Proverbs 16:33: The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.
Throughout human history, the casting of lots has been used as a means to make selections in a “random” fashion, or as a way to find the will of a deity. The Bible references the casting of lots 47 times. The most notable being in Psalms 22:18 which refers to the Roman soldiers casting lots for Jesus’s robe as He hung on the cross.
But this Proverbs leads us to something deeper…a concept that Christians and non-Christians alike have a hard time fully understanding or accepting at times…the sovereignty of God.
When we receive “favorable” outcomes in life it’s easy to say, “God is good. He is in control. He is with me.” But it becomes much more difficult when the “bottom falls out” of life, i.e., when someone close dies, we get a bad health diagnosis, one of our children gets into legal trouble, our spouse files for divorce. At those times we feel like “the lots” did not fall in our favor. We may even think, “There is no way God is in control. If He was, this wouldn’t have happened to me.”
This mindset points to two main problem areas:
● Expectations: Our expectation is that if God loves me, nothing bad will happen to me; or at least it won’t hurt much. Plus, He will work things out according to how I’ve got things mapped out in my mind.
● Focus: The focus of our faith is on the “happenings” of life, not the character of God.
God’s sovereignty means: His absolute right to do all things according to His own good will, purpose and pleasure. This includes His right to wait, to say “No”, and to allow unpleasant/painful things to occur in our lives, (think of the lives of Job, Joseph, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, and Jesus). God exists outside of time, so His plans for us can take years to develop and involve people we don’t know and may never meet. Also God is eternal, so He looks at things from that aspect…we don’t.
Revelations 4:11 teaches us: 1) God is worthy of our devotion and praise, 2) He is not only the Supreme Being who created and sustains all things (God), but has absolute ownership rights over all He has created (Lord).
So, the next time the “lots of life” seem to fall out of your favor, remember Romans 8:31-35: nothing can separate you from His love. And as a believer in Christ, your position with Him has been secured for all eternity, with Jesus…Who is interceding for you at this very moment.
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