Does God play dice? A Message of Hope
DOES
GOD PLAY DICE? A
Message of Hope
Mario
D’Couto
When I sat down to write this article, I had the idea at
the back of my head as to what I wanted to say but I was not sure of what the
title I wanted to keep. Initially, I wanted the title of the article to be, “Springing from the past into the future”
but on further thought, I decided to come up with the above title. Why? You
will see as you read through.
The above title comes from a statement made by Einstein
who once said, “God did not create the world with a pair of dice.” Some people
say Einstein’s idea of God was not personal. He just thought of it as a force that
governed the laws of nature. However, given the complexity of life, it is hard
to imagine a god who has created the universe as a wound-up clock and has left it
to its own design. I firmly believe that God is a loving Father who is immanent
in His creation in as much as He is transcendent. This article is to show that while scientists
or atheists or agnostics may want to think of God as probably an impersonal
force or a non – existent Being, that He is who He is and truly cares about
what He has made.
In some of my previous articles, I have quoted the
example used by Pastor Randy Alcorn who shows what it means to think that this
life could be if it were just a matter of chance. He talks about 2 types of
creation stories, namely, the secular and the Christian account. In the secular
account, the creation story goes thus, “You are the descendant of a tiny cell of
primordial protoplasm washed up on an empty beach three and a half billion
years ago. You are the blind and arbitrary product of time. You are a mere grab
– bag of atomic particles, a conglomeration of genetic substances. You exist on
a tiny planet in a minute solar system in an empty corner of a meaningless universe.
You are a purely biological entity, different only in degree but not in kind
from a microbe, virus or amoeba. You have no essence beyond your body and at
death you will cease to exist entirely. In short, you came from nowhere and you
are going nowhere.” 
The Christian account, on the other hand, is as follows, “You
are the special creation of a good and all-powerful God. You are created in His
image, with capacities, to think, feel and worship that set you above all other
life forms. You differ from the animals not simply in degree but in kind. Not
only is your kind unique but you are unique among your kind. Your Creator loves
you so much and so intensely desires your companionship and affection that He
has a perfect plan for your life. In addition, God gave the life of His only
Son that, you might spend eternity with Him. If you are willing to accept the
gift of salvation, you can become a child of God.”
From the above two accounts, it is quite obvious what a
life devoid of meaning would imply. Viktor Frankl said it so beautifully, “He
who has the ‘why’ can cope with any ‘how’”. The life of Joseph from the Old
Testament is worth examining in this regard. Joseph was Jacob’s 11th
son. He was despised by his older brothers because his father favoured him and
had set him apart with a coat of many colours. God gave Joseph two dreams. In
this first he saw bound sheaves in a field. His sheaf arose and stood upright
while his brothers sheaves bowed down to it. In the second dream, he saw the
sun, moon and 11 stars (representing his father, mother and brothers) bowing to
him. When he told these dreams to his brothers, they did not share in his
enthusiasm. They just hated him even more.
To cut the long story short, one day Jacob had sent Joseph
to see how his brothers were doing who had gone to feed the sheep. As they saw
him, they decided to kill him as they were jealous of him. So, they threw him
into a pit to die. Suddenly a group of Ishmaelites were passing on their way to
Egypt. They thought to themselves, “Hey,
wait a minute, guys. If we let him rot in that pit, it will not profit us.
Let’s make some money and sell him as a slave. He will be as good as dead and
will never again bother us and we’ll all share the spoils!” So, they sold
him for 20 shekels of silver. Joseph had offended them (or so they thought), so
they betrayed him, taking away his inheritance and family. Let’s not forget that
these were his own brothers.
Now it may seem as though it was not too bad, at least
they did not kill him. But here’s the thing, in those days, it was very
important to have sons. A man’s son carried his name and inherited all he had.
Joseph’s brothers kept him from receiving his father’s name and inheritance.
They blotted his name out completely stripping him of his identity. All that
was familiar to Joseph was gone.
