I don’t believe in luck.

I have to say that I don’t believe in luck . . . and I also have to tell you that this is not as true of me as I would like it to be. In fact, the struggle to avoid attributing the good or bad things that happen in my life to “luck” is a constant one. Having a persistent case of OCD doesn’t help matters; in fact, I could easily blame my superstitious ways on my ever-present anxiety and tidily explain away the heresy inherent in every decision I make to “knock on wood” or throw salt over my shoulder.

But I will spell it out plainly: I do not believe in “luck” for the same reason that I do not believe in “coincidence”: I believe in a God who is in control of all things. I believe that there is a purpose for everything, and that every moment of our lives is woven into the larger tapestry of a story whose end we have yet to see. No “chance”, no “luck”, just a God in whose love and goodness I continue to trust, no matter what my circumstances may be.

With that said, nobody was more amused and delighted than I was when I won a one-hour massage last week in response to an email ad from a local chiropractor . . . and then found out yesterday that I had won a dozen gourmet cupcakes via a contest I entered with a local business via Facebook . . . and sure, those two bits of information, taken together, might lead someone to say that I’ve been having a bit of “good luck” as of late, just as the flat tire I got this afternoon might be interpreted as a change in that “luck” . . .

But I need to remind myself, over and over and over again, that all of the good things in my life, and all of the bad things, and everything in between, come to me not by luck but by the hand of One who loves me more than I can imagine, and who not only wants what is best for me, but knows exactly what combination of good, bad, and everything in between is required for me to become who He means for me to  become.

That’s not lucky. That’s blessed. And I pray that I will continue to remind myself of that minor, yet oh-so-important distinction between the two.