaborate falsehoods, with the protagonist cracking that all of the moving in mysterious ways is clearly God ducking to avoid the things being thrown at Him.
* In ''Literature/{{Hellspark}}'', Tinling Alfvaen is a "serendipitist", which means she possesses a psychic power that causes things to turn out well when she's involved, sometimes in ways that don't seem so lucky at first. Nobody understands how it works, just that it does. Shortly before the novel starts, she's fired because her employer figures that nobody whose serendipity is working at full strength would catch an incurable disease like she just did; it turns out that she needed to have been fired in order to be in the right place at the right time later on. And before the book's over, the incurable disease has been cured, thanks to a chance meeting with a biochemist who finds her case interesting, on a planet she went to for other reasons without having the slightest idea it had any biochemists of that caliber.
* ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}: Literature/TheAlloyOfLaw'': During the final battle, Wax runs out of weapons and metals, and snarkily prays to his god, Harmony, for help. He is very surprised when Harmony actually answers, explaining that there's not much he can do in situations like this, especially since he wants to preserve free will. Wax asks why he couldn't at least do ''something'', and Harmony says "I ''have'' done something. I sent you." Then Wax sees his weapons chest, thought lost much earlier in the story, sitting not ten feet away from him.

* ''Literature/TheEmpiriumTrilogy'': Taliesin says the empirium "works in mysterious ways" as a way to dismiss Rielle's concerns that the prophesied Queens are going to appear soon.
* ''Creator/JohnRingo'''s ''Literature/SpecialCircumstances'' has several characters discuss this point. One character points out that no evidence for the existence of deities has ever been found in controlled circumstances. Another character rebuts this by pointing out that the researchers are working in the world controlled by an all-powerful being who actively does not want them to find evidence for the being's existence, and so will go out of its way to subvert the tests for its existence. Further, the character points out the anomaly of sub-atomic particles acting as both particles and waves, asking "What more proof do you need for the ineffable nature of the universe?"

* The ending of ''[[Literature/LordsOfTheUnderworld The Darkest Passion]]'' implies that everything Olivia did in that book- including quitting her job in Heaven, becoming mortal, and getting attached to a RagtagBunchOfMisfits that all the higher angels told her to stay away from- was predestined so that God could make her said misfits' GuardianAngel. The job of a guardian is so dangerous that He couldn't have ethically ''ordered'' her to do it before, especially for strangers she didn't personally care about at the time...but if she decides to protect them on her own and ''then'' He restores her angelic abilities, then that's different. This situation also explains [[AllMythsAreTrue how the Christian God can coexist with Greek gods in the setting]].
* In ''LightNovel/DragonDaddyDiaries'', this is strongly implied to be the reason that Lake Tritonis exists. People in the area were praying for water, and at that exact moment, completely unrelated to them, a dragon sleeping there [[RealDreamsAreWeirder dreamed that he was a mole digging for vegetables]]. His sleep-digging hit the water table, a lake emerged from there, and he flew off, ignorant that he'd done anything of significance until centuries later. Now people consider it a holy place, which is probably more logical than considering the insane amount of luck required for those events to have happened ''coincidentally''.
* In ''Literature/TheColourOfMagic,'' it turns out the gods do in fact play dice with the universe-- as in, many of the seemingly capricious plot events that befall the heroes turn out to be manifestations of a complicated game of ''Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons'' between Fate and [[LadyLuck The Lady]].

