Reason or Randomness?

I believe in both God and in karma, and all of my life I've held firm to the belief that all things happen for a reason (mostly because I prefer this over the thought that we live in a random, chaotic world). With that being said, it really does seem like I get more than my fair share of bizarre happenings and/or misfortunes (maybe not the best word, but whatever).

So, that leads me to two options:

1. I've done a lot of bad things, or rather maybe I've put people in bad situations, so karma is biting me in the ass to teach me a lesson.
   
   
2. God is actually amused at my response to all of these random acts so he just wants to see what I'll do next. Or, perhaps he thinks that one day I will write a best seller from one of them.
   

I imagine it's probably a combination of both. And here are two fairly recent stories by which to explore the possibilities...