Photo from Watchmojo
The attempted terror plot to blow up Northwest Flight #253 on Christmas Day was barely avoided. For all the passengers on that flight, it must have been a humbling and sobering thought to know that Christmas Day 2009 could have been their last day here on this earth.
Once the plane landed safely, each passenger was interviewed by the FBI. As some of them gave interviews with news outlets, one word that I kept on hearing was “lucky.” In fact, David Schilke was one of the passengers that used the word “lucky.” He was traveling with his wife and 5-year old son. They were on that flight because they missed their original flight from Moscow by 30 minutes. You can read the e-mail he drafted to send to his friends here.
I just find it fascinating how our worldview determines how we see and interpret the events that happen in our lives. There is a stark difference between a secular worldview, where everything is run on “luck” and human choices, while for the Christ-follower, our worldview is based on a Sovereign God who is in control of all things and gives permission for things to happen. It is a completely different way to look at things.
But the sad fact is that there are many Christ-followers who have the same worldview as those who do not know Christ. How many times have you heard Christ-followers say, “Good luck!” or “Man, am I lucky!” One can argue that what is said is not really what a person means, but the reality is that a lot of people forget about the Sovereignty of God in their lives. Without sounding judgmental or even Pharisaic, next you hear a Christ-follower say anything with the word, “luck” then somehow direct them to see the Providence and Sovereignty of God in their lives.
It is only when there are situations that are out of our control (i.e. near death experience) where we come to grips with the fact that we are not God and there is Someone who is greater than us that is running the show. We will either render everything in our lives by luck or we will see that there is a purpose for everything in life.
When we begin to see things with the latter perspective, we will then find a greater purpose and learn how to live every single day with a greater focus.