Probability?

Before I dig in, I want to explain my terminology. I am using want and desire interchangeably. For this purpose, and for any purpose really, them mean the same thing. Want is an easier word to grasp than desire for most people. Desire is a stronger version of want. When we want, or desire, something we normally take advantage of the resources we have to get that thing or whatever. So as you read keep this concept in mind.

When I find a rare baseball card I am very excited. We were in Baltimore for my cousins wedding this summer and we were going to be a little bit early so my family decided to stop at a strip mall. In this strip mall there was a card/collectible store. Me being me, went in to see what was there. I saw the single most beautiful baseball card in my life that day. It was a Ty Cobb 1908 Tobacco card. There are only 9 of them left in the world and most of them are not in full pieces. This one was. It was $1700. I wanted that card SOO bad because I wanted to be a part of something rare.

Today, I was sitting in my math class and we were going over different formulas (I got them today) and my professor asked how many possible answers there were for that formula. My class unanimously said there were two or three possible answers. We were wrong. There were an infinite amount of answers. Just the same as on a number line. The amount of numbers between seemingly the smallest number - 0 and 1 - are infinite. That amazed me.

According to the International Database - U.S. Census Bureau, the population of the world is 6,719,816,902. And we are one of those 6.7 billion people. Wow! We are 1 in 6.7 billion. That is just living people. That does not include the billions of people that have lived before us. And not one of looks(ed) exactly alike or have the exact same story. However, we seem to look at life as if the probability of us being in that situation is 1 to 1. We are guaranteed to be in that situation. A selfish life. We look at life as if there is nothing abnormal about where we are. The more I have examined this, I have found that there are an infinite number of decisions, variables, and circumstances that have determined where we are today. Our circumstances are not probable in any way. But, are they something to desire, good or bad?

What about Nehemiah? Nehemiah was appointed the royal cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes I. He was doing very well. He had everything going for him and all of these things led him to take advantage of his improbable circumstances. His high ranking with the King allowed him to be able to go and rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Despite all of the opposition to the project, He completed his task in record time with the help of the Lord.

Look at David and Goliath for a minute. David, who was small, young, and definitely not a warrior, asked Saul - the king - if he could go fight Goliath. King Saul replied "There is no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You're only a boy, and he's been a man of was since his youth." (1 Samuel 17:32). For whatever reason, Saul decided to let him fight Goliath. All the cards were stacked against David in this case. There were infinite reasons as to why David should not win this battle. However, he took advantage of the improbable circumstances he was in. He did the best he could and came out on top. Against all odds.

People, in general, are selfish with the time and circumstances we have. We take them for granted. We want to feel bad for ourselves. We want to wallow in self pity when things do not go our way. Or, we want to praise ourselves when we do something awesome. But, could we not use those circumstances, good and bad, praise and pity, to do and say awesome things about the One we serve? So are we taking advantage of the infinite opportunities and circumstances around us to live out our relationship with Jesus?