the luck of the draw

"today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. you will have to be lucky always."


this was the ira's statement to margaret thatcher, following the  failed october 1984 assassination attempt on her life, where they claimed responsibility and promised to try again.


i heard this on cnn the other night, while listening to yet another report on the recent fire fight and kill that claimed the life and secured the death of obl. as soon as i heard the quote, i knew a blog entry would follow. it was such a compelling statement on their position regarding britain's occupation of ireland. disturbing, yes; but compelling. and at first listen, i thought, "how pithy. i don't agree with terrorism, but who can argue with a statement like that? the ira made the claim that they only needed to get it right once. thatcher would have to get it right every time."


the more i thought about this, the more i thought--nay, prayed--that i would get it right every time...that i would get lucky every time...over and over and over and over again...


this isn't a deep foray into the debate between terrorism and the fight on terror, or between luck and skill, but i want to say that like the ecclesiastical writer states, "the fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle...it is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time." the king james version, which turns 400 years old this year, ends the passage this way: "time and chance happens to us all" (ecclesiastes 9:11).


if chance and being lucky have everything to do with being in the right place at the right time, then unlike the ira, i don't want to just be lucky only once. i want to be lucky every time. i want chance to be on my side every time. i want to be in the right place at the right time every time. i want to be lucky always. that doesn't seem like such a bad thing, especially on the days when i'm not the fastest or the strongest.


in my simple way of thinking, chance and luck are synonyms for God if i'm following Him, because as proverbs 16:9 says, "we can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." while "we may throw the dice...the Lord determines how they fall" (proverbs 16:33). every time. always. while He lets me shake and roll, i want to make sure my dice are guided by Him...every time. always.

so how do we make this happen? how can we be in the right place at the right time? well, the bible indicates that our steps are ordered by the Lord and His Word (psalm 37:23 and 119:133). if i want to get it right every time, be lucky every time, have time and chance happen to me in a way that i'm not overcome by setbacks or overwhelmed by a slower pace, then i need to be immersed in His Word...i can pray and talk to God until i'm blue in the face about wanting Him to direct my steps and He might honour that request, but it's more likely to happen when i regularly let the Word of God speak to me by actually reading it and letting it read me.

the way i see it, time and chance are going to happen to me...but i can be in the right place at the right time if i'm letting God order my steps. and my stops. my steps are numbered, according to job 14:16...so He knows exactly where i am, even and especially in those times when i'm commanded to be still, or to wait, or to hold my ground...

so rank me with the iron lady. i want to be lucky always, not just once :-) the idiom "the luck of the draw" works here, which is to win something in a competition where the winner is chosen purely by chance, and not necessarily because they are the fastest or strongest. in keeping with my synonymous association and interpretation of God and chance, i've been chosen purely by God to win--not because i've been predestined as an individual, but because He has promised to guide the steps and the dice and the luck of the draw for everyone who turns to Him and trusts.

the odds are in my favour and i'm favoured to win, not just once, but always :-)