In 1971, Clint Eastwood delivered that iconic line that has remained emblazoned in the minds of Americans. “You’ve gotta ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” While not an endorsement of the movie, Dirty Harry left many asking that question: Do I feel lucky?
To enhance their luck, many turn to superstitious devices and beliefs. For instance, have you ever wondered why the horseshoe was considered lucky? A bit of research revealed that this is a carryover from Europe where it was believed that iron warded off evil spirits. “Another reason has to do with an Irish folktale about a blacksmith who was forging horseshoes when he was visited by the devil, who asked for shoes of his own. The blacksmith put a red-hot shoe on the devil’s foot, and the devil, in extreme pain, vowed never to go near a horseshoe again.”1
A rabbit’s foot is supposedly a good luck charm. The explanation takes us back to ancient Rome. During these times, medical practices often did more harm than good. A rabbit’s foot had been purported to be the miracle elixir. Keep a foot in your pocket and your cramps, indigestion, and other ailments will disappear. As the ideas migrated into the Western hemisphere, they also devolved from medicinal usage to that which would have mystical powers, providing fortune and favorable things to the one possessing the rabbit’s foot.
The four-leaf clover is another peculiar lucky superstition. A study from 2017 discovered that one in 5,000 clovers were four-leafed. A three-leafed clover was already special but finding that one with four-leaves – how lucky you were!
Unfortunately, the word “luck” has become such a part of our vocabulary that it creeps out without hardly a notice. Something good happens and we declare how lucky we were. Someone is getting ready to do something and we wish them “good luck.” We avoid something bad and we say, “I was one of the lucky few.”
Ugh! Did you ever have to wash your child’s mouth out with soap? Maybe it would be good for us to wash our own mouths out with soap and eradicate this word from our vocabulary.
While the word “luck” is not in the Bible, another word conveys the same sentiment. Ecclesiastes 9:11 says, “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.” From an under-the-sun perspective, it appears that events are random and the luck-of-the-draw determines whether things will go well for you or not.
This is NOT Biblical! Ruth 2:3 tells how Ruth came to the field of Boaz. “And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.” “Hap” can mean unforeseen meeting or that which happens. Whether your “hap” happened by luck, chance, or divine intervention all depends on your theology. Ruth and Naomi’s theology was right. Ruth 4:14 says, “And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.” God orchestrated the events.
Proverbs 16:33 shows this point very clearly. “The lot is cast into the lap (man’s perspective); but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD. (God’s perspective)
When discovering who had sinned in Israel and caused so many to die in battle, the principle of this verse was put into effect. Joshua 7:14-18 says, “In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man. (15) And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel. (16) So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: (17) And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken: (18) And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.”
Do you really think someone just got lucky as the lots were cast and the guilty party was whittled down from 12 tribes to one individual? That takes a tremendous amount of faith to believe that! It’s much easier to believe that God had his hand on every portion of man’s plans.
Remember today that luck doesn’t exist. They are no lucky charms (other than the cereal!) whereby the possessor is better off for having it. There is a Sovereign God who orchestrates every nuance of life.
Isaiah 46:9-10 says, “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, (10) Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”
1https://interestingfacts.com/good-luck-symbols/
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