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Don Locke: Looking Through Bifocals

God does not deal in luck. He doesn't knock on wood. He has no time for fortune tellers, soothsayers and the like . . . or throwing salt back over each shoulder and muttering some kind of mumbo-jumbo nonsense. He has no need to; he knows WHAT has happened, what IS happening, and what WILL happen. It is simple as that. He lets nothing happen by chance. That would be turning over the operation of the world to something or somebody else. He lets nothing usurp authority or power over Him.

We get the work LUCK from the Latin, Lucifer (Satan). Why would God want to lower Himself to recognize His old arch-enemy, and the enemy of mankind, the Devil, as someone to call-on for help or favor? God says, THAT'S WHAT I DO . . . AND I DO IT BETTER THAN ANYBODY OR ANYTHING. God would not be God if He allowed usurption of power and authority over Himself.

Do we always understand what He is trying to do in our lives? If we did there would be no need for FAITH. But He has a purpose: "To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven . . . " (Ecc. 3:1).

We've all had things happen to us we couldn't explain It's my job to load the dishwasher at our house. Sometimes I'm afraid the sink looks as though it contains the debris of a terrible airplane crash. One of those times when I cranked-up my resolve and tackled the chaos, I noticed the faucet dripping into a slanted coffee cup. Every so often the cup would dump and then right itself, and the whole thing would start over. I watched it fill and dump for a while, then I became fascinated and timed the whole cycle. It took the cup exactly five seconds for the cup to fill enough to dump. It would not empty all the way, just enough to sit back up. I timed it again and again--the same thing . . . every five seconds.

Could I, or anyone, put all those dishes in the sink again just right, turn the faucet handle to expel the exact amount of drip so as to have the cup dump every five seconds and retain enough water to right itself each time? A big NAW.

Chance?I think not. Then if not chance, what? I don't know; I may never know. Maybe God was just reminding me of who He was that day, saying: "Remember, I am in Charge of every thing that happens, even down to the smallest details of life . . . even dirty dishes."

My old friend Ernest was a fine singer. I had not seen him in years . . . or even thought about him. I was back in my hometown driving down the street. My car radio was on. A fellow was singing. I thought to myself, "That singer reminds me of Ernest." About that time I looked up and there was Ernest, stopped at a side street waiting to turn onto my street. I blew my horn and waved. I followed him to his destination; we had a good visit. I told him what had happened.

Accident? Chance? No. GOD.

One night Bett and I were driving home from an out-of-town trip. I started to turn off at the short-cut we always took. We had taken it many times before and since. But that night something said, "Don't go that way, go around the long way." I told Bett we were going around the long way. She said OK. Maybe she felt something too. What was it, what kind of danger lay in our path? I don't know. Again, I may never know until I get to the other side. We have taken the short-cut many times since, with no trouble. But that night the Lord didn't want us to.

"But the Lord was not in the wind; not in the earthquake, not in the fire. But after the fire, A STILL SMALL VOICE. (I Kings 19:11-13).

Kindest regards . . .


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