It
was indeed a lucky day. The image of the big snow pile in the corner
of the parking lot looms large in my memory. The image of my car key
laying in the snow looms large in my memory. These two events were
separated by about one hour, an hour of heavy snowfall. The key was
surrounded by about an inch of snow. The gathering of two to three
inches of snow on the parking lot created the pile, which, had I not
found it earlier, would have been the burial ground for my key. O,
it will melt sometime in the Spring or Summer and the key would again
be visible, but it seems unlikely it would find its way back to my
hands.
I
am pretty good about keeping track of my keys, consistently putting
them in my pocket when I get out of the car. In this case that did
not happen, I guess. I am not sure how it ended up in the parking
lot. After a pretty thorough search of all my pockets and asking if
anyone else had seen it, I was on my way to the car for one last
search, when, as I got about half way across the parking lot, I
easily saw the key laying in the snow.
I
am a Christian who prays, but I don't recall praying that I would
find the key. I recall thinking a bit about the hassle it would be
if I didn't find it. We had a second key, but I had not seen it for
a long time. I suspected it would turn up sometime, but I could not
tell someone else exactly where it was. So there was the possibility
that I would have to get a new key made, a dollar and time cost that
would certainly feel like a waste. My wife would need to drive
probably more than a half hour in poor road conditions, due to the
snow accumulation. I anticipated leaving the car there hoping those
responsible for the lot would allow that for a day or two.
Why
did I find the key? How many times have we heard people describe
their lives like the country western song, “If it weren't for bad
luck, I'd have no luck at all”? How many times have we done this?
How many times have I? In each of the four chapters in his letter to
the Colossians, the apostle Paul encouraged thanksgiving, abundantly
and deeply, and with singing. He doesn't write of thanksgiving as an
add on, or an app. He writes of this attitude as foundational to
life. This car key find is a clear reminder to me to give thanks for
something given to me. I did walk out and see it, but is it more
accurate to say I found the key, or to say the key was found? Was I
the only one involved in this find? Did luck just come my way that
day? It is possible to describe it that way. However, we leave out
a lot if that is all we do.
William
Tyndale, in the 16th
century, translated Gen 39:2 this way, “The Lord was with Joseph
and he was a lucky fellow.” Many
Christians hesitate to attribute happenings in their life to luck.
However, as Mike Mason noted in The
Gospel According to Job,
from God's perspective maybe there is no such thing as luck, but from
our human perspective, we might as well call it luck when the cause
and effect of an event is completely baffling. Isn't luck, bad or
good, just a word to describe what we can't describe in any
understandable way? I am thinking that just might be a good way to
describe my key find. It was my lucky day. But that is not the
whole story.
Jesus
said the Father knows all kinds of details, most amazingly,
how many hairs on each of the 7 billion heads in this world. I think
he knew the key was there, and all the events that led up to me being
a lucky fellow that day. What I hope to do is ponder the impact of
this experience on all the other events in my life, events that are
not, on the surface at least, quite so noticeably lucky. Some of
these reflect good luck, some reflect bad luck. O wait, if the
Scripture allows for good luck, does it allow for bad luck? That
might just be the 64 million dollar question. Maybe for the song to
reflect a biblical worldview it would need to say, “If it weren't
for good luck, I'd have no luck at all.”
To
describe my luck as good requires that I believe in and rest in
someone who does understand the understandable. As a follower of
Jesus Christ I have to ask myself if I truly believe? Do I believe
what Jesus said? Do I believe, and fear not? Do I believe, instead
of being anxious? Do I believe, instead of being unforgiving and
unmerciful? If I believe my life is truly and completely in the
hands of a good God, can I say I have bad luck?
