Fortune or Misfortune?

In 2012, a man in Illinois won $1 million in the lottery. The story goes that he was so excited he leaped 2 feet in the air and tipped the store clerk $100.

This man had everything. His dreams had come true. He had won wealth beyond belief.

A month later he was dead from cyanide poisoning, a particularly gruesome way to die. His good fortune had turned into his misfortune.

The Bible gives us four ways our good fortune can turn into our misfortune.

Way #1: Good fortune can cause us to be ungrateful.

God’s people had been delivered from Egypt and the bonds of slavery. When food ran low, God blessed them with manna from the heavens.

However, in Numbers 11:5-33, we read that the people complained of God’s blessing. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, for there we had leeks, onions, and other foods?”

God sent a great wind to bring quails from the sea. Yet, even as the people consumed the blessing they had requested, God smote them with a great plague.

Way #2: Good fortune can lead us to wander astray.

God had blessed Abram and his nephew Lot with more riches than the land could contain. In Genesis 13:7, we have the story of how their herds crowded the hillsides, creating strife between the herdsmen over Abram’s cattle and those over Lot’s.

They mutually agreed to go separate ways. Abram made his way into Canaan, where God promised him the land as far as he could see. However, Lot chose the fertile Plain, casting his tent close to Sodom.

We all know where this story ends. The city is destroyed with hellfire and brimstone, and Lot and his daughters barely escape with their lives.

Way #3: Good fortune can bring about calamity.

David was God’s choice to be king. He was anointed by the hand of Samuel, killed Goliath with a sling and seven stones, and was a close companion of the king’s son.

His future had been handed to him on a silver platter.

Even so, in 1 Samuel 21:11-13, David was on the run for his life, for the king wanted to kill him. Even the people made fun of him, saying, “Is this not David about whom they say, ‘Saul killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands?’ ”

David became afraid and acted as if he were mad by drooling at the mouth. He had sunk as low as he could go.

Way #4: Good fortune does not mean God is with us.

The Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel had turned from God, and vices filled their days. Even as they knew of Jehovah God, they did not know him in their hearts. They depended on their conquests and prosperity for their sustenance.

In Hosea 5:6, Israel is told that when the calamity of Assyria comes upon them, they shall seek the Lord, bringing their flocks and herds as sacrifices, but they will not find him, for he has withdrawn himself from them.

God refused to tolerate a “marriage of convenience” with his people.

Proverbs 27:23-24 tells us to not place blind confidence in our good fortune, for the riches of this world do not last forever.

When we base our happiness on our good fortune, we are sliding down a slippery slope that can only lead to disaster.

When we base our happiness on God, we will find his hand of blessing on us every day of our lives.

Copyright © 2013 MyChurchNotes.net

Code: C.27.13.vp

Excerpt of the Day

Comparing ourselves to God keeps us from veering far off course.

From Our Indulgent Notions,  Posted 14 June 2015