“You have got all the luck!” The woman next to me at the craps table yelled over the din of the casino. I nodded my head and thought, “Yeah, I am on a roll, for sure.” Lady luck was with me tonight.
I had come to Reno on Friday and now it was almost Sunday morning and my winnings had piled up. I had near $3000.00 in chips in front of me and that was not bad seeing I had arrived in Reno with under a thousand. And now the dice seemed to be getting even hotter. I was ‘pushed out’ pretty far trying to cover hard numbers and keeping my safe bets going. The next rolls would make or break me.
The lady rolling the dice had an unbelievable streak going and a crowd of gawkers were gathering around the table to see what all the excitement was about. I knew it had to come to an end and I should be pulling my bets back and getting some money down on the “don’t pass” line but I was sure right now I could do no wrong. For once luck was on my side and I was going to let it ride.
Before I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I trusted in Lady luck. I basically believed that all life was a crap shoot and my chance of winning was as good as the next guys. I lived my life that way and never saw anything that happened as more than, “Today luck is with me” or “Today luck is against me.” And seeing it was more or less a game, I was always “playing the odds” or “pushing my luck”.
I was amazed as a neophyte listener and reader of the Bible. I kept coming across these passages where the people of God would ‘cast lots’ to make decisions, I thought, “What the heck is this all about?” Was God an arbitrator of luck? If he was already talking prophets why did they need to roll the dice or throw the sticks, to know His will? To be perfectly honest, it confused me and I struggled with this for a long time.
What it came down to for me was, “Who is God?” This may sound like a basic thought to some of you and easy enough to answer but I was starting from a place of total skepticism. I needed an answer that could explain, and at first I really struggled to find that answer.
I guess you could say the break-through came in a cool way. I was listening to a conversation on a Christian talk show. One of the guests spoke of ‘luck’ more than once. Finally, a host of the show said, “If there is luck, there is no God.” The guest looked somewhat stunned but I think more embarrassed as the host continued, “Luck can be defined as chance and we know from creation that nothing has come into existence by chance. Our God is a God of design, intelligent design. If that is true, luck has no part in anything we know or see, including our lives. There can be no such thing.”
I am sure I had heard something like this before but in that moment, I got a glimpse of how big our God really is. But it also helped me to see that He knows in this sinned tainted world we would need outward signs of His involvement in our lives to give us assurance. Casting lots was not luck, it was trust in God for an unprejudiced answer, when man was not capable to do so. I think we find this in our lives today in a more intimate way because of Jesus Christ. It is called prayer.
From there I went on a Bible study looking for verses that would help me understand even more, to fill in the gaps. Today I want to share just of few of them:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10: 29-31)
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 4: 19)
“The lot is cast in the lap, but every decision is from the Lord.” (Proverbs 16: 33)
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8: 28)
I came to believe, there is no luck. I looked at how many times God’s grace had saved me when I didn’t even believe he existed and I was amazed. I saw in His Word promises of trust and assurance. I saw in the cross His love for me. I was humbled to see that. And it allowed me to see the answer to who God is without a doubt, He is LOVE. I can say it no better than these verses from the Apostle John, “Anyone who does not know love does not know God, for God is love. In this love God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.” (1 John 4: 8-9) God had a plan to save me and you too, it wasn’t luck, it was all about love, shown in an amazing way through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Back at the craps table years ago my ‘luck’ turned against me and soon I lost almost everything. I left Reno feeling empty. I had put all my trust in a something that did not exist and was disappointed again. Today I don’t gamble anymore. I have come to trust in the sure thing, that our God is in control and His Son Jesus has paid the debts I could never pay. I have come out a winner! What were the odds of that? The real question is if I trust all to Jesus how could I lose?
Blessings John
9/22/17