Is God Found In A Fortune Cookie?

10/27/2005

We had the most delicious dinner the other night in the home of good friends! We feasted on an assortment of Chinese delicacies, each one better than the last, and felt truly honored to taste the dishes of our friend’s home country--also learning more about the ways of China…very interesting to say the least. Did you know that in China you are not allowed to marry until you are 23 years of age? And you are not allowed to have a child until you are 25? I say, “a child,” because only one child per family is allowed. They also believe all Americans are rich…what a rude awakening for our friend!!

When we crawled into bed that night after dinner, and the traditional fortune cookie, I quietly said to my husband, “Is God found in a fortune cookie?” I told him, “I think I might write about that.” He cautioned me, wondering just how much trouble I might get myself into with a title like that? We laughed, and then went to sleep.

Which brings me to today…wondering about this very thing. As a Christian, I say that I don’t “do luck.” A few years ago I stopped wishing anyone Good Luck as they went on their way. I stopped believing in chance, in coincidence, in happenstance…my belief in all this boiled down to one thing, what happens is in God’s control, in His perfect timing and in His perfect way. As I’ve heard some put it, it’s not a “coincidence,” but a “God-incidence.” I now believe that nothing happens by chance or by luck, but by the power of God. In that there is peace, and a quiet confidence in God.

But as I begin to take a look at this, thinking about the fortune cookie that I cracked open the other night, I started to wonder if the words written on that little piece of paper did come true, would it seem like luck or something from God? Was it a prediction made by some unknown entity, putting that particular cookie in my hand, with that particular message, or could God even be found in a fortune cookie? Could He speak to us even in that way?

I had read my fortune out loud to our friends and my husband,
“Wealth and success are in your future.”
After I read it, I said,
“You heard it here first…that would take a miracle!”
Our friend said, “Well, we believe in miracles!”
I had to agree!

Fortune cookies are fun, they bring on a chuckle as they are shared with one another. Jim then read his to me, “Be cautious in your business dealings.” Another laugh… Is God laughing? Does He look at these little cookies, these little messages as fun, as crazy, as harmful? I don’t really know, but I’m just enjoying looking into the whole coincidence, chance, luck, etc…concepts a bit more, and seeing what we can discover here together. Here are a couple of verses to start with:

“If they cross the border of our land and go to Beth-shemesh, we will know it was the LORD who brought this great disaster upon us. If they don't, we will know that the plague was simply a coincidence and was not sent by the LORD at all."
1 Samuel 6:9 (NLT)

"By chance a Jewish priest came along; but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.
Luke 10:31 (NLT)

There are two verses that speak of chance and coincidence, there are many more. They can start to make us wonder if God is in control or if there are things happening around here that are out of His control. Look at this one that does talk about control:

We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the power and control of the evil one.
1 John 5:19 (NLT)

Pretty scary thought, isn’t it? The world we live in being under the “power and control of the evil one.” If that’s true, we haven’t got a chance…pun intended! But by using the word “if,’ am I doubting the Word of God and what it says? For the sake of discussion here, I’m pondering it…but what I believe in my heart is that what is written about in 1 John 5:19 is completely true and accurate. I’ve experienced it, I’m sure you have too…the power that the evil one has over each of our lives can be huge!! Without prayer, without the power of the Holy Spirit to combat it, we are doomed to live in the misery of that evil power that fills the world around us.

It really can’t be denied, the evil one has great power…and we gave him that power over our lives in the Garden of Eden when we listened to his lies. God knew what we were doing, He warned us against it, but we did it anyway. We took a perfect world, created by a perfect God, and handed it over to the evil one in our weakness…what a shame, what a shame…

The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict.
Galatians 5:17 (NLT)

Does that mean God really lost control of this world in the garden when we sinned?

Absolutely not!!
It just means that since that time there is a battle being fought in the spiritual realm, and in that battle the devil is under the wild assumption that he can win. God knows better, God knows the final outcome, God knows the devil has no power that is not given to him--it’s just that the devil doesn’t know that yet. The devil believes his own lies; it is his very nature to do so.

Is the devil in control in this world? Yes, but God is in control of the entire universe and that beats out the devil hands down!! Have you seen the size of our planet earth? It’s not such a big deal when it is compared to everything else that is out there!! Sure, it’s important to us, we live here, this is all we know, this is the place we love, this is “our world,” but God is so much bigger than all of this! The enemy is small potatoes in the Temple of our Lord! God decides who, what, when, where, why and how…the devil is simply a pawn in His hands.

18…"Listen to what the LORD says! I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the armies of heaven on his right and on his left. 19And the LORD said, `Who can entice King Ahab of Israel to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so that he can be killed there?' There were many suggestions, 20until finally a spirit approached the LORD and said, `I can do it!'
   " `How will you do this?' the LORD asked.
    21"And the spirit replied, `I will go out and inspire all Ahab's prophets to speak lies.'
   " `You will succeed,' said the LORD. `Go ahead and do it.'
2 Chronicles 18:18-21 (NLT)

Do you see the decisions being made in the Temple of our Lord? God knows exactly what is going on on planet earth; there is a “battle plan.” When the Lord asks, “How will you do this?” Do you think He doesn’t already know? He does, and He also knows the outcome. “You will succeed.” Then He gives His permission, “Go ahead and do it.”

