What Are The Chances?

Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee. 1 King 8:27

The God we serve is an absolute Being. He is of everything, and everything is of Him and under His control. In other words, there is nothing that happens that God did not know about before it happened, when it was happening and after it happened. God does not exist within the parameter of time; eternity is ever before Him and is ever present in His presence. This is indeed a difficult concept for us to understand.  See, we live everyday within the parameters and confines of time. This God we worship is transcendent, meaning that He is self sustaining, and He exists beyond time and space. Therefore, nothing in the earth or the universe can change or affect His nature. This is the mighty and powerful God that we serve. Now for us, mortal creatures, created by God Himself, things are a little different. From the day we are born, or even conceived, time becomes our biggest challenger. We learn very early that every second, every hour, every day that we live means that it is that much less time that we have in our earthly lifespan. How true is the phase that is often used “time waits for no man”? So we enter into this life race or you might say a “race against time”. A race that everyone eventually loses regardless of the fact that we try really hard to accomplish as much as we can to attain the so call “full life” before we die. Because of the relatively short time to accomplish much in our lifetime, we tend to make a lot of our decisions using the “probability or chance” factor to maximize the volume of our accomplishment. In other words, we learn to gamble.

Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. (Proverbs 23:4)

Because of our human limitations, we have no choice but to place our trust in God in regards to our future, whether we think we do or not. But, again, because of our human frailties, we resist trusting, consciously and subconsciously, and continuously try to take matters into our own hands. This is my question to that fact, if we serve such a transcendent God, One Who knows all, sees all, and provides all, why then, do we place so much of our lives on the “Probability of Chance”? Indeed, huge chunks of our important life decisions are made on chance and the improbability of probability.  We make ourselves feel better and rationalize our thinking by using statistical equations and data. As a matter of fact, we regularly place our Christian beliefs on the back burner and focus our faith on the chance factor. I, myself have made these inadvisable decisions, relying heavily on the chance factor.  A few years back, I took a chance and went fully in the business of purchasing distressed properties. I am not questioning or second-guessing my decision to enter the real estate market, just some of the decisions I made as an agent.  In hindsight, I do now see the folly of my decision to purchase property during a time when I shouldn’t have. The last two properties I purchased on my own accord, not seeking Godly wisdom or following His clear teaching on financial matters. The book of Proverbs is replete with advice and teachings, and in many of the other books of the Bible, God has much to say on money matters, financial dealings, and good stewardship.  Now, my belief is that if I had applied the principles of Biblical finances, I would not have even considered these properties.  Even with the evidence that there were beginning signs of a downturn in the real estate market, I went ahead with the investment anyway not making room for the wisdom of the Word. My whole decision rested on the chance factor, you know, weighing the chances of positive or negative outcome. In other words, I placed my trust in the probability of the house value theory according to worldly standards. Had I applied Biblical principles, I would have been mindful that I was overstretching my finances in a real estate market that was itself already distressed.

Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—He remains faithful forever. (Psalm 146:3-6)

God wants us to rely on Him more and more as we grow spiritually. We know that the revelation of God is infinite and it is impossible for us to fathom all His infinite wisdom and knowledge. However, God has revealed a degree of His attribute to man, and with that He has imparted to us what we need to know to live a life full of faith and holiness. If our God is an absolute Being, if He is ever present and ever knowing, and if nothing that happened from the beginning of time, that which is happening now, and all that is yet to come are not of any coincidence or of chance for God, if He does not operate within a probability or possibility realm, and this is indeed the God that we serve, why then are we so reliant on the unreliable probability of chance? If we accept the fact that God is our provider, our healer and sustainer, why then do we place so much weight on worldly equations and have so much faith in those crazy, worldly “600 million to 1” chance factor instead of simply entering into prayer and supplication to our Lord who is transcendent. Shouldn’t we first seek the Lord who has firsthand knowledge of whether our probability of chance falls in the 600 billion category or the 1 section?

One of the great debates amongst Christians is whether gambling is a sin or not.  Is playing the lotto an activity Christians should participate in? I am not one hundred percent sure of what the correct answer is, but I am a hundred percent sure it can lead to sin. I am also a hundred percent sure that many lives have been destroyed in the process of gambling, and even after winning, many people who get rich from gambling proceedings end up with broken lives and relationships.  Personally, I think when we gamble, we are actually saying to God, “I can’t rely or wait on You, so I’m taking matters into my own hands.” The gambler believes his goals and dreams are more attainable through the meager ratio the probability of chance provides.  In other words, more trust is being placed in the one percent probability.

