Odds play an important part in everyday life. Or at least our understanding of “odds”. We believe in chance, probabilities, and luck because everything that occurs appears to happen on a scale of likeliness or unlikeliness. And based upon our specific interpretation of this phenomenon, we move forward with choices. And so we ask: what are the odds?
Take, for example, the simple act of crossing a busy street. Let’s say you have come to the curb of a thoroughfare well-known for regular traffic. Before you step onto the pavement of the street, you look left, and then you look right. Possibly twice. You are (in the self interest of survival) trying to determine if crossing at this time is wise or unwise. If you see an automobile approaching, you will make a determination of the speed of the vehicle before deciding to step onto the street.
It may not seem immediately apparent, but the reality is, you are playing the odds of whether you will survive this crossing or be killed by the approaching vehicle. You make a quick guess on how fast the car is traveling and how far it is from you and whether you can reach the other side of the street before it arrives. In essence, at that moment you are asking yourself: what are the odds of me making it to the other side? It appears to be a verifiable equation with a reasonably determined result. But is it really?
In truth, there are actually many variables in this situation, the most predominate one being this: will the vehicle remain at its current speed? You have absolutely NO control over the speed of the vehicle, and if it speeds up, your chance of making it decreases significantly. You may well end up road pizza.
You and I make these “odds calculations” everyday, all day, in an almost endless minutia of circumstances. We are compelled to navigate our destiny constantly, because we are finite and limited both in power and knowledge. From our perspective, playing the odds is vital.
But from the perspective of God, there are no odds at all, because He and He alone is the ultimate reality. He is over all events in life; nothing is outside of His purview. And as an avid seeker of higher wisdom, I hope to learn to view life more from His omniscient, omnipresent perspective than from my own limited, restricted perspective.
Here is what God says about odds in life: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Proverbs 16:33.
And He also states: “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” Proverbs 16:1
Ancient people used lot casting often to make decisions between parties engaged in a conflict. They would with draw straws from a bag, or toss pebbles on the ground to see what chance had determined for them. Monumental decisions, even determining who would live or die in a particular situation, were made like this. And why did they do this? Because they believed the higher power, i.e. God, was making the choice for them. And they were okay with leaving it to Him.
The realities of life have not changed. What was true of humanity and life and odds yesteryear is true today. How we view things might have changed somewhat, but the laws that govern life events have not. The same “God” is determining outcomes for people today, whether in a casting of lots or a game at a casino or a personal decision to cross a street.
The goal for the seeker of wisdom is to move away from the idea “I determine my future” to the idea “God determines my future.” Once that mindset is developed and followed, the next step is to learn about this God who determines all things. What is He like, what does He love, what does He hate? What has He told us is good, and what has He told us is evil? These and countless other facets of His being need to be discovered by the searching heart, because in doing so, we can learn to trust in His omniscience and omnipotence over all things… even the results of our decisions.
Which brings me to my final point: understanding God becomes the ultimate and highest goal for all of humanity. If we believe in God – and we should, as there is nothing in all of reality which has greater evidence – then we must come to comprehend the sovereignty of this great being who controls all outcomes in life. He has so arranged it that our free wills are interlaced with His sovereign design in a perfect blend of cause and effect. How those two seemingly opposed realities coincide and support one another has been the study of mankind since time immemorial, and we discuss those concepts elsewhere on this site.
But for now, let us remember who is in control. It’s not us. The one who created all things, including our minds which try to understand all these things, has told us we are not in control, but He is.
It’s not by chance you read or listened this far. Rather, it has been by the sovereign design of a God who wants you to know Him and trust Him. And, odds are, at some point…. you will 🙂
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