Unlike Lindsay Lohan, in Just My Luck, I am not a particularly ‘lucky’ person. Of course, as a Christian, I can’t really subscribe to the idea of ‘luck.’
The Bible seems clear that God is Sovereign over all and thus nothing is merely the matter of chance:
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…Ephesians 1:11
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.
GotQuestions.org has this to say about luck:
“From an earthly perspective, as Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 share, things may seem to happen at random, but throughout the whole of Scripture, it is clear that God is in control of all of His creation and is somehow able to take the random acts of natural law, the free will of both good and evil men, and the wicked intent of demons and combine them all to accomplish His good and perfect will (Genesis 50:20; Job chapters 1 and 42; John 9:1-7). And Christians, specifically, are given the promise that He works all things, whether seemingly good or bad, together for God to those who love Him (Romans 8:28).”
How wonderful to serve a God who loves us enough to care about our character and our hearts more than our comfort.
This gift bag is so cute. Can I use it as a purse? Would anyone realize it’s just made out of paper? What would happen in a good rain? Hmmm.
With all of that said, I certainly won’t say no to a little blessing coming into my life. I had a meeting this evening with a friend. We scheduled it before realizing there was a baby shower at church. Of course, we wanted to go and celebrate that sweet little baby. We decided to go to the shower and then have our meeting afterward.
At the shower we played a version of Bingo – Baby Bingo. You fill out a blank Bingo card with the items you think the mother is going to receive. As she opens the packages, you mark off a square until you get Bingo. I won in the first 10 minutes!! Being mature and in the company of godly women, I restrained myself from jumping up and down and shouting, “BINGO!” Of course, I’ve won games at showers before and the gifts were often less than impressive. Still, the competitive side does flare up from time to time and winning is always fun.
This time the gift was something quite lovely. I won this adorable bracelet by Lillian Vernon:
The great thing about this gorgeous gift is that if you don’t have time to put in your own pictures, you can just claim the ones on the bracelet as your own family.
During the lull between food, games and gifts, Michelle and I went ahead and started our meeting. We decided to scrap the coffee shop (original plan) and go the Y instead for the rest of our meeting. We managed to sneak in a good, solid hour of cardio. Oh yeah! That’s what I call a Power Meeting!
Michelle made me try her favorite elliptical (for 30 grueling minutes) and I promised to post a picture on the blog.
Unlike my fave, the Precor, this one is by Cybex. Again, it’s a bargain at $3500. Here’s one going on Ebay for over $5500. Let me just say, my monthly Y membership seems much more reasonable when I factor in the costs for all the machinery they offer (not to mention classes and pool time and so on).
The night ended (is it over yet? I’m up so late I’m not sure if it’s morning or night) with a call from my wonderful Thai missionary friend.
Ah! Presents, an awesome workout, and a call from a friend. That’s a pretty blessed evening! Thank You, God, for orchestrating all of those details.
Why would I ever give fate or faceless luck the credit for the good things that come into my life when there is so clearly a holy and sovereign God who loves me and wants to be a part of my life?
Kathy
I think that people attribute things to ‘Luck’ or ‘Fate’ partly out of a desire to shield God from responsibility for the bad things. They don’t want to blame God for un-blessings, and so they tend to assume that there is a level of random chance within which we operate. Couple that with speculation about whether God really cares which sports team wins or whether I wear my brown or tan shoes to work, and I can understand where the idea of ‘luck’ or ‘chance’ comes from.
But we do love a big God, who is on record for knowing the number of hairs on our heads — so maybe he does care about my shoes, as well.
With regard to the bad things in life, I think that we often forget that sin is to blame (often our sin) for bad things, and that, even where we have not personally sinned, it is not uncommon to be caught up in someone else’s ‘wake’ of sin. In this way, the selfish decisions I make have a negative affect on you and other “innnocent” bystanders. Even death and disease are a direct result of sin in general.
Still, how could you say you are not lucky, married to me?
Maybe we should get Joshua to comment on this, since he recently wrote a paper on the Providence of God.
This is Bess. Oooh I L.O.V.E the bag up there! I really DO think you should try it as a purse. As long as clear horizons are the forecast. come to think of it mom and I remodeled a mini skirt into a purse, could you find something similar in a thrift store somewhere and turn it into a slightly more rain-proof bag?
Bess – I’m glad there is someone else out there that appreciates this adorable bag. I’m just afraid one of my girls are going to snatch it up and use it for dress up.
Do you sew very much? A mini skirt into a purse sounds adorable! Better use (for me anyway) of a mini skirt.
If it is paper then they could color on it to really personalize you new purse. The bracelet is great and pre-loaded with photos for just in case how convenient.
When we got a few new picture frames recently Colin asked if we could put our own pictures in them or if we needed to keep the pictures the frames came with. LOLOL
How fun to win!!
I thought Tim’s comments were insightful, too. Of course, I don’t believe in “luck” and yet, I tend to feel I’m “lucky,” that somehow good is drawn to me. I do think it is God’s blessing, and yet, I’m sad that other friends’ lives seem much more difficult. And you are blessed–look at your great husband and beautiful kids!!!
This was a thread several years ago on SHS. (Or if it wasn’t an actual thread, someone’s comment really spoke to me.) I try to not say “good luck!,” “wish me luck!,” etc. anymore. There’s NO luck about it!
I think the part about “finding time to put in pictures” should be more like if you have the time to sort through 4,000 pictures to choose just a few for the bracelet!
This is Bess,
I sew about once a month, or whenever there is a free chunk of time where mom is sort of free as well. the current project is a skirt, not a mini skirt though. those are solely for purses.
Very cool, Bess! You’ll have to be sure and post a picture on the blog when you finish it. I’d love to see the finished product (or the unfinished, almost done, product).
I think I accidentally deleted my other comment…here goes again.. I LOVE the bag.. .I also have a competitive side when it comes to these types of group games. I LOVE how you tie in biblical things to your everday life and blog without being “preachy.” If I tried that it would sound preachy and I’m pretty sure people wouldn’t want to read it. Anyway, I’ve said this before and want to say again that I LOVE your style!!!! And… I’m so glad we had a chance to meet in person and hope to see you again one day.