"Chance,"
"Luck," or "Accident"
(J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Luke"
1858)
"Are not five sparrows sold for
two pennies?
Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth
more than many sparrows." Luke 12:6-7
Nothing whatever, whether great or
small,
can happen to a believer, without God's
ordering and permission.
There is no such thing as
"chance," "luck,"
or "accident" in the Christian's journey through
this world. All is arranged and appointed by God.
And all things are "working together" for the
believer's good.
Let us seek to have an abiding
sense of God's
hand in all that befalls us. Let us strive to realize
that a Father's hand is measuring out our daily
portion, and that our steps are ordered by Him.
A daily practical faith of this
kind, is one grand
secret of happiness, and a mighty antidote against
murmuring and discontent. We should try to feel in
the day of trial and disappointment, that all is right
and all is well done.
We should try to feel on the bed
of sickness that
there must be a "needs be." We should say to ourselves,
"God could keep away from me these things if He thought
fit. But He does not do so, and therefore they must be
for my advantage. I will lie still, and bear them patiently.
What pleases God shall please me."