You may throw the dice, but the LORD determines the outcome

As I was scrolling through Facebook, I saw a post from a gentleman stating we are responsible for our choices and the events which come about because of those choices. I usually do not respond much on Facebook--it is a waste of my time and energy; however, this comment made me quite upset. I see it as flawed logic.

Many people believe if you choose A and your outcome is A, you should not be upset about the outcome since you choose A. In a perfect world, I could agree with this. However, many times we choose A, and we get outcome P, U and Z--things which we never imagined could have happened by making our choice. In fact, if we would have been alerted to the outcome of our decision, we would have made a different choice.

Moreover, there are often events which happen in our lives which are beyond our control. For example, you are walking down the street, and you are hit from behind by a speeding car which lost control and jumped the curb. Subsequently, you are paralyzed from the neck down. You cannot work. You lose your home and have to file for bankruptcy due to the enormous amount of debt accumulated from extensive medical bills. I know there are folks out there saying, "If you would have been paying attention while walking down the sidewalk, you should have heard the car hit the curb and in the few milliseconds of advance warning, you should have been able to move out of the way. You would not have had all these other unfortunate events. You are just playing the victim." I call this logic, "It did not happen to you; therefore, the event could have been avoided."

I believe life is all about making choices. Most often, we like to feel we are responsible for the outcomes of our choices. If you choose to study hard in college, then go on to law school and become a lawyer, we feel we worked hard; therefore, we deserve the outcome. What if you studied hard in college, went to law school and in the middle of your studies, your father was killed? Now, since you are the oldest, you are needed to support your mom and five younger siblings. You do not have the time to commute halfway around the country to run the family business and continue your studies. Now you have to make the decision to continue pursuing your dream or supporting your family. You must make a very difficult decision, and the outcome of either choice is unknown.

And this is where God comes into play. We are constantly faced with decisions to make, but the outcome is one which God controls. We have seen two people in similar situations make the same choice, but the outcome can be vastly different. Why does this occur? For example, how can two people who decide to get drunk and then decide to get behind the wheel have two very different outcomes? The answer is God. We may make decisions, but the outcome is from God.

And this is what we have to accept. Whatever comes into our lives, God has allowed it to happen. Things often happen which are far beyond our control. The challenge is not that an event happened, but it is how you respond to the situation. You can choose to be happy, sad or indifferent. You can choose how this outcome will affect the rest of your life--and that is the real test.

"The lot is cast into the lap, but every decision is from the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33).