Are Lucky People Happy?

   Have you ever met someone who just seems to have it all together? That person who doesn't seem to have anything bad happen to them. Or maybe the person just seems to have blessing after blessing poured on them. We may think of celebrities who are rich and famous. We may think of a CEO of a popular company. We would call these people lucky.
   I would be very interested to hear these lucky people's answer to this question: are you happy? Some of them may say yes. Others may say no. I wonder if they stay up at night worrying about their finances. I wonder if they worry about their relationships. I wonder if they question what the meaning of life is. The very people who we may consider lucky have problems too. Many of them may even try to hide their problems. They may even question why they are here or what happens after they die.
   Matthew 16:26-27 says, "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done." Sometimes the people who we think are lucky worked hard to get where they are. Others may have done things that hurt others. They may have done things they are not proud of. If they did that, they may be happy now, or feel lucky now, but they will not feel happy in the end. 
   God calls us to live our lives for him. He doesn't promise us happiness or being lucky on this earth. He does promise that he will be with us, love us, care for us, and save us from our sin. No matter if you feel lucky now or not, I encourage you to trust in God. Trust in Jesus Christ as your savior. That is the most important part of our lives on earth. Not that we feel lucky or happy, but that we know Christ as our personal savior. Then we share that good news with others. 
   So, are you focused on the things of this world or on Christ? Have you chosen to trust in Jesus as your savior? Are you following the Great Commission?
   Image from here.

Power of Perspective: St. Patrick's Day

   Okay ya’ll, it is getting crazy out there. People are all freaked out about the virus. Many states are in lockdown of some sort. Grocery stores are rushing to keep up with supply and demand of items. And, worst of all, there is a toilet paper crisis! Alright, that last one seems a little ridiculous but it is still a fact that paper products are becoming endangered species in America. To top it all off people are panicking for multiple reasons. Many people don’t have jobs right now, there is a national state of emergency, people are sick, and people are dying.

   With all of that going on it may be difficult to remember that today is St. Patrick’s Day. When one thinks of St. Patrick’s Day they probably think of green, leprechauns, clovers, and luck. About now, I’m pretty sure many of us are not feeling too lucky. In fact, we may be feeling unlucky. But, I think our perspective needs to change.

   You may be saying, “what does my perspective have to do with anything?” I’m glad you asked. Rather than focusing on all the things we don’t have we should focus on what we still do have. Do you have shelter? Do you have food? Do you have electricity? Do you have family, friends, health, love, etc.? If you have any of these consider yourself lucky. Actually, strike that, consider yourself blessed. Some people may not have those things. Those are the people we need to help spread our blessings to and we need to pray for them.

   God promised his people many things. His chosen people started with Abraham. Abraham was promised 3 things: land, seed, and blessing. He was told that God would bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him (Gen.12.3). God kept his promise and blessed his people.

   God gives us blessings too, just as he blessed his people. James 1:17 says: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” God has given you everything you own. He gives and takes away. We don’t always know why God takes certain things away but he has a plan for our lives. He doesn’t change. He still wants good for us.

   So yes, it seems like many of us are unlucky because we don’t have jobs, are on lockdown, are running out of food, are sick, or dying; but, God gave us all of the things we have in the first place. He gave us blessings that we have. We are to share those blessings with others, even in hard times. I think we need to focus on banding together to make it through whatever is going on right now. We need to care about others, pray, and trust God.

   Image from here.

Luck or a Miracle?

   Each week in my classroom the students have jobs. One job is to be the line leader. During my time as a Kindergarten teacher, I had a little boy be the line leader. I noticed he was walking a little slower than most other line leaders. I looked down and noticed that he was stepping on the individual tiles trying to avoid stepping on the cracks.
   I told him that he just needed to walk normal but then I started thinking about all of those old superstitions. I'm sure this boy was doing this just to have fun and wasn't thinking about superstitions but it still got me thinking about them.
   Why do we have superstitions? It is because we believe in luck. We think we can have good luck if we do certain things and bad luck if we do others. Is there such thing as luck?
   If you need money to buy water, because you are really thirsty, and someone gives you a dollar because you helped them out is that luck? If you find a wallet on the street and return it to the person it belongs to, then that person gives you a reward is that luck? I do not accredit that to luck. Some people may call those instances coincidence but I call them miracles.
   Are these miracles like making the lame walk? No, instead they are little everyday miracles. God is everywhere. He is in all instances and things. Why can't we call these miracles?
   Jesus said all it takes is faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains (Mat.17.20). God is able to do anything, and with him nothing is impossible. If he wanted to, he could give us all the power to fly. I don't see that happening but I do see God at work every day.
   I see him in the friend who sends a text just as I need it. He's in the little ones who I teach when their eyes light up because they learned something new. And, he is at work in the hearts of those who we think are long gone (Paul). Those are what I call miracles, not luck. What do you call them?

   Proverbs 16:33, Romans 8:28-30, James 1:17

From "Lucky" to "Unlucky"

   Pause for a second. Think about the luckiest person in the Bible. Now, think about the unluckiest person in the Bible. You have your answers? I know I do… in fact my answer is the same person: Job.

   Job was probably the richest man on earth during his life. “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East” (Job.1.1-3). Job thanked God for what he had every day.

   Then, all of the sudden, everything he had was taken away. We are not just talking about his animals. We are not talking about his home. We are talking about his family. In his family only his wife was left. Then, after he refused to curse God, he lost his health. His friends came over to weep with him but later say it is Job’s fault he lost everything (Job.2-5). When Job needs encouragement, and needs someone to just listen to him, his friends blame him.

   Job went from the most blessed man on earth to what seemed to be the most cursed man on earth. His wife even told him to curse God and die (Job.2.9). In all aspects of life it seemed like he had every right to be upset with God, especially since this went on for months. Job did question God but he never cursed Him. He knew that God had a plan and could bring about blessing even though it felt horrible to go through that (Job.1.21).

   Because Job obeyed God, and did not curse Him, God blessed him even more than before. If Job was alive today and received that today his wealth would be around 5 million dollars (Patrick Morley).

   What lessons can we learn from Job?

1.       The Lord giveth and taketh away (Job.1.21). We tell God that he is good. We say we believe he has a plan. But when the going gets tough what do we do? We turn and ask God, “what are you doing?” You ever think that God knows what he’s doing? You should think that because he does. Think about all the people from the Bible. They went through some difficult times but they stuck with God. If they did not, their stories would not be remembered today. We need to remember, like Job, that sometimes God’s blessings come in the storms of life.

2.       Encourage the hurting (Job.2-5). Do not, I repeat, DO NOT be like Job’s friends. If Job’s friends actually knew him they would know that Job did nothing wrong. Most of the time, when someone is truly hurting, he does not need to hear “it must have been something wrong you did.” He does not need to hear “everything happens for a reason.” What he needs to hear is “I am here for you,” “do not give up on yourself,” and most importantly “God is still with you.” Job just needed someone to cry with. He needed someone to listen. We must take a lesson from Job’s friends. If someone is hurting just be with them, pray from them, hug them, and do what you can for them. Never assume you know what that person is going through.

3.       Trust in God (Job.42.1-2). When all else fails, and you cannot go on, lean on God. Remember that God has great plans for you. You just need to be willing to walk through the valleys and climb some big mountains.

   So, will you choose to trust that God knows what he is doing? Will you encourage others during their times of need?

   Image from here.