Time and Chance

The Lord seems to be speaking to me about time and chance. Mike Pink has been doing a serious of blogs about it, which I've enjoyed, but I've also been running into it as a theme everywhere.

I'll insert a blog post at the end, and I want to link to a couple TED talks that are awesome and speak to the topic, but I'll try to get some of my own thoughts out first.

I think this is one area that Christians really struggle with. We have the bible and we can read most of it for ourselves pretty effectively, but we tend to get a lot of help with reading it--both on the parts that we wouldn't understand without an expert and perhaps on the parts that we could have gotten for ourselves. We can call the collection of assisted interpretations incidental dogma. It's the kind of predisposition with which we read the bible that prevents a truly fresh reading. BUT there is remarkably little accurate dogma, whether incidental or deliberate, on the topic of Time and Chance.

Consider the children of Israel charging across the desert, having to wonder around for decades and finally entering the promised land where they are to kill EVERYTHING. And here is this Rehab lady who saves the spies, gets spared, and is in the bloodline of Christ. Think about that for a second. I mean there has got to be someone out there who's meshed this story with Ester saying "for such a time as this," and Jesus saying even the wicked serve the Lord. Someone has to have formulated an official statement, perhaps a crazy one, regarding how Time and Chance relate to an all knowing, all powerful, and eternal God.

I mean sure it might be one of the great mysteries we'll never understand, but that's never stopped us before. I've never really encountered a good opinion on this. I don't know what yet, but I know there is something there to be revealed.





From Mike Pink's Blog:
“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding…; but time and chance happens to them all.” Ecclesiastes 9:11

“Now therefore let Pharaoh seek out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt… And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Since God has showed you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are… And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Gen 41

Here is Solomon telling us that men of understanding don’t necessarily end up with riches. He wants you and I to know there is a game changer that dramatically alter the outcomes in life: Time and chance.

Consider Joseph. The first time in the bible the word “biyn” (translated as “understanding” in Ecclesiastes 9:11) is used is in Gen 41 where it is translated as “discreet” when describing the wisdom Joseph had. Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph’s understanding of his dreams and wisdom to know what to do, that he promoted Joseph and put him over all the land of Egypt.

But it wasn’t his understanding or wisdom that got him the job. While he wouldn’t have gotten the promotion without having great wisdom and understanding, it was “time and chance” that put him in position to be brought before Pharaoh. Time and chance were the big game changers here. And by the way, not all the “chance” occurrences leading up to that moment were particularly delightful.

Joseph was sold to a band of Ishmaelites who happened to be passing by when he was but a teenager. Chance. He was sold to Potipher. Chance. Potipher’s wife got him alone when her husband was gone. Bad timing. He resisted and ended up in jail. Bad break. Coincidently, his cell mates were some guy who was a butler for the king and the other was the king’s butler. Chance. The butler and baker both have dreams that Joseph rightly interprets and what they portended came to pass. What are the chances?

Finally after the butler is restored to his position with the king and promises to remember Joseph, he forgets. Ingrate! Finally, Pharaoh has a disturbing dream which no one can interpret. That chance event triggers the butler’s memory and Joseph is sent for to interpret the dream. He does. Great timing!

So get this, while Joseph was definitely a man of understanding who came into power and great wealth, was it his understanding or time and chance that made that happen? And before you answer that, consider what Joseph said several years later when reunited with his traitorous brothers who originally sold him to those slave traders who happened by that fateful day many years earlier. He said, “But as for you, you thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.”


TED talks:
(A word about TED talks, I would like to point out that I don't agree with every sentiment uttered by TED presenters or even everything these particular videos convey, BUT I have found pieces of inspirations within these and others. In particular, I enjoy them when filtered through my understanding of God.)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhjUJTw2i1M


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLmzxmRcUTo