Francis Kong's Blog Post: Luck or God?

Posted: 14 Jan 2012 03:34 PM PST

A farmer had one old horse that he used for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and when all the farmer’s neighbors heard about it, they sympathized with the old man over his bad luck. “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows? Only God knows." said the farmer.

A week later, the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows? Only God knows” said the farmer.

Then, when the farmer’s son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone agreed that this was very bad luck. Not the farmer, who replied, “Bad Luck? Good luck? Who knows? Only God knows.”

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and forced every able-bodied young man to go fight in a bloody war. When they saw that the farmer’s son had a broken leg, they let him stay. Everyone was very happy at the farmer’s good luck.

“Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows? Only God knows.”

This ancient Chinese story tells us a lot about what's going on in our world. If there's one thing that really amazes me it is the fact that just when the the knowledge age is hamde men more knowledgeable, there is likewise an upsurge of interest into the occult (Vampire movies), astrology and mysticysm. Visit your friendly neighborhood book stores and you will discover that the shelves assigned to carry such books have expanded tremendously. Man will always hunger and thirst for that mysterious dimension which is the spiritual realm and all means will be exhausted in order to have a glimpse into the future and the unknown.

Something doesn’t seem to connect here. If my life is governed by luck whether good or bad, then where would I place God? My Bible says that God is in full control and so nothing ever happens without His knowledge and control. And so if I believe in this, then where will I put luck? It doesn't take a lot of intelligence to figure out the fact that being a Christian and believing in luck is a contradiction in terms.

I just make it simple. I do my best and God does the rest and I'm not going to let any fortune teller tell me how to live my life and neither am I going to allow any moronic horoscope to dictate what my day will be.

Sometimes it seems like things are going well, and at other times, things seem to be going badly. And we let those things dictate our feelings and our outlook on life. When things are going well, we’re happy and we think God is with us. If they are going badly, we get discouraged and think that God must have abandoned us. We end up being tossed around by our circumstances. And if faith in God is sadly wanting, then the tendency is to believe in luck.

But the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4 that he had learned to be content, even happy, in all circumstances. He was happy when things were bad (he was in jail at the time), and he was happy when things were going good as well. That’s the great thing about being part of God’s family. We really don’t have to worry in our circumstances, because no matter what, we have hope in Christ. “We know that in everything, God works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).

Believe me this is such a liberating feeling. To know that my life and my future is in God's hands. So I can travel without a charm in my wallet and I can pass under the ladder and enjoy seeing a black cat cross my path. Every single fortune teller died and remained dead. Jesus Christ rose up from the dead and that's why I'm putting my trust in Him! It’s a spritual discipline we all have to exercise.