Reflections 2024.04

 The Apostles Creed (Maker of Heaven and Earth)

Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God
By which He upholds, as with His hand, heaven and earth and all creatures
And so rules them that
Leaf and blade
Rain and drought
Fruitful and lean years
Food and drink
Health and sickness
Prosperity and poverty …
All things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from His Fatherly hand.
– Excerpt from Heidelberg Catechism (Q/A 27)

In the days immediately after graduating from college, some friends and I traveled to Atlantic City to gamble.  This is not an article about gambling.  It is an article about “luck” and “providence.”  I bring up the Atlantic City trip because of two statements which were piped in through the speakers in the elevator as you headed into the casino.  The first was “Have a lucky day.”  The second was “Bet with your head and not over it.”  Two statements, one that suggests there is no control at all in terms of outcomes – all is decided by luck – and the other that suggests one is completely in control – that one simply needs to gamble rationally to have a great time.  It seems, though, that if winning in the casino is out of control (determined by luck), then the most rational thing to do inside the casino would be to not risk your money on cards, dice or slot machines that offer little probability of return.

But what if everything was luck (inside and outside the casino).  It seems that maybe the most rational course of action in that case would be fear and despair, because lots of bad things happen every day and you might find yourself randomly suffering one of those things for no purpose at all … Or maybe the “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die” route is the most rational if everything was luck.  Those who believe that luck is a thing must choose how to deal with ‘bad’ luck.

Now the Christian believes that our Father is the maker of heaven and earth and that everything comes from His Fatherly hand.  And this is important … no luck … all providence.  The LORD guides every moment of your life, whether those moments are merry or not.  And He doesn’t just give you difficulties for no good reason.  Jesus suffered great humiliation, ultimately being crucified on the cross.  All this was for the joy set before Him.  His suffering brought about His resurrection and ascension and exaltation, as well as bringing about our salvation.  All of it was according to God’s wise and holy will, His providence.

Maybe one of the most helpful things for us to remember as Christians is that all things come to us not by chance / luck, but from God’s Fatherly hand.  Not any hand, but His Fatherly hand.  All things are for our best, the merry and the difficult.  May we rejoice in this, that our days don’t need to be lucky, because our days are in His Fatherly hands.