What’s Luck Got To Do With It?
I posted an image to Facebook this week that asked, “Does your plan exhilarate or exhaust you? The best plans succeed on energy produced by passion.” One of the responses to this post added, “and some luck”.
Since I have not considered “luck” a factor for a VERY long time, it really made me stop and think about it. Depending on where we are in our spiritual journey, we might attribute someone’s success to luck. I have thought this way myself when I was growing up. I was taught to work really hard and then I had a chance to succeed but good fortune (or luck) was certainly considered a factor.
Now looking back, I feel so sad for those who feel that luck is their only way to get ahead or that it is even a factor in their success or failure. Thinking this way reduces our existence to one of vulnerability and victimhood when we think life just happens to us and the only thing we can do is react or respond.
I did not get where I am by being lucky. First, I spent time with God and listened to His leading. Then I implemented what I knew to do. I worked REALLY hard and still do. I did not give up even when I did not see results for many months (in the beginning). In this time, I think I was being tested to see if I was committed enough to be promoted. My mind was set ... I was determined. My frame of mind was that either I would succeed or God would take me home first, but I would not stop doing the work I knew I was called to do.
I gained wisdom along the way and applied it. My life became a process of pray, learn and do, pray, learn and do, which eventually evolved to pray, learn and share also (as a teacher).
I included God in most of my decisions. And I say most, because I’m certainly not perfect and I’m just being honest here. I know there were a few times when I thought I had a good idea and just went with it, usually to realize I had gotten ahead of God or missed Him altogether. (It’s not where I want to be because it either is not blessed or any success achieved this way is not sustainable.)
But trying different things is not deadly either. If you think you’ve got a good idea and you feel it’s God-inspired, go for it. At the very least you will gain experience and you will never know what you like to do, are capable of doing and are truly called to do … unless you try a few things.
So ok, if it’s not luck, then what is it? This is something you may need to answer for those you coach. It is your job as a Christian coach, to direct them back to God’s opinion, rather than your own. After all, it doesn’t really matter what you and I think. What matters is what God thinks.
God is sovereign and certainly can cause something to happen. But God also has a passive will, when he allows things to happen. Because we do not have a view of what is happening in heaven, we cannot always determine whether it is God’s active or passive will operating in our lives. But we can be sure that everything that happens, takes place under the umbrella of God’s will, be it passive or active. From that we can conclude that nothing is a matter of sheer chance.
From man’s perspective, things may seem to occur at random, however throughout the entire scripture it is clear that God is in control at all times. He is able to take the random events of natural law, add our free will as well as the wicked intentions of Satan and combine all of them to achieve His perfect will. You will find scriptures to support this in Genesis 50:20, the book of Job, chapters 1 and 42 as well as John 9:1-7.
We know and can be assured that God works all things, whether they may seem good or bad, together for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) That’s for you and me.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose." ~ Romans 8:28 NIV
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© 2015 Leelo Bush PhD
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