Should Christians Believe in Luck?

Does chance exist, or is God in control of everything? 

“I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11-12)

The main question is, do things happen by chance?  If they do, then one can speak of someone being lucky or unlucky.  But if they do not happen by chance, then it is inappropriate to use those terms.

Christian or not, we find ourselves wishing others and ourselves success in the future:

1) We wish 'good luck!’ before someone takes a test or a new job.

2) We make statements like, ‘it was supposed to rain during our game today but we just got lucky.’

3) We wish ourselves luck when we roll a dice in a board game or spin a wheel in an arcade.

4) We hope for luck to save us from getting caught when we engage in some rule-breaking activity like speeding on the highway or skipping homework.  

Obviously, the concept of luck is applied in a wide spectrum of circumstances from trivial statements to life-altering events, but is wishing luck contrary to what we believe as Christians?  Let’s start by defining the word ‘luck.’  Dictionary.com defines it as, ‘good fortune; advantage or success, considered as the result of chance.’ 

There is nothing wrong with hoping for success in the future, after all, we're all uncertain about future events, good or bad.  But when we believe in luck, we are implying that future successful events happen randomly as a result of chance. 

The problem for Christians is, we can't believe in a God who is in control of our future all the time, while also believing that events happen randomly or that God himself is subject to chance and gets lucky.  They simply can't both be true.  So, let's see what the Bible says.  There are some Bible passages that seem to imply that chance plays a role in our lives.   

Here’s a small sample:

1) Casting lots was a common practice among the ancient Israelites. It was used when difficult decisions had to be made.  The high priest carried with him, Urim and Thummim (two precious stones) that he would pick at random when it came time to decide on important matters.  In 1 Samuel 14:40-42, a lot was cast to find Jonathan guilty.  In the story of Jonah, the lot was cast to find who was at fault for the raging sea.  The idea with casting lots is not to let chance decide people’s fate.  Instead, it is to discover God's purpose or plan in a particular situation. 

2) Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 suggests a randomness in life.  “…the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor richest to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.”  This is an insightful observation about the apparent randomness in life by a wise king.  If we stop reading the book of Ecclesiastes at this verse, we would conclude that events in our lives are controlled by chance, but thankfully that’s not how that book ends. 

 3) Ruth 2:3 describes the story of Ruth.  “As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz…”  This gives the impression that Ruth met her husband Boaz by chance.  But again, the rest of the book sees that event as being under God's direction.

 For every passage in the Bible that seems to imply that our lives are controlled by chance, there are numerous others that affirm that God is directly in control of the events of our lives:

1) Proverbs 16:33 reads, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” Casting a lot may seem random but even that outcome is from the Lord.

2) Isaiah 46:10 describes a God who declares, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.  I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”  

3) Psalm 139:16 talks about a God who has a book with all the days of our lives written in it before any of them came to pass.  “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

So, according to the Bible, events in our lives don’t happen randomly.  They are all part of God's plan.  I think, if we're honest, most of our worries for the future are not about the good things that are going to happen to us but about the bad things.  The good news for Christians is, the bad things work out to be good at the end!  That’s exactly what Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

From an earthly perspective, things may seem to happen at random, but throughout all of Scripture, it is clear God is sovereign and in control of all His creation and is able to take the random acts of natural law, the free will of both good and evil people, and the wicked intent of demons and combine them all to accomplish His good and perfect will.