Joel M Bradshaw

33The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.–Proverbs 16

Ancient people cast a lot, or a type of dice, back in the day to secure answers to questions. I grew up hearing things like, “Heads, we do this. Tails, we do that.” Same principle.

But this verse is a one that puts the sovereignty of God at a major level. Even with the things that seem random in life, when we read this verse, we have to ask, “Are they really random?” With a sovereign God, is there randomness or chance?

So I see three responses to this knowledge, assuming this verse speaks correctly:

THIS IS GREAT NEWS. God is good and I trust his sovereign care. Even when bad things happen, I trust God’s decisions and plans. Ultimately, the bad things aren’t truly bad, will work out for the good (Romans 8:28).

THIS IS HORRIBLE NEWS. God is not as good as I thought, because life is at times horrible and horrible things still happen. How could a good God decree things that seem evil?

I DON’T BELIEVE THE VERSE. God is not sovereign that way. He simply allows things, and doesn’t decree things. He is the perfect responder to evil. Just that, a responder. Randomness and chance are still things that even God has to deal with.

Where you land the plane on this describes your view of God’s sovereignty. Which affects most everything else in theology. You are not surprised that I am option 1 above. This verse is great news.–JMB