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Similarly (to the point that FOX [[ScrewedByTheNetwork tried to kill the series]] so no one would accuse them of ripping off Joan), the talking toys in ''Series/{{Wonderfalls}}''. Each will repeat a short phrase to Jaye, who has to act on what little evidence she has for a generally beneficial result (or else they will harass the shit out of her). One episode has a toy penguin tell Jaye, "Bring him back to her!"; after some desperate flailing, Jaye manages to a) restore a nun's faith in God, and b) reunite a priest with his wife and daughter. In some episodes, Jaye deliberately decides ''not'' to follow the advice of the toy animals, which ''still'' results in everything working out right.
* ''Series/QuantumLeap''. At one point, Al theorizes that "God, time, fate, whatever" is responsible for Sam's leaps, as ''something'' is obviously helping Sam leap into people who need help. In the series finale, Sam meets that "something" in the form of a bartender. The bartender points out that, contrary to what Sam believed, his leaping has had a significant impact on the world. Sam may have only helped one life at a time, but those lives touched others, and those others. The bartender congratulates Sam, telling him that he has done a lot of good. [[spoiler:This convinces Sam to continue leaping instead of trying to get back home.]]
* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', where God's presence is zero for the first three seasons. Then in season 4, [[spoiler:He sends an angel to revive Dean from Hell]] and starts being a lot more proactive. When Dean questions Castiel about it, Castiel begins to state this trope, but Dean cuts him off and warns him, "If you say 'In Mysterious Ways,' so help me I will kick your ass." A later episode shows that God's ways are so mysterious, even Castiel doesn't know what's going on.
** The archangels, and Lucifer, all seem very certain their father is real, but that he is either dead or just gone forever. As one might imagine this distresses them. Castiel wants to find him and ask what's up.
** They found out from an angel named Joshua [[spoiler:that God is on Earth and aware of Apocalypse, but simply doesn't care. Cue to severe despair for Dean and tremendous lost of faith and start of severe alcoholic problems for Castiel in following episodes.]]
** Later it is implied that [[spoiler: Chuck, the prophet who began writing Dean and Sam's adventures for profit, might have been God the whole time and was slightly guiding them. Of course, considering some hints from Gabriel, Lucifer and others and the way all angels and humans are, it still doesn't excuse him of being one hell of a lousy father, considering Gabriel decided to ditch them and turn into the Trickster, Lucifer... well, you know the rest.]] In retrospect, this means [[spoiler:that when Chuck was apologizing for making them live bad writing, he was apologizing for their entire lives.]]
** In a later episode (Reading is fundamental) Castiel outright {{invoke|dTrope}}s this trope by reacting to Dean's question on what kind of sense some angelic plan makes with "That's god and his shiny red apples."
** In season 11[[spoiler:we finally see that Chuck was God all along when he intervene's to save the boy's lives from mysterious plague being spread by this season's BigBad The Darkness]].

* [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien The Prophets]] from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' speaking in cryptic nonsense, even when it's down right suicidal for them to do so. In this case the trope is justified because they are (benign) StarfishAliens / {{Eldritch Abomination}}s who have as much difficulty understanding "linear time" beings as the Federation does them.
* The re-imagined ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' attempted to wrap up its [[KudzuPlot sprawling tangle of unresolved plot threads]] at one fell swoop by invoking this at the end. The fandom was not amused.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': While no proof of a divine plan is given in the aptly named episode "The Miracle Job" a priest named Father Paul is trying hard to save his church from being sold, but the corrupt business man has some thugs go and beat Paul before he can reach the City Council to ask them once again to not go through with the sale. This attack draws the attention of Paul's old friend, and protagonist, Nathan Ford and his band of thieves. After a series of gambits to take down the corrupt business man, including faking a miracle by having a fake statue of St. Nicholas appear to be crying and then undoing the miracle by framing the business man for it as though it were a PR stunt, the church is saved. At the end, Nate and Paul discuss things and Paul is thankful for the miracle. When Nate points out they did fake it, Paul quickly retorts, "Five thieves saved my church" and considers that the miracle. He may not have seen the whole picture in the middle when it looked like he might be defrocked for the fake miracle, but in hindsight Paul believes God was always trying to help him save the church, even if he didn't understand it then and there.
* ''Series/{{Preacher|2016}}''. In "Gonna Hurt", God tries to convince Tulip that his bizarre behavior and everything that's gone wrong in her life is AllAccordingToPlan, but [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu Tulip ain't buying it]]. "I think you're just [[TheGodsMustBeLazy screwing around]]."

* Despite of the above disclaimer, many interpret the Music/{{U2}} song this way, thanks to [[{{Applicability}} the wide range of interpretations]] of their works.
* Probably the {{Trope Namer|s}}, though a slight case of BeamMeUpScotty, is WilliamCowper's 1779 hymn: "God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform."
* Music/DanielAmos touch on this quite a bit. In "On the Line" (from Music/HorrendousDisc) God constantly communicates with the listener, as much through the physical world as through any direct revelation.

-->I put the remains in the case and I put the case away
-->Went to New York City for a new guitar the next day
-->I bought myself a blonde guitar; I had it for three days
-->Some junkie stole my blonde guitar
-->God works in wondrous ways!

