Original: December 6, 2007
McMinnville, Or
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. Ecclesiastes 9:11
3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong. Psalm 73:3-4
Guys hunt a lifetime to take a buck like my cousin Darby took on our New Mexico mule deer hunt. This monster 6x10 with twenty points one inch long or better, over 28 inches wide, 24 inches tall, and had eluded hunters for probably more than seven years. But as we stood over this passed monarch we knelt and thanked God for delivering him to us only 30 yards from a major trail. Only thirty-yards away from us, he was taken without ever knowing we were there!
Was it a coincidence?
Was it by blind chance or even good old luck? Or, did God’s sovereign hand deliver this buck and place him in our path like the ram was delivered to Abraham (Genesis 22:13-14)?
Up to today, my answer would have been my standard, “Absolutely! There are no coincidences with God and Christians do not believe in luck!” But today’s verse out of Ecclesiastes has got me, quite frankly, scratching my bald head in wonder.
I mean, what if luck and chance really do exist? What if random happenings and coincidences really happen? How will this affect my theology?
Then I think of the great athletes from my childhood. I consider contemporary stars like Terrell Owens, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick and OJ Simpson. None of the men listed publicly profess faith in Jesus. None of them have honored God with their lifestyle (from what I can see and read in the news) yet if I don’t believe in luck or coincidence God must have chosen to bless them with athletic ability, fame and prestige that far outweigh mine. What about great businessmen such as Bill Gates and Donald Trump? They don’t profess faith in Christ (again from my very limited knowledge of them) but they have wealth beyond the lifetime of many men.
If I don’t believe in chance, luck or coincidence, then I am forced to believe that somehow God blesses those who have rejected Him.
But what if God turns His back on eternally unimportant things like worldly wealth (wealth that is used to build earthly kingdoms), athletic ability, fame and prestige? What if the natural laws of science are allowed to play out before our eyes? What if the providence of God sits back and allows our choices, genetics and mental capacities play out before the world? I know that God is never surprised, knows all things and is sovereign.
What I am beginning to believe, however, is that coincidences do co-exist along, with blind luck, and chance.
This belief in luck actually helps my theology to understand that God does not bless those who reject and dishonor Him, but allows them to succeed or fail based on natural ability, chance, luck or coincidence.
There is an element of the providence of God that my theology needs to make room for.
But make no mistake about one thing. Nobody will live in eternity with God by chance, luck or coincidence. It is only through accepting Jesus Christ as the ways the truth and the life will a man enter eternity (John 14:6-7).
