We work so hard to control our lives. In many respects, God wants us to work hard and not become dependent on good luck or others. But in our effort to become completely self sufficient we have deluded ourselves into thinking we can control everything. So, when things unexpected or unprepared for or unwanted happen, we often do not handle them well because they are outside of the carefully arranged box we call our lives. But this is really a futile attitude to life. In fact, we control almost nothing about our lives.
We are intricately tied to others and we have no control over them. Our job security is above our pay grade for almost everything. The fate of our 401ks in the stock market…we have little control over that. The aggressive driver that cuts of us. Or the slow unaware driver that runs into us. The pipes in our house that burst. The car that breaks down. We can go on and on. And yes, there are things we can do to help mitigate those things but ultimately time or chance will happen to us all. Something out of our control or out of prepped zone will happen.
“Life is just a game of chance.” Steven Redhead writes in his book The Solution: How to Create a
Life Worth Living. And it another book he authored, he called like the ultimate gamble. The outcome of our life is the ability to make the right choice at the right time. In many ways, he isn’t wrong. In fate, much of what Redhead wrote was in fact rooted in Biblical principles.
Solomon tell us that time and chance happen to all. Not even the wise, the strong, the wealthy, the intelligent, the powerful, and the swift can control time and chance. And they can not control death. We must all face it time and chance and none of us can control death.
Armed with this truth, Solomon tells us it is best to enjoy the blessings God has given you. Work hard and enjoy life. Our tight control over everything possible scenario is vain and useless. Instead, trust that God will take care of you. This is a practiced lifestyle but necessary. Because ultimately, we will all face death. The only way we will be able to face it with peace and security is if we’ve spent our lifetime building trust and reliance on God during the storms of life. Eventually we must all pass through the veil and God does not want us to make that walk alone. He wants to guide us through the unknown. But we will only have God has our guide to face death if we’ve allowed God to be the source of our life’s security and stability during all the other “storms.”
Time and chance happen to all. And death comes to all mankind. None of us a control those things. So, how do we cope and live a life not wrecked with fear, we turn to God and trust Him. He won’t lead us astray. God can and will turn every roll of the dice into
something positive for us…if we give Him control of our life.
Adonai's Appeal 