[[folder:Standup Comedy]]

->'''Man''': It's God's will, you weren't meant to be together.\\
'''Titus''': [[DeconstructedTrope Really? God's will? God got involved in this?]] Twenty years of my life pretty much gone? All the money I made, the career I chose, pretty much torn to pieces, two kids' lives shattered? [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Really, God? Is that how you work? This brutal, disemboweling nightmare is you? Cause if that's the case,]] [[SuddenlyShouting THEN THERE IS NO GOD!]]\\
'''God''': [[{{Reconstruction}} Christopher, I did this so you can meet a 29-year-old, five-foot-eleven Diesel Jeans model who has two college degrees and already paid for her own boob job.]]\\
'''Titus''': How shall I serve thee, lord?

** ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'': The qashamallim are "angels" made of the same Divine Fire that gives Prometheans life, but lack free will. They manifest for only a short while, and have one particular purpose they must complete in that time. This purpose can range from bringing two people together to destroying a city, all in service of "the Principle."

-->"We must simply accept that God can change without explanation, just as we accept that first Creator/DickYork was Darrin and then suddenly Creator/DickSargent was [[TheOtherDarrin Darrin]]."
* This is the title of [[GospelRevivalNumber the opening number of the musical]] ''The Color Purple,'' celebrating God's power to bring good out of evil.

* Parodied in ''VideoGame/FableIII''. After completing one sidequest, the villager you helped exclaims that the gods must have sent you to help him out. He then starts to examine this idea more deeply and reasons that it would be logically inconsistent to credit good things to divine will whilst at the same time writing off the bad as mere misfortune. Hence, not only was you saving him all part of the plan, but so was him getting into trouble in the first place, the stress he went through, and every minor problem he's ever faced. He ends up desparing at a Universe that is at best indifferent to human suffering and at worst actively malicious.
* One of the [[{{Sidequest}} Strangers]] in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' can be found lying in the desert, delirious and sick. The first time you offer to help her, she sends you away saying God will save her. If you come back to give her medical supplies, she decides that obviously she was right, because God sent ''you'' to help her. [[DownerEnding She then stays in the desert, desperate to see God, and presumably dies from delirium and dehydration.]]

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

** The [[OurGodsAreDifferent Aedra]], who formed out of the spilled and intermingled blood of Anu and his "brother" Padomay, sacrificed much of their divine power when they were convinced/tricked into creating Mundus, the mortal plane. As such, they [[HaveYouSeenMyGod prefer a much lighter touch]] when influencing mortal affairs, leading to this trope. At most, they'll [[MissionFromGod empower a mortal agent]] to handle their affairs, such as [[TopGod Akatosh]] sending the "[[PlayerCharacter Last Dragonborn]]" to oppose [[BigBad Alduin]] in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''. In the [[GodzillaThreshold rare event]] that they do pull a DivineIntervention and directly intervene at full power, it is to prevent the full-blown [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt End Of The World As We Know It]], as Akatosh [[spoiler:did at the end of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'']].

* ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' parodies it [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=668 here.]]

-->God works in mysterious, dickish ways.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Endstone}}'', [[http://endstone.net/2010/08/09/4-13/ Kyri thinks she must have faith because of this.]] (Albeit "the gods" rather than one.)
* Sue Prime, the ParodySue god from ''Webcomic/EnsignSueMustDie'', invokes this trope as defense when the characters' begin to question her plan, for being stupid and [[ComplexityAddiction overly complicated]].
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Voltaire [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2016-04-20-i-trust-him references the trope]] when reassuring a private detective that the shady business he is getting involved in is for the greater good. The detective however, has his doubts, after seeing the blatant murder attempt on Elliot.

