Life Is...

Life is...whatever we make of it. Sometimes it is great. Sometimes it really sucks. John Lennon, the Beatle, said "Life is what happens while we're making other plans." We heard that same quote near the end of the movie, "Mr. Holland's Opus." Life for me was really great when I was there watching three of my four children be born. Life really sucked the morning I walked into my mom's bedroom and discovered she has passed away during the night. I am sure you have your own experiences,

positive and negative, that you could list and some would make mine seem minor by comparison.
If you have ever been around me when something happened, then you probably heard me say just the title, "Life is", meaning "life is what it is". We do have some control over the things that we do and that happen to us. To the limit of that control, we are responsible. There are also things that happen, good and bad, which are out of our control and we have to accept them for what they are. We have no control over buying that winning lottery ticket or having a traffic accident that is the other guy's total fault. It is how we deal with it that really counts and that is under our control.

Many times we like to take the credit for what happens or give it to God or to his archenemy, Satan. Sometimes, it is just random chance, good or bad. If you walk into a convenience store and buy a winning lottery ticket, I don't believe God arranged for those random numbers to spit out at that exact moment. We may certainly thank him for that event and hopefully use that money for good. By the way, don't forget to give him his share. On the other hand, if you are laid off from your job, one you really love to do, it can just as easily be the result of poor management or a downturn in the economy. Many people in that situation like to blame God or Satan for what happened, when the reality is neither one had anything to do with it.

Okay, you say, so random chance happens to you, good and bad, so what? So it is how you handle that random event that opens the door for either God or Satan. The lottery winner who does positive things with his millions is definitely listening to what God has to say and the guidance that comes with it. There is nothing wrong with using that money for our own benefit, after giving God his share first. So you want a new house, cars, vacations, perhaps quit your job, or any other use of that money. Do it! God wants us to be prosperous. It is the fool who uses good fortune for evil, and we know where that comes from, who will suffer in the end. Spending good fortune on things which are a violation of God's rules is definitely a misuse.

Things happen to people, to you and to me. Sometimes it is the hand of God that reaches down to boost us up in a time of need. Sometimes it is a trial that he allows us to experience in order to give us the chance to build up our spiritual strength. Like what? Like the trials of Job. Certainly, he came out of that time of trial much stronger than he was when it started.

The bottom line is that life happens to us whether we are ready or not. It is how we handle that happening that really counts. There is certainly nothing wrong with thanking God for what has happened to us when it was just chance, but the important thing is to use that random event to draw even closer to him and to give him the glory which he certainly deserves.