Truthfully...Do you believe in luck?

[Rhoni]

There are some people I have counseled with in the past who have a 'victim mentality' and I gave them cognitive behavioral therapy to change the way they look at the situations in their life, giving them a different feeling/attitude, which changes or gives them more positive behaviors.

But if you are a people watcher...you can truly see that some people really do have bad luck. What do you attribute this to? You can only partially blame the person involved...something else is surely going on, but for the life of me I have no answer to this dilemna.

Any thoughts on this subject?

[Ron]

Ecc 9:11 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, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

God alone gives the victory (Psa_33:16). Even so the gaining of bread, riches, favour (i.e., influence, reputation), does not lie in wisdom, prudence, knowledge of themselves, as an indispensable means thereto; but the obtaining of them, or the not obtaining of them, depends on times and circumstances which lie beyond the control of man, and is thus, in the final result, conditioned by God -k&d commentary.

God is the ultimate one in control.
The thing is what do we do with opportunities God gives each and every one of us.

[LadyChocolate]

my friends told me to "break a leg"... so I did... I didn't have any luck but I did have a huge doctor's bill!





jk!

[LadyChocolate]

Actually, I don't believe in "luck" so to speak. I believe that God has our lives under control... I never say I am lucky... I say "I am blessed". I do know that some people are accident prone and some just make many bad decisions and have a hard time learning from mistakes... it just happens!

[Rhoni]

Originally Posted by Ron

Ecc 9:11 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, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

God alone gives the victory (Psa_33:16). Even so the gaining of bread, riches, favour (i.e., influence, reputation), does not lie in wisdom, prudence, knowledge of themselves, as an indispensable means thereto; but the obtaining of them, or the not obtaining of them, depends on times and circumstances which lie beyond the control of man, and is thus, in the final result, conditioned by God -k&d commentary.

God is the ultimate one in control.
The thing is what do we do with opportunities God gives each and every one of us.

Ron,

Although I agree with you and this is indeed a great post...some would tell us that God and the devil get blamed for far to much. But consider this, God is the one that hardened Pharoah's heart when Moses went before him asking for freedom for the children of Israel from Eygptian bondage.

God allowed the barriors/boundaries of protection taken away from Job with the exception of his life. Many people use this as a stopping off point to say that "God trusted Job". That is well and good but despite the things being restored to Job he still had the grief and loss of the children and possession that he had previously.

If God in his foreknowledge knows whether a person will make the most out of an opportunity or not, then why bother. A person can get gunshy after repeated slammed doors. Why would one trust God? Just food for thought here...I have heard many people ask me these questions and some I have no answer for and wonder about myself.

Thank-you for your honest post.

Rhoni

[Ron]

Originally Posted by Rhoni

Ron,

Although I agree with you and this is indeed a great post...some would tell us that God and the devil get blamed for far to much. But consider this, God is the one that hardened Pharoah's heart when Moses went before him asking for freedom for the children of Israel from Eygptian bondage.

God allowed the barriors/boundaries of protection taken away from Job with the exception of his life. Many people use this as a stopping off point to say that "God trusted Job". That is well and good but despite the things being restored to Job he still had the grief and loss of the children and possession that he had previously.

If God in his foreknowledge knows whether a person will make the most out of an opportunity or not, then why bother. A person can get gunshy after repeated slammed doors. Why would one trust God? Just food for thought here...I have heard many people ask me these questions and some I have no answer for and wonder about myself.

Thank-you for your honest post.

Rhoni

Our relationship with God is kind of like a relationship between a husband and wife.
We say the lines for Richer or pooorer, for better or worse, in sickness & in health.

We only see the good things and when bad things come we want to ditch our mate.
People are like that in God.

One minister said, "we will all get our taste of sorrow & our own chance of being bitter."

"It is our choice if we become bitter or better!"

[Rhoni]

Originally Posted by Ron

Our relationship with God is kind of like a relationship between a husband and wife.
We say the lines for Richer or pooorer, for better or worse, in sickness & in health.

We only see the good things and when bad things come we want to ditch our mate.
People are like that in God.

One minister said, "we will all get our taste of sorrow & our own chance of being bitter."

"It is our choice if we become bitter or better!"

Ron, Absolutely, that is why people blame God when a relative dies...knowing we are all going to die anyway, or blame God for not fixing a situation they got themselves into, but then again...time and chance happens to us all...that sucks!

[Ron]

Originally Posted by Rhoni

Ron, Absolutely, that is why people blame God when a relative dies...knowing we are all going to die anyway, or blame God for not fixing a situation they got themselves into, but then again...time and chance happens to us all...that sucks!

But Time & Chance isn't always for bad.
Think about it, hasn't God allowed good things to come into your life for unexpected blessing?

Ecc 7:14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.



There is a day of Blessing & a day of adversity.
He meant it that way so that we would not put our stock in "things or situations" that may not be in our control.

[Barb]

Originally Posted by LadyChocolate

Actually, I don't believe in "luck" so to speak. I believe that God has our lives under control... I never say I am lucky... I say "I am blessed". I do know that some people are accident prone and some just make many bad decisions and have a hard time learning from mistakes... it just happens!

Absolutely agree...

[SOUNWORTHY]

Originally Posted by Rhoni

There are some people I have counseled with in the past who have a 'victim mentality' and I gave them cognitive behavioral therapy to change the way they look at the situations in their life, giving them a different feeling/attitude, which changes or gives them more positive behaviors.

But if you are a people watcher...you can truly see that some people really do have bad luck. What do you attribute this to? You can only partially blame the person involved...something else is surely going on, but for the life of me I have no answer to this dilemna.

Any thoughts on this subject?

I don't believe in luck, goods or bad. Nothing is by chance. God is completely in charge of our lives. All good comes from God and the bad is just God's way of teaching us a lesson or allowing us to learn a lesson. I've been known to say" if I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all"., but only in jest. Since the death of my wife almost two years ago I have been writing my life's story. It has been good therapy for me because I can now see the pattern for the plan God has had for my life. Before; I couldn't see the trees for the forest, now I'm beginning to get the big picture.