When a person was sold as a slave to another county, he
remained a slave until he died. The woman he married would be a slave and all
his children would be slaves!
It would have been hard to be born a slave, but it would
have been worse to be born an heir of wealth with a great future only to have been
stripped away from it. It would have been easier if Joseph never knew what
could have been. It was as if he were a walking dead man. He probably may have
wished that his brothers had killed him.
On hearing this, his master had him thrown into the
Pharaoh’s dungeon. The dungeon is not just a prison; it is more than a prison.
A dungeon was a sunken room or a pit of void of light and warmth. Conditions
swayed from crude to dehumanizing. Prisoners were put there to rot as they
survived on the bread and water ‘of affliction’ (1 Kings 22:27). They were
given just enough food to survive so they could suffer.
Probably, Joseph may have though to himself, “I served my master with honesty and with
integrity for over 10 years. I’m more faithful than his wife. I stayed loyal to
God and my master, daily fleeing from sexual immorality. What is my reward? A
dungeon!
It seems that the more I try to do
what is right, the more worse it gets! How could God allow this? Could my
brothers steal my promise from God, too? Why hasn’t this mighty, covenant God
intervened on my behalf? Is this how a loving, faithful God cares for His
servants? Why me? What have I done to deserve this? I only believed I’d heard
from God.”
Now, while this may be the case, Joseph had the choice to
react. Would he become offended and bitter towards his brothers and eventually
God? Would he give up all hope of the promise’s fulfilment, robbing himself of
his last incentive to live? We may just say that Joseph was learning obedience
through all this. He learned obedience while he suffered. Perhaps, when Joseph
had his dreams, he saw them as a confirmation of God’s favour on his life.
However, he had not yet learned that authority is given to serve and not to set
one apart. Often when we face such situations, we focus on the impossibility of
our circumstances instead of the greatness of God. As a result, if something
goes wrong, we get discouraged and need to blame someone, so we look for the
one we feel is responsible for our despair. When we face the fact that God
could have prevented our whole mess – and didn’t – we often blame Him. But the
truth is, quite often we bring it upon ourselves.
No one but God holds your destiny. Joseph’s brothers tried
hard to destroy the vision God gave him. They thought that they had ended it
for Joseph. They said out of their own mouths, “Come, therefore, let us now kill
him and cast him into some pit …. We shall see what will become of his dreams!”
(Genesis 37:20) They were out to destroy him. It wasn’t an accident. It was
deliberate! They wanted no chance of him ever succeeding.
Do you think that when they sold him as a slave, God in
heaven looked at the Son and the Holy Spirit and said, “What are We going to do now? Look at what his brothers have done. They
have ruined Our plan for Joseph. We had better think of something quick. Do we
have an alternate plan?”
Strange as this may sound, it seems as though many
Christians respond to crisis situations as if this is exactly what transpires
in heaven. It would certainly be absurd to think or imagine God the Father
telling Jesus, “Jesus, Jim just got fired
because a fellow believer lied about him. What are We going to do? You have any
positions down there?” Or, “Jesus,
Sally is 34 and not married yet. Do you have any available guys down there for
her? The man I wanted her to marry got married to her best friend, who gossiped
about her and turned his heart away.”
What if Joseph had to harbour thoughts of revenge? If he
ever did that, probably God would have left him in the dungeon to rot. This is
because if he had left prison with this kind of motivation, he would have
killed the heads of 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel. This would include Judah,
from whose lineage Christ would descend.
Indeed, the ones who treated Joseph so wickedly were the
patriarchs of Israel. Imagine for a moment, if ever Joseph had taken revenge on
his brothers, keeping in mind that he actually had the opportunity to do so
when he became governor later. If such were the case, the promise made to
Abraham about bringing forth a nation, would probably never have come about
[although even if ever that happened, we may just say that God would have found
another solution for it, for with God, nothing is impossible (Genesis 18:14)
(Matthew 3: 9)] But Joseph stayed free from offense and the plan of God was
established in his life and in the lives of his brothers.
