Thought for Today
14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still." . . . 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided . . . 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--
Greta just told me that there is some sort of football game on television tomorrow. Who knew? You may have noticed that almost every single advertisement on television this past week was for legalized sports betting (at least it seemed that way). There were even newscast reports about some people wanting to place wagers on whether or not one player’s girlfriend would be at the game in person. Am I the only American totally uninterested in wagering my hard-earned money on the outcome of a children’s game being played by grown men?
By any measure I have ever encountered, I am risk-averse. In every aspect of my life, I have attempted to minimize my exposure to adverse outcomes. Obviously, that is a bit of an overstatement. When I was younger, I loved to snow ski. I even have the scars on my right knee to prove it. For more than 40 years, I commuted 5 days each week more than 40 miles round trip on the highways of our nation’s fourth largest city. So, my own life has accommodated some degree of risk.
All of the buzz about betting has once again brought the subject of ‘odds’ into the arena of public discourse. Statistics and statistical analysis were never my own forte. I took the requisite courses in school, passed the exams, and then contented myself with the knowledge that my highway commutes defied the odds sufficiently for my own risk tolerance.
For the average person, their understanding of statistics and odds is exhausted by trying to remember the odd numbers between 1 and 10. At their heart, statistics and odds merely express the improbability of events happening while they suggest that eventually the event will happen. For what it’s worth, buying a lottery ticket does offer you the possibility of winning the lottery. Buying 2 tickets does not improve your odds of winning appreciably.
As an engineer, I know that numbers are important. Every time I drive across a bridge, I pray that the engineer who designed that bridge got straight A’s in all the requisite civil engineering courses. My limited understanding of statistics and percentages does tell me that the 33% difference in the number of letters between ‘owe’ and ‘own’ represent a tremendous amount of difference in life.
As an American, I am thankful that John Adams, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington were not deterred by the odds of the ragtag citizen colonial army defeating the mightiest military power on earth at that time. Neither were they deterred by the (current) estimation that only 33% of the colonial population supported their cause (historynewsnetwork.org). If you are lost in the numbers, that means that 2 of every 3 people did not support the cause.
As a Christian, I am thankful that no one ever told Jesus or the 12 what the odds of their success might be. What were the odds that they could even begin the process of correcting humanity’s error and restoring Creation to its right relationship with God? What was the possibility of bringing about God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven?
The real question, the incalculable odds are “Can there be any odds if God is on your side?” Statistical analysis can be a valuable tool. Knowing the odds is important in many decision-making instances. I’m not going to bet on the Super Bowl. I’m not going to bet on whether or not any of the players’ girlfriends make it to the game, no matter how famous they might be. I will carefully evaluate all the data and make my own evaluation of any monetary investments I make.
I am going to bet on the outcome of whether or not God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. I have faith in the Creator of Creation. I have faith in the love of God for God’s own Creation. God sent Jesus into Creation to bring about the restoration of Eden. I like those odds. I’m betting my own salvation on it.
Stay safe, have faith, trust God,
Pastor Ray