Have you ever stopped at a service station and noticed the folks who are there to purchase lotto tickets? I am always fascinated to watch the seasoned ticketers; they approach the task with serious intention and purpose.  Their demeanor often shows a person in total reliance on the piece of paper and the set of numbers in their reach. They grasp with tenacity that great hope that they are holding their salvation for life in their hands. Oftentimes, those who are addicted to gambling stay steadfast to get rich-quick options which have a tendency of bringing on to them a nebbish mentality…consistently on the losing end, right there along with the other 600 million. It is this total reliance on chance that leads us to and keeps us trapped in sinfulness.   Listen believers, we worship a God who is jealous of our reliance on Him. God not only wants us to first seek Him first, but He also wants us to be in total submission and accepting of His loving grace.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? (Luke 16:10-12)

In the past few years, there have been many brokerage companies and individuals who have made it in the evening news because of gross mismanagement of funds placed in their care. Most of these mishandling of funds happened because man consistently relies on his own wisdom and ways of operating. They place so much of their decisions on the probability of the chance factor rather than that of the less risky and proven sound market and economic analysis approach. The encroachment of this behavior in the community has proven destructive for our financial systems.   Evidence shows that the biggest strain on this country’s financial system comes from the brokerage sector where guess work has become quite the norm and is relied on more than in any other industry. Jesus warned us of this irresponsibility and in some cases dishonesty as shown in Luke 16:10-12. Brothers and sisters, do not put your trust in a situation that seem to base the forecast heavily on the probability of chance. This is just like drawing straws-banking on the fifty-fifty rule and hoping that the one you choose is the longer of the two. Eventually, you will draw the short straw and detrimentally change the course of your life forever.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:1-3)

A few days ago, I spent a very interesting afternoon with my sister, who is a physician. We were both visiting a couple, loving husband and wife, both battling cancer. Our conversation found us discussing the relationship between doctors and their patients and the care or lack thereof taken by doctors as they impart and discuss medical information.  For example, when a doctor has to deliver the devastating news to a patient that he or she has cancer, what kind of mannerism is employed?  My sister told us that one of the first and most frequently asked question by a cancer patient is, what are the survival chances for their kind of cancer?   She said most doctor will start quoting officially recorded statistical data to the patient, as they usually feel a sense of duty to provide the information recorded in various medical journals. However, she said that she remembers a powerful interlude with one doctor in medical school as he described how he engaged these kinds of conversations with his patients. He said that he was very careful to provide the empirical data: the statistics that suggested the probability and survival chances. But he did not stop then; he went on further. This doctor continued on to interpret the results for that particular, individual patient, “Those statistical ratio are for the other patients; for you, it is either one hundred percent you are healed and survive or one hundred percent you don’t survive, these are your personal stats, and I will do everything I can to give you that hundred percent chance of survival.” Imagine that! What a different perspective. So then, with such equally opposing stats, realistically, what are the options? I want to tell you, there are none but one; the only way is to put your trust in faith: faith in the Lord Jesus. It is only by faith that you are assured of being healed. Your healing will either be earthly, in the natural, or supernaturally and everlasting after death is conquered. Praise Christ for His faithfulness!

The dependence on the probability of chance has also seeped into our family structure. I believe that one of the most profound litmus tests of the condition of our society is what is being done to the institution of holy matrimony. We have taken the mysterious wonder created by God in joining a man and a woman as one flesh and turned it into a betting game. Couples are now entering into marriage with pre-nuptial agreements, in case the odds are not in their favor and they get divorced.  There is no longer a divine covenant between the husband and wife. Instead, what we have is a sign agreement governed by worldly standards. Couples, instead of a commitment to each other, are in the shaky situation based on the “probability of chance” that they stay together, or not. Imagine a family structure that is built on the probability of chance.

I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not for the swift or the battle for the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11 NIV)

“Time and chance happen to them all”. This part of Scripture sums up the limitation of man. You see, no matter how swift, strong, wise or learnt man is, he is still subject to time and chance. Now, what I am about to say might come across as contradictory to all that I have written so far, but I will explain. The fact that we are mere humans with very limited attributes provides some explanation why we feel compelled to rely on the probability of chance as a useful tool when we attempt to make decisions. Now, before you start pushing the contradicting panic button, let me be very clear.  I didn’t write that we should never in any circumstance apply the chance factor. I clearly said that we should not all out rely on it, setting sound principles and wise counsel aside for risk.  As born-again Christians, we should always be in a state of continuous spiritual growth.  One of the ever evolving attributes that emanates from a maturing believer is the clear shift from the reliance on the probability of chance to the reliance on true holy faith. It is this holy faith that Jesus urged us to strive to attain when He told the Disciples “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the mountain, move from here to there, and it will.” Because of our fallen nature, we will never be able to completely shake our dependence on the probability or chance factor. However, the more we deny ourselves and become more like Christ, the less dependent on the probability of chance we will be. So, go ahead, live vicariously, take a chance…try the faith approach; you just might see that it is not so hard after all. And remember, you can’t go wrong when you place your bets on the One Who was, Who is, and Who is still to come. Really, what do you have to lose?

Fr. Jerome Tracey