LOOKING THRU GOD’S GLASSES: CHANCE OR CHANGE – PART 17
Most of us ask the question about how meaningful our lives really are. For some people, life is just a merry-go-round of meaningless activity. Life just isn’t measuring up to what it should be. We hide it in many different ways through alcohol, drugs, extra busywork, overeating, etc.
What do you do about it? If you look at it through human glasses, you might see the answer as chance. If you look through God’s glasses, you see the answer is change. Chance or change!
Chance is when we are not going to do anything about our situation but just sit back and hope that we can be lucky. Maybe something will accidentally fall into our laps. Chances are chance will never solve your problems.
You might see some temporary improvement, but it won’t last. An investment advisor in England has a pet hamster. He decided to place his luck with trading for cryptocurrency with his hamster, Mr. Goxx. When the hamster gets off his wheel, there are two tunnels he can enter; one is for buying and the other for selling. He is currently having some degree of success. The portfolio that Mr. Goxx has produced is up 20% since June 2021. The hamster is outperforming Warren Buffet and the S&P 500, but it probably won’t continue. If it does continue, all that the portfolio produces will not bring about meaningfulness to life.
It’s hard to explain, but the Bible reminds us that even God is in charge of the things we consider to be chance. Proverbs say, “We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall.” (Proverbs 16:13) A chance arrow fired into the air killed King Ahab. II Chronicles 18 declares that the soldier firing the arrow was unaware of where it would go, but God knew all along that it would kill King Ahab. Regardless of what you think the chances are, chance will not bring fulfillment in life.
Fulfillment comes when we see how God can change who we are into what He wants us to be. The only way we discover the abundant life is through Jesus Christ who can change us. The Bible says, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation – the old has passed away and the new has come.” (II Corinthians 5:17)
In life, God is not interested in giving us a few little improvements; He is interested in giving us a new life. He doesn’t sew a new piece of cloth on an old garment because He knows that when it is washed, it will shrink, and the hole will reappear. He wants to give us a totally new garment! (Matthew 9:16)
He changes everything – including our thinking. “For as a man thinks, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7) Change begins with our thinking. We cannot solve today’s problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. As James R. Sherman, Ph. D., says, “You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending.”
Old roads won’t take you to new places. Only Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6) Are you experiencing the abundant fulfillment in life God intends for you? You won’t find it through chance – you will find it through the change that God can make in you!
Are you relying on chance or change?
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Obstacles or Opportunities – Part 1
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Burdens or Blessings – Part 2
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone – Part 3
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Grumbling or Gratitude – Part 4
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Problems or Possibilities – Part 5
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: I or WE – Part 6
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Getting or Giving – Part 7
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: A Sad Situation or a Simple Solution? – Part 8
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Bib or Apron? – Part 9
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Negative Circumstances or Positive Responses – Part 10
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Counting Points or Counting People? – Part 11
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Selfishness or Servanthood – Part 12
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Two Different Olympic Ceremonies – Part 13
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Fake or Real – Part 14
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Success or Significance – Part 15
- Looking at Life Thru God’s Glasses: Rules or Relationships – Part 16
- Looking Thru God’s Glasses: Chance or Change – Part 17