* God/satellite/satellite which collided with God in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' believes that {{God}} ''should'' behave in a mercurial fashion. Unlike many examples, it actually explains ''why'' it believes this way: If a deity does too much for its people, they will become dependent on it; if it does too little, then its people will not be able to deal with problems beyond their abilities and will lose hope. By working in mysterious ways the people are motivated to work hard and expand their knowledge, but can still receive help if they need it.\\
This was a stark contrast to how Bender played God to some tiny sapient beings living on him. By asking them to do him favors, it ultimately introduced crime, while maiming and killing hundreds, if not thousands. By trying to help, he killed scores of them and destroyed many of their crops. By doing nothing, those he hadn't paid attention to felt ignored and eventually waged all out war that resulted in mutually assured destruction, using weapons built from Bender himself. Speaking with the nebula changes Bender, who goes out of his way to rescue trapped monks that Fry suggested God could take care of. Such an act was done of Bender's own will, but only because of the nebula's influence, so the nebula ''did'' save the monks, though they will not credit him, thus showing his philosophy in action.
-->''When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.''
* Judge Frollo makes such a remark in the Creator/{{Disney}} version of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'', when mentioning that Quasimodo may end up being useful to him.
** There's arguably also a straight example carried through the film itself; had Frollo drowned Quasimodo as an infant, many future events would not have taken place; Phoebus would not have found the Court of Miracles on his own, for example. Quasimodo's presence, along with that of Esmeralda, is one of the biggest driving factors in [[BigBad Frollo's]] downfall.

* One of the most common interpretations of Princess Celestia from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''; despite doing seemingly very little, she seems to always have things set-up to turn out alright--even if such plans had to be so convoluted and unlikely to barely be noticeable at all. For example, is the only reason she was so calm about Nightmare Moon's return because she's ''somehow'' known (or arranged for) all the potential Elements of Harmony to be in Ponyville at the correct time? [[spoiler:In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E1CelestialAdvice Celestial Advice]]", this is revealed to indeed be the case.]]

'''Vairë:''' Little did you know of the Valar when you left Valinor. Seldom have you perceived our actions, and little do you understand our thoughts.

* ''Literature/TheBible'': In Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."]] Which sounds hilariously idealistic, but it was written by an ex-criminal, so he knew what he was talking about.

Not to be confused with the Music/{{U2}} song "Mysterious Ways" (that would be LoveIsLikeReligion).

Implies ForWantOfANail. Usually overlaps with GambitRoulette, which is about plans relying on seemingly chance events in general. Compare MaybeMagicMaybeMundane and ButterflyOfDoom. Often used as flimsy justification for DeusExMachina and AWizardDidIt. Not to be confused with the Music/{{U2}} song "Mysterious Ways".

* Satoshi Kon's Christmastime's ''Anime/TokyoGodfathers'' ties the fates of three homeless bums with that of an abandoned baby called Kiyoko. There are {{Contrived Coincidence}}s to make Creator/CharlesDickens [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief fail to suspend his disbelief,]] multiple girls with the same name, and multiple destinies converging ''[[WeirdnessMagnet on this one baby]]!'' Hilariously, it ''works''.
* ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' reveals that this is how the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}'s Counter Force works. A series of events and choices, each of them meaningless on their own, were "nudges" to get Shiki in just the right place and time to stop Araya from destroying the world. This method can fail if the Counter Force's selected agents don't perform their tasks properly or the threat manages to overcome them. [[GodzillaThreshold If the situation becomes unrecoverable]], Counter Guardians arrive to eliminate the threat and everyone within a few miles or so.
* In ''LightNovel/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'' Hitogami offers suggestions to his "apostles" which, when followed, set off a chain of events they could nor foresee. As early on his suggestions usually work out well for the apostles, they are conditioned to follow Hitogami's directions right up until he uses them to destroy their own lives.

* Defied in the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' by the [[TopGod Alicorn Elders]]. Being [[AnthropomorphicPersonification living embodiments of Wisdom and Empathy]], they have no reason not to be straightforward in their rare interactions with mortals, and do not manipulate things in their favor, being strong believers in free will.

* The AlternativeCharacterInterpretation version of the events in ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' is that God purposely let [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Azrael's]] goons mug Him just so s/he could resolve the [[HoYay Bartleby/Loki]] situation and further propagate the line of the last scion.

* It's implied throughout Creator/JRRTolkien's work that Eru (AKA God) has his hand in everything. Gandalf in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' explicitly states that "Bilbo was ''meant'' to find the Ring, and ''not'' by its maker." It's more complex than that, since one of the Gifts that Eru gave to Men (including hobbits; as opposed to Elves) was ''true'' free will in the sense of [[ImmuneToFate fighting fate]]. As is pointed out in ''Literature/UnfinishedTales'', Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and Frodo was meant to bear it, and Gandalf was meant to guide them both. But Bilbo and Frodo could have refused to leave home, and Gandalf wasn't "even allowed to try" to compel them. And Gollum slipping in the Mount of Doom to his death was stated by WordOfGod to be his direct intervention.