In the end Joseph ended up blessing who had cursed him
and doing good to those who hated him. He gave them grain for no charge. They
were given the best land in Egypt.
God knew what Joseph’s brothers would do before they did
it. As a matter of fact, the Lord knew they would do it before He gave Joseph
the dreams or before any of those boys were born. In fact, we may just say that
Joseph was blessed with the wisdom by God to see His hand in his life. We see
how Joseph himself acknowledges it when he speaks to his brothers when they
reunite which can be found in Genesis 45: 3 – 8.
From the story of Joseph, we can infer that character is
both developed and revealed by tests and we may just say that our whole lives is
a test for we are always being tested. God constantly watches our response to
people, problem, success, conflict, illness and disappointment. He even watches
the simplest actions such as when you open a door for others, when you pick up
a piece of trash or when you’re polite toward a clerk or waitress or anyone for
that matter. This, of course, does not mean to say that God is a task master
who has set out a list of rules for us to follow and is waiting with a big cane
to punish us when we trespass it. Certainly, it would hurt Him because He has
created us to have a loving relationship with Him. But more than just following
a set of rules, God has written His law in our hearts. The more we follow it,
the more we come closer to our Heavenly Father and become the best version of
ourselves.
We don’t know what kind of tests God will give us but
based on what we find in scripture, tests could range from major changes,
delayed promises, impossible problems to unanswered prayers, undeserved
criticism or even senseless tragedies.
An important aspect to keep in mind is how we act when we
can’t feel God’s presence in our lives. Sometimes, God intentionally draws
back, and we don’t sense His closeness. A King named Hezekiah experienced this
test. The Bible says, “God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test
him and to see what was really in his heart.” (2 Chronicles 32:31).
Hezekiah had enjoyed a close fellowship with God but at a crucial point in his
life, God left him alone to test his character, to reveal a weakness and to
prepare him for more responsibility.
When you understand that life is a test, you realize that
nothing is insignificant in your life. Even the smallest incident has
significance for your character development. Everyday is an important day and
every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate
love or to depend on God. Some tests seem overwhelming while others you don’t
even notice. But all of them have eternal implications. 
The good news is that God wants you to pass the tests of
life, He never allows the tests you face to be greater than the grace He gives
you to handle them. The Bible says, “God keeps His promise and He will not allow
you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm, at the time you are put to
the test, He will give you the strength to endure it and so provide you with a
way out.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Every time you pass a test, God notices and makes plans
to reward you in eternity. St. James writes in his letter, “Blessed are those who endure
when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of
life that God has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12) Yet, we
must also remember that nothing can come against us without the Lord’s
knowledge of it before it ever happens. If the devil could destroy us at will,
he would have wiped us out a long time ago because he hates the human person
with a passion.
Our Blessed Lord warned us that we would have problems in
this world (John 16:33). No one can claim to be without pain nor can one ignore
it. There are different kinds of pain like physical, psychological and
emotional pain. At some point in our lives, we all have our experiences of pain
in some form or the other. It is thus that St. Peter would advise, “Don’t
be bewildered or surprised when you go through the fiery trials ahead, for
there is no strange, unusual thing that is going to happen to you.” (1
Peter 4:12)
God uses problems to draw us closer to Himself. Our most
profound and intimate experience of worship will be our darkest days – the days
when we feel broken, abandoned and out of options – it is in such moments that
our prayers become authentic.
God could have kept Joseph out of jail, but He didn’t,
and we’ve seen in detail the reason behind it. Like Joseph’s example, we have
other instances like for instance, God could have kept Daniel out of the lion’s
den or kept Jeremiah from being tossed into a slimy pit, or kept Paul from
being shipwrecked three times, or kept the three Hebrew young men from being
thrown into the blazing furnace but He didn’t. He let the problems happen and
every one of those persons was drawn closer to God as a result.
Problems force us to look to God and depend on Him
instead of ourselves. You’ll never know that God is all you need until God is
all you’ve got. Regardless of the cause, none of your problems could happen
without God’s permission. Everything that happens to a child of God is FATHER –
FILTERED and He intends to use it for good even when Satan and others meant it
for bad.
