Good Luck – Bad Luck

In the every day, worldly manner of speech there are two expressions that are often used: “good luck” and “bad luck;” or “lucky” and “unlucky”. When something good happens that makes us happy, people usually say, “You were lucky!” On the contrary, when something bad happens that makes us sad, or when we suffer a loss, then we hear the words, “That was bad luck!”

There was once a man who lived in China. He was known for his wisdom. He was poor, but satisfied with what he had; all he had was a horse and a son.

Once, his horse ran away and the people of the village, sympathizing with him, said, “What bad luck!” But the man answered; “I do not know whether it is bad or good luck. We shall see.”

A week later, the horse came back followed by ten other wild horses. The whole village gathered together to congratulate the man for his good luck. The wise man answered, “I do not know whether it is good or bad luck. We shall see.”

The next day, his son got on one of the new horses to tame it, but the horse threw him violently down to the ground and the young man ended up with a broken leg. “What bad luck!” his neighbours in the village said. The wise man in our story answered, “I do not know whether it is bad or good luck. We shall see.” After a month or so, a war broke out and all young people were recruited to go to the front, but the young man had his leg in a cast and could not go.

“That is really good luck!” said the villagers. The wise man answered, “I do not know whether it is good or bad luck. We shall see.”

And so the story goes on without end. Is our own life story something similar? Do we divide our life into periods in which we were “lucky” or “unlucky”?

We can read the whole Bible and we shall not find any of these words. Instead of “lucky”, we find the word “blessed” and in the place of “unlucky” or “bad luck”, we read “temptations” or “trials”.

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience” (James 1:2, 3). In other words, when we have bad luck, when we have to go through trials, when things go bad, when we are tempted, we should not complain, murmur or cry, but rejoice. Is that logic? Is that at all possible? Here we are given a clue in the following word: Faith, “the trying of your faith”. Faith makes everything possible, opens all doors and reaches every goal when it is according to God’s will.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

A Christian can overcome everything by faith. He sees no bad luck in anything, but trials that work out patience and this patience will be rewarded at the end.

When we study the Bible, we find the story of people who went through several hard trials that ended up being a blessing for them or for others. One of the well-known examples is the one of Joseph who was thrown into a well by his own brothers who afterwards sold him as a slave. But what a blessing was Joseph’s life! He occupied the highest position in the court of the Egyptian Pharaoh and saved that land from famine. But even more important than that is the fact that his attitude worked towards the conversion of his own brothers. Let us listen to what he himself has to say, “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life… .and God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” Genesis 45:5, 7.

Was what happened in the past bad luck or good luck for Joseph and his brothers? Was it just a coincidence or part of a plan beyond human imagination? Have we maybe in our life gone through situations in which we have suffered, but they have turned into a blessing for us or for others?

Peter writes, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [him] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, [even] the salvation of [your] souls.” 1 Peter 1:6-9.

This is actually our greatest and main goal–the salvation of our soul. And we know that it is through trials that we are cleansed from sin and strengthened in faith. It is as we are tried that we grow in patience and hope and get to know our Lord better. The Lord does not allow anything to happen in our life that cannot turn into a blessing, if we cling to Him in faith.

Once, the devil expressed his wish to try Job, a pious, generous and faithful man who served God and his fellowmen. The Lord allowed Satan to attack His loving child. Maybe there is no other story in the Holy Scriptures sadder than Job’s. How “unlucky” he was! In one single day he lost all his cattle; all his children died in an accident and at the end he was deprived of his health. His wife was no support, even his servants scorned him, and he found no consolation whatsoever in his friends. But in the midst of this loneliness and suffering, Job heard God’s voice; he had a revelation of the Majesty of heaven and His creative power and repented in dust and ashes, as told in the Bible. Through this experience his soul was cleansed and he could, from then on, serve God in Spirit. What a blessing!

But there is Someone who suffered even more than Job did, because He was sinless and did not need to repent. He was accused, scorned, beaten up, condemned and finally crucified. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4, 5.

What a blessing that we have accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour! As it is written in Psalm 144:5, “Happy [is that] people, that is in such a case: [yea], happy [is that] people, whose God [is] the Lord.” This is the only context in which the word “happy” appears in the Bible and this word is a synonym of blessed.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, let us drop from our daily speech these two expressions “bad luck” and “good luck” and substitute them for “trials” and “blessings” with the certainty that each trial entails a blessing. Let us remember what Luke writes in Acts of the Apostles 14:22, “…we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” Nothing is in vain; everything has a purpose and the precious virtue of patience will be revealed at the end of times and receive its reward, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” Revelation 3:10.

May the Lord help us to remain on the narrow path and realize what a great blessing it is!
Amen.

Teresa Corti