Yes, we get to be involved, we have choices to make, but God already knows the choices we will make and He already knows the outcome. He is GOD!!! He is in control!! The devil will be the loser, it’s guaranteed, and we can rest in that!

It’s like my son, Jimm, who was questioning me a few months ago about playing poker. He wanted to know if there was anything in the Bible against it. Jimm loves to get together with the guys every other Friday night and play Texas Hold’em, but he also has a heart for God.

My best answer to him about playing poker was that it’s all a matter of priorities. If you’re gonna give poker a few hours here and there, then at least give God that much time or more. Make God your priority and He will bring everything else in your life in line with His will.

Then I called Jimm later and told him that I found a scripture verse for him about gambling. His immediate response was one of wariness…if God’s Word says, “Don’t play poker,” would he have to give it up?
This is what I gave him:

We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall.
Proverbs 16:33 (NLT)

Whew! I wasn’t telling him the Bible says it’s wrong to play poker with the guys; I just wanted him to know that God is in control, even in a “lucky” poker hand. Yes, there is skill involved from what he tells me, but is there “luck” involved in how the cards are dealt? The so-called “luck,” the bottom line, is still and always will be God. God is there at the table with the guys, He is living in the hearts of those that believe, and He knows each card that will be dealt before it leaves the dealer’s hand. He knows what decisions will be made, and He already knows who will succeed and who will go home empty handed.

Does this make playing poker a “holy experience?” Well, what makes anything a holy experience? It’s a heart alive for Jesus Christ, a mind focused on the things of God, a spirit filled with God’s Spirit…it’s not what we’re doing most times, it’s knowing that without God we wouldn’t be able to take the next breath if He did not give it to us. That makes every day we live a holy experience!

In the Old Testament, there are lots of do’s and don’ts, the most well known being the Ten Commandments. When we turn over to the New Testament, we turn over a new leaf, so to speak. Jesus came; Jesus showed us a new way to live, to eat and to witness to those around us. He did not come to lay down a bunch of laws for us to follow; He came to lay down His life for us so that when we fall short, which we will, we will be forgiven! All He asks of us is to put Him first in our lives and follow where He leads.

You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the evil
powers of this world. So why do you keep on following rules of
the world, such as, “Don’t handle, don’t eat, don’t touch.” Such
rules are mere human teaching about things that are gone as soon
as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require
strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline. But they
have no effect when it comes to conquering a person’s evil thoughts
and desires. Colossians 2:20-23 (NLT)

Isn’t that the greatest news!! We are free…set “free from the evil powers of this world.” What Satan acquired in the Garden, is ours once again when we put our faith in Jesus Christ!! Halleluiah!! That is something to rejoice about!!

See, Satan does have power in this world, and He will have that power until Jesus returns again. His power did not diminish when Jesus came to this earth…what did diminish is his power over the hearts of those who will believe! Why? Because God is in control over Satan! When we give our hearts to God, we will be filled with His power to overcome the enemy and all his tactics to destroy us!

Let’s take another look at the dice verse again, Proverbs 16:33, but this time in the Amplified Bible:

The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly of the Lord [even the
events that seem accidental are really ordered by Him].
Proverbs 16:33 (AMP)

As in:

Then they cast lots, and in this way Matthias was
chosen and became an apostle with the other eleven.
Acts 1:26 (NLT)

It may seem to us that there is chance, luck, coincidence, but it is all in how we look at it and who we put our faith in. Do we want to live a life where each day, and how it goes, depends on the wind and where it blows, or do we want to live a life held securely in the hands of our Father in heaven, believing He is in control and that He knows exactly what is needed in our lives?

The disciples just sat there in awe. "Who is this?"
they asked themselves. "Even the wind and waves obey him!"
Matthew 8:27 (NLT)

The wind blows, and it seems to have no direction or purpose, but take a look at the weather reports as we watch hurricanes like Katrina or Wilma move across the ocean and hit land…see the patterns of the wind, the pressure areas, the gulf streams that are visible from the satellites…there is Someone, somewhere directing all that motion of air. You can believe what you want about it…I choose to believe God is bigger than all of it! The way this world works is a miracle in motion. The way our bodies work, the way a flower blooms, the way an ocean wave curls into itself before it hits the seashore…all miracles in motion. Not chance, happenstance or even luck, but the workings of a Mighty God in Control!

I think where we get messed up is when things go “wrong.” We can see God in beautiful sunsets and mountain lakes that reflect blue skies, but we have a real hard time seeing God in a cancer ward, or in a car accident, or in an aging or handicapped body. We wonder where God is in all of that and how can a loving God not step in and stop all the bad, changing it all to good? What we forget is that He already has changed it all to good through His Son. He took all the bad, laid it all on His Son’s shoulders, nailed it to the Cross and put the evil one in his rightful place…the enemy is now powerless in the face of God.

