The Odds

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 1:4-8 ESV). Not long ago the lottery was valued at over $350 million! I must confess that from time to time I daydream about winning a sum of money that great! However, I also know the odds of winning are very high. In fact, usually the odds are published at over two million to one! I have been amused at the people who have won. The surprise and shock at seeing that they have actually won the lottery is always funny to me. I especially am amused when I hear them say, “I’ve never won anything before.” The truth is that they have already won at a “game” with much higher odds than the lottery! Ryan J. Sokol of the statistics department at Texas A&M University has calculated the odds of a specific individual being born. Dr. Sokol estimated the total number of fertile men and women in the world, calculated the number of different genetic possibilities a man might contribute, adjusted for the number of hours of female fertility each month, then factored in a long list of other considerations. The bottom line of Sokol’s lengthy report said, "The chance that you, meaning exactly you, would be born are I in I.3 times ten to the twenty-ninth power." That’s a lot of zeros behind the first two numbers. In fact, the number is written as 130,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 to one. You and I my friend, are two incredibly, amazingly, “lucky” people. We both won the genetic lottery! Compared with the odds against being born, the odds are very good that you will be elected president of the United States. You have already won a lottery more amazing than humankind could ever devise. You have already been awarded a prize far richer than anything the world has to give. You are alive. God chose you specifically; and, he also chose us to enjoy being alive! Stan Lec said, “The finger of God never leaves identical fingerprints.” No wonder God assured Jeremiah that he would be taken care of in our reading this morning. If God goes to so much thought and planning to create us, certainly He will take care of us. When Jesus encourage His disciples not to be afraid, He used an illustration of small birds. They were insignificant in the eyes of the people of His day. Yet, Jesus said they were so important to God that not one of them fell from the sky without God noticing and caring. How much more are we worth than that in God’s eyes? Infinitely more! Rest in the knowledge that God made you and cares for you. He won’t let you down!