“Buy a lottery ticket and win a mansion…or a million!” The media is flooded with ads about buying lottery cards, playing games of chance on our phones, and even raising money for charities like hospitals by buying a lottery ticket.
“Dream bigger! The pot is now 150 million! Buy a ticket. This may be your destiny!” “Just take a chance, your luck may turn.” As if out there somewhere among the galaxies our lucky star exists. Oh?
But does luck really exist? Is our fine-tuned universe a wheel of chance, in which our lives unfold according to long odds? Or is luck another fanciful concept dreamed up by people determined to reject a Creator, but rooting around to find some way to explain life?
Solomon, wisest man on earth, didn’t think luck existed. He wrote, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD” (Proverbs 16:33). Now why would he say that?
Well…for one thing, the universe isn’t a giant wheel of chance. It was created, fine-tuned, set in motion, and is governed by the Creator’s power, wisdom, and omnipotence. In Athens philosophers met to debate and proclaim their views of truth. Paul stood up in their midst and said; “what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, is the Lord of heaven and earth…he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth, and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 1723-28). Chance? No. God. And the word that describes his interaction with us is not luck but providence.
Determined times and places! How can that be? Remember, we’re talking about God and that means we are touching the very edges of infinite mystery. To enter deeper into that mystery and find peace in celebrating—not luck—but God’s providential care we must seek out the astonishing Son of God, “by whom all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16,17).
It is in coming to know this one, Jesus, the Christ, that mystery recedes and hope rises. We read, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). When we cast off the veil of self-righteousness that has hidden our selfish, law-breaking, sinful hearts and bow to the searchlight of his love and ask him to save us from our sins, what then? He washes us clean and gives us a new heart, open to learning. A new day dawns. Instead of luck, we have a caring Father.
We quickly learn; “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29,30). But? But what about troubles and suffering? Ah, another big, big subject for another time. But the place to start is at the feet of Jesus where we learn to lean on his providence. Remember he cares for sparrows. He counts the hairs on our head even as they come out on our hair brush.
God cares. He created us in his image to live a life of fulfillment and joy as his children; as we demonstrate in our choices and actions his very image in us. As we learn, forget, re-learn, stumble, get up—his providence watches over us.
Providence is a word seldom known or expressed these days. It sounds like an old-fashioned word. It isn’t! It’s so modern! So real! So comforting to the believer! Wouldn’t we rather trust in providence [God’s loving care] than take a million and a half chance on the roll of dice?
When we begin to trust in his providence, we glorify our Father by saying; “In his providence, this or that happened.” “Isn’t it amazing how I providentially met my sweetheart?” “I wasn’t planning to live here but God through providential circumstances guided me to this place.”
Oh, friend, it is wonderful to rest in his providential care.
(Let me know your thoughts on this subject. If you appreciate this blog, please pass it on. If I can help you spiritually, let me know. Further articles, books, and stories at: Facebook: Eric E Wright Twitter: @EricEWright1 LinkedIn: Eric Wright ; Eric’s books are available at: https://www.amazon.com/Eric-E.-Wright/e/B00355HPKK%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share)
Country Inspiration 