Are you Lucky or Blessed?

Early in my career as a doctor I was speaking with a patient who was in his late 40’s (which seemed ancient at that time!) and, while discussing his previous health history, I was marveling at the fact that he had survived for so many years after the diagnosis and surgical treatment of his brain cancer. He had, in my professional and personal opinion beat the odds. I said, “you’ve been so lucky!” He replied, “No, not lucky.” I quickly corrected myself knowing that he was a pastor and might not believe in luck: “Oh, right,” I said “you’ve been fortunate then.” “No,” he said, emphatically correcting me again. “I’ve been blessed.”

That interaction has always stuck with me —a kind of landmark reminder that when I want to attribute my good “fortune” to “luck” (the god of random chance), that I should instead insert the word “blessed” giving credit and glory to the one and true God.

What are the implications of each of these words—“luck” and “blessing”? How does our use of either of them reflect our world view—the mental map we carry of how things operate in the universe? If we do believe in a sovereign God, one around which no event escapes His notice; One who is loving and caring, providing for us and protecting us; we then have a bit of a problem when we are “unlucky.” What do we say when the lightning strike of cancer occurs or the life of a loved one is taken too soon or financial catastrophe comes to our home? When bad things happen are we “unlucky” or “unblessed?” Was God asleep at the switch or is he using difficult situations to teach us a life lesson and therefore redeeming the bad situation as a kind of back handed “blessing?” ("You are blessed by that terminal cancer because you are now more holy and look how many came to faith as a result of your experience!")

I remember in a bible study years ago someone was relating the wonder of the fact that he had missed a significant vehicle-train collision by crossing the train tracks 2 minutes prior to the catastrophic event. The meaning he made of this situation was that God was looking out for him and protecting him—an event worthy of turning to God in praise. I remember wondering about what the driver who had lost his life in the collision would have said about God or the universe. And what did we think? Was God out to get that individual or was he just unlucky—the recipient of bad timing, and random occurrences? Or was it his fault or that of the train conductor for not paying attention?

How we make sense of life events—the story we tell about happenings—matters greatly. The use of the word “blessed” or “lucky” says a lot about our world view and thoughts regarding how things operate—are the occurrences of life merely random events without meaning or are they preordained and scripted by a sovereign God? And really, just how much control do we (and does He) have over our lives?

Here is my mental map for what it is worth: I believe that God is sovereign and loving, that he created and sustains (in some mysterious way that I can’t fully comprehend) the universe. I also believe that bad things happen, in part because of our own sinful nature, carelessness, and malevolence. We live in a world that is out of kilter, not in “shalom”, not operating according to God’s original plan—in a word, a world that is fallen. And so, God allows and sees bad things happening to us but he does not control each and every event in our lives. I also believe that he loves and blesses us in and through both the good and the bad, and that he has a special place in his heart of compassion for those going through the bad. I believe that death and disease do not have the last word. I believe in a God who ultimately makes everything new again and returns all to a state of shalom in the last chapter. And so, I can say with Dallas Willard that “the universe is a perfectly safe place to be.”

Therefore, in my world view, maybe there is a place for both words—lucky and blessed. I believe that I am always blessed, immersed in the bountiful love of God. Nothing can separate me from his presence or love—both are locked in. This is true whether I live a healthy, wealthy, lengthy life or if catastrophe strikes. The random events of life with good (lucky) or bad (unlucky) outcomes will come and go. Sometimes God will intervene in a miraculous (blessing) way in answer to prayer or “just because,” and always he will bless me with his eternal presence and love in and through bad things. Either way, in lucky and unlucky circumstances, in the random and the ordained, I am blessed!

What do you think?