Blind Luck?

Since I became a Christian I stopped believing in blind luck. It seems to me that God is in charge and that all things happen according to His plan but is that what the Bible says? In Ecclesiastes Solomon, the wisest man to ever live wrote the following: Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 New International Version (NIV) 11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. 12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them. Observing the way the world works and considering what He knew of God, Solomon who got his wisdom from God concluded that no matter how hard you work or how skillful or wise you are or are not things can still go right or wrong. It seems to us that there is no reason we should not hit on the next big thing and become rich or perhaps we are looking for a simpler victory like a month without a care repair or recognition for our hard work on the job. Sometimes we get it and we judge it makes perfect sense and other times we don’t get what we expect and our mind struggles to grapple with why things have not gone the way we orchestrated. James wrote something on this topic as well. James 4:13-17 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. According to James, all our great efforts are as mist. That doesn’t amount to much, does it? The accumulated learning of a degree in whatever and a life time’s experience and it amounts to mist. People make plans and leave God and their God given responsibility out of it and then they bemoan their situation while they struggle to understand why it worked out the way it did. So, James warns us, instead of devising clever schemes or well concocted business plans we should say, even as part of a good plan, whatever God wills. He ends by saying, whatever good a person knows they should do and does not do it, for them it is sin. Paul says something about the topic in his famous speech on Mars Hill: 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. A few quick takeaways: 1- Best laid plans go awry. Don’t not plan but don’t set your hopes on a good plan, rather trust in the God that has a plan that transcends all of ours. 2- Build yourself, get better educated, manage your health, clean up your mouth and your language because the only one that can get you better odds than a roll of the dice on the outcome of your next endeavor is God and if you want Him on your side you’d better live like your on His side. 3- If you know something you should do and you are blowing it off. If you are planning your life without giving special emphasis to those things that will make the world a better place (and you know what they are- feed the poor, care for those in need, be kind, and serve with no hope of being repaid by the person or persons you serve…) If you have a plan that leaves out any good thing that God would have you do, He calls that sin. Repent today and do the things you know you should. 4- Have hope: God can make something out of anyone at any time. He loves a reversal of fortune. He loves to bless those who don’t deserve it and realize it. Make asking God for help part of who you are. Make living for God more important than coming out on top and you can know that eternity settled and time and chance can’t touch that AND THAT”S HOPE The bottom line is: A lot of people are trying to bank on their good fortune tomorrow, they think it will eventually all come together because they work hard or learn much and while working hard and learning much are the right things to do, tomorrow’s profit is the wrong reason to do it and frankly just might not be coming because time and chance happen to all men. So, bank on God today doing the things you know He wants you to do. Start by accepting Jesus as Lord and then use all that you are and all that you can become for His glory. Do those small, good things today that you’ve been letting go because your plans or your business seemed more important. Let God take care of the outcome. If as His people we will choose to live like this, His kingdom will advance on earth, His will will be done, and that’s something so much more than mist.

Living a Plan (or else!)

Living a plan, having a plan, should we plan? Why should we plan? Adjusting the plan... I somewhat lost yesterday. I was very tired. Sometimes when I get really tired I have a hard time remembering what I did that day. If you are a Doctor and that is not normal please don't tell me what is going on with that. Unless, it's something that sleep, exercise, and vitamins won't deal with. Anyway, when I get really tired I tend to lose day segments. I think I remember everything that's really important like what my wife says to me. However, I can forget time spent on the couch and so on. Forgetting can't be taken lightly. Too much fatigue can't be taken lightly. So, I should have taken certain precautionary steps to recover and.....I did not. So, this morning fatigue declined into illness. Now, I'm sick and repentant. Repentance So, then I repent but repentance is not simply turning from sin as has been often taught. It is turning to God. It technically means to think again or to think differently. So, I'm thinking differently... Too tired to plan? Not adjusting to the new normal of your life as your life changes is tantamount to refusing to go on, so I'm thinking what the new normal is. Plans for me So, I'm thinking that my new normal includes routine and schedule and the like. Should we plan? I know my purpose with relative certainty. We know our purpose with relative certainty. So, I'm thinking what we need to do (barring specific intervention by God) is align our schedules and routines with our purpose. Since it seems that we should have control of our schedules and routines (under God) we should be able to do that. And if we do not it seems as if it would be sin. For him who knows to do good and does not do it-It is sin. James 4:17 So, Sherri and I (I always appreciate her bringing me along) are making some plans and scheduling some things so that we can make our scheduling and routines meet our purpose as much as is possible. Ex. Excercise together before the day begins. Scheduling things is good. Scheduling them at specific regular intervals seems more possible for persons who are at a more mature stage of their life (I'm really hoping this is us.) Just remember to say, If the Lord wills we shall do this or that. Planning I learned this from fasting: When you believe you should set a schedule you should set it before you begin it. Don't start and then debate the length. The enemy prefers you to debate with yourself how long your current assignment is that way at any juncture he can convince you to quit. If you prayerfully set the length before you begin you can stick to it no matter what and then afterwards determine your assignment and length for what's next. If something happens to make the continuation of the original plan impossible then it is impossible. If not, then finish or die trying. Changin the plan If in the middle, you would really rather quit or change course then I think you have to be released from your commitment by God. Pray. If He will not release you then stay the course no matter the cost. Think about the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prayed for the father to remove the cup but He also prayed not my will but yours be done. That's what we should do as well. IF God says so, stay the course no matter waht. That makes knowing some details about the course up front that much more important. Seems radical? I don't really think so. Pastor Dan Newheightsfellowshipchurch.org