The bad did not go away, in fact it seems to be increasing, but that’s only because the end of Satan’s reign is getting closer every day and he has to work harder and harder to destroy what he can before Jesus comes back to destroy him! When our hearts belong to God, we will experience Him in both golden sunsets and the rooms of His dying children.

On our son’s last day on this earth, we were in his bedroom. The hospice nurse was there and Jim and I were giving Phil a pill, putting it in his mouth, helping him to drink some water to down it. Simply caring for our son was the way I saw it…but there was more there than the eye could see. God was there, very present and very tangible. The hospice nurse made me aware of that when she watched us tend to our son and then she quietly said, “There is so much love in this room.” I realized later that she wasn’t speaking of our love for our child, even though it was visibly there, she was speaking of the love that filled the room because God was there with us. Perhaps we had grown used to God’s overwhelming presence while taking care of our son’s needs, drawing our strength from His Spirit, but she had not, and it took her breath away to come into Phil’s room and feel such love from God.

You see, God is in everything, all the good and all the bad, all the luck and all the coincidence, all the happenstance…you cannot separate anything in this world from God except your own personal heart. Your heart is the only place that God gives you complete control, to choose Him or not. Everything else in your life, He will mess with, He will involve Himself in everything from poker games to cancer wards, to car accidents to ocean waves and even the direction a hurricane will take. He is the One in heaven deciding how things should go on earth…even predictions made in a fortune cookie.

There is nothing secular in this world when a heart is given over to the love of God. Jesus didn’t leave His heart outside on the front step when He dined with sinners. He took His heart for the Father right into the house. Wherever He went, the Father went too. Whatever He did, wherever He went, He had one purpose and that was to share the Good News to lost souls. God will use whatever it takes to get His message across to His children. Whatever we are doing, we should never leave the Good News outside on the front step!

In talking with my sister, she just told me that when she first started dating her husband, he would tell her that God spoke to him through movies he saw. At first, she thought that was a bit crazy. As the years have gone by, she now knows how very true this can be. The longer we walk with God, the more we will see the different ways He will communicate with us. I just heard the other night that someone felt called to the mission field after watching a movie. God again!

Recently I was trying and trying to get an answer from God, to have Him help me and give me the clarity that I needed during a particular struggle. As much as I prayed, and begged God to show me what was right, He would not give me peace about it. It became a time of frustration, turning to despair…if only God would do something!! Well, He did. He put a friend on my heart, reminded me that I had an afternoon free, and prompted me to call her, so I did. She also had the afternoon free, so we set up a time to meet. As I left home that afternoon, upon saying “Good-bye” to Jim, he said, “Go get fixed.” We laughed and I reminded him that it was a process…I think he was just praying that the “process” would be fast!! The old saying, “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy,” might have been his thinking!

I did not know the plans of God on this day, but there definitely was one in the works. There are times when God will make things clear if we will just pray and seek His face, and there are times when He calls us to reach out to someone else and allow them to minister to us. He will use them, speak through them, and answer our prayers in that way. Whatever it takes, wherever we must go, whatever we must do, the bottom line is our obedience to His call on our heart, to His prompting, and in that we will find Him!

“All God’s revelations are sealed until they are opened to us by obedience. You will never get them open by philosophy or thinking. Immediately you obey, a flash of light comes… One reads tomes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when five minutes of drastic obedience would make things clear as a sunbeam. ‘I suppose I shall understand these things someday!’ You can understand them now. It is not study that does it, but obedience. The tiniest fragment of obedience, and heaven opens and the profoundest truths of God are yours straight away.” (O. Chambers, “My Utmost…” Oct. 10th)

When I got home that day from my friend’s, I was all “fixed,” and Jim was happy! I could have stayed locked away, praying my heart out to God, but that was not what God wanted in this situation, He wanted to use something else to speak to me, for a greater purpose. My refusal to reach out to another, to risk looking like a fool, to risk “bothering” someone with my problems, would have kept me locked up in my confusion much longer than was necessary. God released me as I learned once again that God will use many different ways to make things clear to us, sometimes even in a movie, or a road sign, or a song, or a…fortune cookie?

It is possible, because God is everywhere at all times. It is not because it is written in a fortune cookie that things happen, or because someone dealt us a good hand in poker that we have good luck…it’s not in the wrong timing of things that we have bad luck…it is the workings of God that brings all things together in perfect harmony. He just happens to use anything and everything in this world to make it happen!

The one thing we always need to remember is that this is God’s world--He created, He controls it and He is the only One that can bring us any “good luck” in this life, any revelation and any Hope for eternity. We serve a wonderful God in Heaven and He brings to us what He wills, knowing what we need, because He knows where we are going and what we will need before we ever get there!

In this world, it’s all God to those whose heart’s are all His!!

Depending on Him,

Diane