Because God is sovereignly in control, accidents are just
incidents in God’s plan for you. Because every day of your life was written on
God’s calendar before you were born (Psalm 139:16), everything that happens to
you has spiritual significance and I repeat, “EVERYTHING!!!”
God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by
allowing you to experience circumstances in which you’re tempted to express the
exact opposite quality! Character development always involves a choice and
temptation provides the opportunity.
In the movie, “Evan Almighty”, there is a scene
where Morgan Freeman who plays the role of God in the move asks Joan Baxter
(Lauren Graham) the following questions,
“If someone prays for
patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does He give them the
opportunity to be patient?”
“If they pray for
courage, does God give them courage, or does He give them opportunities to be
courageous?”
“If someone prayed for
their family to be closer, you think God zaps them with warm, fuzzy feelings?
Or does He give them opportunities to love each other.”
God teaches us to love by putting some “unlovely” people
around us. It takes no character to love people who are loving to us. God
teaches us real joy in the midst of sorrow, when we turn to Him. Happiness
depends on external circumstances, but joy is based on our relationship with
God.
God develops real peace within us, not by making things
go the way we planned, but by allowing times of chaos and confusion. Anyone can
be peaceful watching a beautiful sunset or relaxing on vacation. We learn real
peace by choosing to trust God in circumstances in which we are tempted to
worry or be afraid. Likewise, patience is developed in circumstances in which
we are forced to wait and are tempted to be angry or have a short fuse.
God uses the opposite situation of each fruit to allow us
a choice. You can’t claim to be faithful if you’ve never had the opportunity to
be unfaithful. Integrity is built by defeating the temptation to be dishonest,
humility grows when we refuse to be prideful and endurance develops every time
we reject the temptation to give up.
What’s interesting about temptation is that Satan does
not tempt those people who are already within his grasp. In other words, it
means that those who are close to God or the ones who are on the right path are
the ones who will tempted the most. It is thus that temptation, in this sense,
can be regarded or seen as a compliment.
This may seem to put holiness like a mammoth task, as
though it were a huge burden but as Our Blessed Lord said in the Gospels, “Come
to Me, all who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My
yoke, upon you and learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart and you will
find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28 – 30), in as much as God has already seen every adverse
circumstance we will encounter – no matter how great or small – He also has the
way planned for escaping it.
In the movie, “Never Back Down”, there is a part
where Jake (Sean Farris) is having a conversation with his mixed martial arts
teacher, Mr. Roqua (Djimon Hounsou) about how to escape when being trapped
during fight and this is how the conversation goes,
Jake: “You can’t always change position. I mean
sometimes you just get stuck (in a fight)”.
Mr.
Roqua: “In any fight, you can always change your
position. You just to have find a way.”
Jake: “So it’s on me?”
Mr.
Roqua: “Always has been.”
In the struggles that we face in life, be it problems or
temptations, God will make a way. He is our way. We just need to reach out,
trust Him and hold on to His plan for as seen before in 1 Corinthians 10: 13,
God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able
but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able
to bear it. In this regard, I am reminded of what Bruce Lee once said, “Do
not pray for an easy life but pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
Sometimes the dreams and visions that we have will
probably happen differently from how we think it should or would happen but
yet, no matter what, one thing we can rest assure is God’s Word and promises
will not fail. We only risk aborting them by our disobedience.
The fear of the unknown can be paralyzing and yet it is
precisely in such moments that we are called to take the leap of faith as I
read somewhere, “Courage is not the absence of fear but is going ahead despite knowing
that you’re afraid.” None of us know what our future is going to be
like, but we can be sure Who holds our future. The best we can do is to do our
best in whatever given situation we may find ourselves in and implore His
guidance as we journey ahead. With this being said, as we enter into New Year,
I take this opportunity to wish you and your family a happy and a blessed New
Year 2019. God bless! 😊 
