In His Name Devotionals
CASTING LOTS
In His Name Devotionals
CASTING LOTS
Failure to focus on the Gospel of Christ produces sermons filled with jokes, personal pronouns, self-serving stories, misapplied and misquoted Bible scriptures. Such spiritually meaningless sermons encourage weak faith. Without a foundation based on “the foolishness” of the Gospel, i.e., preaching Christ, religion produces a watered down faith, filled with difficult questions, such as: What does prayer mean when we don’t get what we ask? Should we expect God to answer prayer through casting lots? Visions? Dreams? How are we supposed to continue trusting God when we are disappointed with life’s outcomes? When we can’t know answers?
There is at least one preacher who believes in, practices, and even preaches that God answers prayer through the casting of lots. He said: “If you have faith, you, too, can receive a quick answer to prayer by casting lots.” So, let’s consider three spiritually weak Christians, who, taking him at his word, believed in, practiced, and applied casting lots.
Brenda: “We prayed for a healthy baby and when we pulled a ‘yes’ from our casting lots basket, we knew that God was telling us the baby would be healthy. Our faith was so strong that we even refused an ultrasound. After all, we did what the preacher said, and God told us everything would be ok. But when the baby was born, we saw the awful handicap. He will never be like ‘normal’ children. Why did God do this to us? To him? We believed our preacher and did what he said. By faith we cast lots. Why did God tell us ‘yes,’ when He knew it was ‘no?’ Why did God tell us one thing and do the opposite?”
Jerry: “I pledged my company to God and always gave generously of annual earnings. I don’t understand what’s happening now. I asked God to tell me if my business would make it through this downturn and then I cast lots. God told me ‘yes.’ But the figures don’t lie. I’m bankrupt! Why didn’t God tell me the truth?”
Henry: “When Beverly was diagnosed with cancer, we were devastated. I tried to be brave, bear it gracefully, and be faithful. Following the preacher’s teaching, I prayed and cast lots. After asking God if Bev would live, I reached into my box of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ pieces of paper and pulled out God’s ‘yes’ answer. I’m having her funeral in the church building, but I don’t know if I can ever set foot in there again. Why doesn’t God answer me like He answers the preacher?”
Declarations like these (even though fictional) are deeply touching, revealing the agony of broken hearts desperately wanting to trust God. Seldom is it wise or compassionate to attempt a reply during the insensitiveness of such pain, especially when one is not grounded on the foundation of the Gospel of Christ, relying instead on charismatic beliefs and teachings.
