Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Response to "Can a Believer in God Believe in Luck?"

I do not share Dennis Prager's mingled fatalism and theism that explains the cause of accidents, terroristic events, and ultimately the role of good and bad luck in our lives.

In response the terrors and troubles that torment humanity, God had originally prospered Adam and Eve with the covenant to replenish and have dominion over the earth and the Lord's creation, with the condition that if they broke the covenant by partaking of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, they would forfeit their authority. Because our first parents broke the Lord's covenant by partaking of the forbidden tree, Satan then gained dominion over the earth. Hardly "Acts of God", the natural disasters are the work of the Adversary who plagues mankind to this day.

Yet despite the wily Accuser who would condemn mankind, the Lord moves in the lives of those who have faith in Him, to those who hearken to His voice and walk with Him. The Torah provides ample examples in which He actively intervenes and safeguards those who are righteous by faith in Him.

Consider blessed Noah, who also walked with God, and thus found grace in His sight. Noah survived the Great Flood in an ark with his wife and sons and daughters-in-law, all under the guidance and power of the Lord.

How can we forget righteous Father Abraham, a humble (though imperfect) man who heard the Lord? Hearkening to the calling of the Almighty -- Lech Lecha! -- Abraham was strengthened to leave his country and kindred to a land which would flow with blessings for his future and posterity. He enjoyed a miraculous life, too, old and full of years, with a child of promise from his beloved yet long-barren wife Sarah.

Even the Patriarch Job, an upright man who became righteous following his humbled acceptance in the eyes of the Lord, endured such trauma and despair from Satan because Job had not yet formed a covenant with God. Until he acknowledged the Lord's ultimate dependence on the Lord for all things, Job could not enjoy His blessings and unmerited favor.

These mighty men and women of God --- and many more -- had faith that the Lord existed and that He would reward those who trusted in Him.

Therefore, to those who believe on Him, even in the darkest hour, they can stand back -- like Moses and the Israelites caught between the devil and the deep Red sea -- and witness His salvation, a salvation which awaits all who trust in Him, a trust beyond luck which looks beyond and overcomes the sorrows and sufferings of this fallen world!

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