As Luck Will Have It

I knew a church that often enjoyed pot luck dinners.  All sorts of dishes would show up from kitchens in the community: fried chicken, ham, lasagna, chicken and rice casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cucumber salad, macaroni and cheese, pinto beans, asparagus, chocolate cakes, apple pies, puddings and much more, … too many to list. Those who made their way down both sides of the table emerged with plates running over.  The biggest problem was finding enough space on the plate to sample everything that showed up. 

The church called a new pastor who was not familiar with the culinary traditions of the church.  He was staunchly set against all forms of gambling and soon railed against the very idea of a pot “luck” dinner.  The deacons and the women of the church got together and changed the name of their frequent fellowship to a “pot providence” dinner, which seemed to calm the theological storm so that everyone could once again enjoy the cooking.

I know it sounds a little odd. But strange things happen in churches and it does raise a question.  How much of life is providence and how much is just plain good and back luck?  For some, of course, there is no such thing as chance.  Everything, down to the smallest detail of every day is providential.  And for others, there is no such thing as providence.  Life is just the luck of the draw. But is it?

Forest Gump, in the classic movie of the same name, contemplated the question that faces us all. Is life the result of random chance, like a feather balanced on the breeze, or does destiny direct our path?

Mathematics contains an entire field of probability and chance. Any single flip of a coin cannot be predicted. But if that coin is flipped enough times, it will eventually sustain the laws of probability. All things being equal, it will turn up tails just as often as it lands on heads.  This is called the “law of large numbers.”

The entire insurance industry is built on the actuarial tables of probability.  The probabilities are so predictable that billions of dollars are invested every day based on no more than the predictability of probable outcomes.

At the same time, some of the greatest men in American history have recognized the power of a providential presence. Benjamin Franklin opened his famous autobiography by saying, “I desire with all humility to acknowledge that I owe the mentioned happiness of my past life to His kind providence.”  George Washington repeatedly referred to “providence” as a guiding force throughout his life.

In 1862, during the Civil War, Lincoln stated, “If after endeavoring to do my best in the light which He affords me, I find my efforts fail, I must believe that for some purpose unknown to me, He wills it otherwise. … and though with our limited understandings we may not be able to comprehend it, yet we cannot but believe, that He who made the world still governs it.”

Reflecting on his life, King David wrote, “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me  when as yet there was not one of them.” Psalm 139:16).

Isaiah declares, “And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”  (Isaiah 58:11)

While God has established laws of probability in the universe as real as the physical law of gravity, He has also established His providential presence by which we can discover His plan and purpose for our life.