Is there any difference between Luck and Blessing in your opinion?

Question

I recently had a supervisor tell me that only good things come from God and that he called them Blessings, not Luck. I then asked him if having a disability or an injury was a Blessing and he said "No!". I then asked him where bad things came from and he said, "I DON'T KNOW!", and he did not want to talk about it any more, like most fundamentalist traditionalists act.

I think every moment of life is a Blessing even our hardships. I think they are part of our life's work within the Entertainment spectrum from Heaven's view. I think when we see hardship as a Blessing, then we can envision things like everyone doing their best right now whether we think so or not.

What do you think?

Answer 1

According to most religions, we are here on earth to build some sort of bank account for our next life. There is no guarantee that being reborn, praising the Lord halleluia giving to the churches will give you a life of Riley, Rolls Royce, a gold Rolex and a mansion.Anyone who believes this sort of nonsense will be in for a rude awakening in many cases and will eventually give up on their religion, never to return. This so called protestant work ethic that was tied into social Darwinsm, "God helps those who help themselves" is not stated in scripture anyway.

I have seen people do great works, be pillars in their church, work hard, give to charities and their churches yet still have problems, tribulations and dreadful finacial set backs in life yet I see others who are greedy dogs, selfish, think all religions are a crock of horse manure but do so well thank you very much, have many riches and anything that drives, floats or flies.

Tell me then, if blessings for riches are the norm from God,
why does someone like Ted Turner who said Christianity is a religion for losers as well as other actor famous celebrities who flaunt religion and carry on with so called sinful lifestyles and promoting things condemned by God not a bunch of snivelling failed beggars on skid row by now whilst someone like that older Italian nun in Africa who dedicated her life to the poor and her God, shot dead like a dog last year after the pope was misquoted on a speech regarding Islam?

I seem to remember Christ for example saying that living as he commanded would not be easy and that many of his flock would be brought before kings and governors for speaking and believing in his name. We ought to keep this in mind before adopting the attitude that becoming a Christian is essentially buying a lottery ticket to happiness " on this earth."
No, more often than not good fortune is a matter of some personal skills, luck of the draw and being in the right place at the right time and especially having good social or family connections.

Regards,

Michael Kelly

Answer 2

Yes, there is a difference between luck and blessing. "Luck" is the idea of randomness/chance controlling circumstances, like gambling, and that's why people say "good luck" or "bad luck". Blessing is specifically directed by God Himself and it is for our good.

Are disabilities or injuries a blessing? Yes, they are. Your assertion is correct: if we view hardship as a blessing it has the potential to teach us something from the experience. Often, it is things like compassion, mercy, gratitude, what's important, etc. However, it's not done from the spectrum of heaven for entertainment. It is allowed for the purpose of teaching us. For us learning. It allows us to learn a bit of God's heart. Imagine how much He hurts to see our suffering? He sees it all, and He cares about us so much. And it must greatly hurt him when we decide to turn away from Him when we suffer. And He is the one who can truly help us. But like any parent, He has to let us go in order to learn. Like a child riding a bike: there is a point the parent has to give the child a push and let go, even though they can see that the child will surely fall down. Not once, but many times, and they will end up crying. No parent wants to see that, but its the only way the child can learn. And when the chld has learned to ride a bike, then they have a new freedom they never had before. That is what God wants in all of life's lessons. Even the ones that come with suffering: that in the end we will have learned something, and hoepfully find ourselves more free than before.

Answer 3

There is a saying among Hasidic Jews:

Not a blade of grass bends in the wind, but for God's presence.

Imagining a God who comes and interacts with life, when we need God to be there, but "otherwise not", suggests a limited presence. Like there is God-caused and not-God-caused events.

SO, the little girl who was kidnapped, God was not on the watch when that happened, or slipped up, or something. If one's view is that God is only the source of good things and relief, one will end up with a very diminished notion of what God is capable of.

During the Holocaust there were many Jews who felt abandoned by God, as that little girl's family surely must feel.


Just as mistakenly, there were other Jews who felt they DESERVED punishment because of past wrongs, because of an imperfection in their Jewish worship, or because of the state of Judaism in the world with different practices of Judaism, reformed and orthdox and hasidic and so forth.

My view of God is that the actions of God are universal and they transcend good and evil. That evil and grief, as a part of lif, can be great teachers. Blessings, even.

If you have the opportunity to visit the US Holocaust museum in Washington DC you will see an amazing testimony to the power of this universal understanding -- the films at the very end of the people who developed this incredible vision of God, in spite of living inside the gates of Hell.

One man said to his friend "why do you insist on thanking God every morning by saying the morning prayers? In this living Hell, why do you do that? Are you insane?"

His friend answered: "I thank God every day that God made me different from the Nazis. That God gave me conscience and the ability to feel others' suffering. And that God gave me the opportunity, EVEN HERE, to help."

Answer 4

I am a believers but I never thought of the good things and the bad things being sent by God. God interferes when I ask him to otherwise it`s life, not evil, not good, just life.

Answer 5

Trials and tribulations come with both a purpose and a reward. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him" (James 1:2-4,12).

Answer 6

They are the same thing.

It requires a blinkered view on life to think otherwise.

Answer 7

You are doing very well.

Don't worry if they don't understand.

Everyone comes to this realization in their own time.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 8

all good things come from above . and some things we think are bad ,are for our spiritual good. and some things are because of sin in our lives.

Answer 9

your supervisor is dumb like all other religious fellows,

in nature there are no lucks and bad lucks. they are just only happenings.