The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. (Proverbs 16:33)
Our lives are made up of moments big and small, but for some reason it seems we tend to only associate God with the big moments and chalk up the small ones to being just “random events”. You drop something and it shatters all over the ground…you stub your toe on the corner of your bed…someone says something out of the ordinary…the list goes on and on…random? God says no.
Even the very concept of “casting lots” God says he is control of. We can conclude from history that “casting lots” was something akin to rolling dice. So, yes, this means even those who love to pull the lever at the slot machines or roll the dice at the craps tables, or people who win the lottery…God decides. This also means, for all those sports fans out there like you and me, God decides who wins sporting events. Doesn’t seem fair when our favorite team loses though right? Even still, God is in control…100% complete control.
And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. (Acts 1:26)
The apostles understood the sovereignty of the Lord all too well. They cast lots to determine who would replace Judas Iscariot. However, many times these so-called “random” moments in life can seem extremely unfair. Especially when they’re moments of sheer terror or utter evil, but to the Christian we understand that Gods ways are not our ways so we cannot attempt to try and reconcile why God allows rape, murder, molestation, etc. Our Creator created logic but often times events that happen in life seem illogical to us, why, because even though God created logic it doesn’t mean he is confined to logic. There are also moments when our sense of justice is not Gods’ justice and sometimes we are painstakingly made aware of this fact. In our limited minds we feel that people should get what they deserve but if we’re analyzing the scriptural data correctly then we know that this is not true at times when we stack that belief up against the mercy of our Lord. If everything we know happens for a reason than this must mean even these acts of absolute evil happen for a reason as well. We know God is not the author of sin, but we know that God uses all sin and evil for our good. “All things” covers both good and evil in the passage below.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Sometimes God’s reasons are revealed to us, as such is the evidence in scripture, but we also know that sometimes His reasons are never revealed to us, as such is also the evidence in scripture. Take for example the “sudden” loss of your child that was absolutely unexpected. You may never know why God decided to allow your child to die. Even the very attempt to understand could send you spiraling down a dark road.
Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall come to the grave, because in him there is something good toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. (1 Kings 14:12-13)
In 1 Kings there is an account of an evil king of Israel named Jeroboam. He’s so corrupt he even creates his own religion in Israel and turns Israel against God. He sets up “altars” in “high places” and builds extravagant temples to pay homage to the demonic god Baal, but at a point in his story his son Abijah becomes ill. He then instructs his wife to “disguise” herself and go to a prophet to inquire about the fate of his baby boy. When Jeroboam’s wife speaks with the prophet he tells her that the entire line of Jeroboam will be obliterated except for his son Abijah, because God saw something “good” in him. The point here has nothing to do with the evil ways of Jeroboam and Israel, or how Jeroboam thought he could deceive God by disguising his wife. The main point is to notice how God does not reveal to us any reason why he spares Abijah from a gruesome death like the rest of the line of Jeroboam in those passages, so we can understand that while we are here we will never know what kind of plans our Lord has on the other side of the veil for loved ones we’ve lost. What might have felt like a “random” or “senseless” death to Jeroboam, whether he believed or not, was in fact not “random” or “senseless”. This is a hard pill to swallow when we see children die or get killed or see a good person come to a bad end that, from all intents and purposes, feels and looks “random” and “senseless”. This is one of the main reasons why people turn from the Lord, because they think God should fit inside their boundaries of what is “just” and what is “right”.
In contrast the world will tell you without a shadow of a doubt that, yes, random events take place in our universe. Even the very beginning of existence was a “random” event to the world, but you and I most definitely know otherwise. So in reality “random” is not reality. It just feels like reality, but are we to live life based on feelings? No, we’re to live life based on faith and faith alone and faith is most definitely not a “feeling”. Faith is a “knowing” of the things unseen. “Random” events and “coincidences” are an illusion brought on by the world. Even the brilliant mind of Einstein knew there was an “intelligent design” to the universe. There are too many aspects and characteristics of the universe we live in to say everything came about and happens because of “random” nature. Science even indicates our world has a “strange” relationship with the cosmos that is unexplainable currently. The scientific world is calling this “strange” relationship earth has in relation to the known universe “the axis of evil”, because if proven true on a scientific level, it would turn the entire knowledge of the universe that mankind has attained thus far upside down. You and I know our planet has a “special” relationship with the universe because of Genesis 1:1…
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Our Lord creates the universe and earth at the same time…yet this fact still remains a “mystery” to the world.
We must always remain vigilant to the fact that EVERYTHING is part of God’s plan. From the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings to the destruction of The Twin Towers on Sept. 11th. To cows grazing in a field, to The Holocaust, to the direction the wind blows, to the birth of a coming Antichrist. Nothing in the universe happens without God allowing it to. Time is unfolding exactly as it should. If we lose sight of God’s omniscience then it might lead us to a place of cynicism.
So if The Bible is clear that “random” is just an illusion what does that mean for “free will”? Good question.
Here I Am, Send Me 