Remember As You Play....

Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity."  They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. - Jonah 1:7

Yes, we know -- this verse seems to refer to throwing dice, instead of playing poker.  But there's a lesson here in how God sometimes takes control of things you don't expect.  Consider what led up to this throw....

But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.  He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port.... - Jonah 1:3

God gave Jonah orders to preach in Nineveh.  Instead of heading east toward the Tigris River, Jonah went west to the Mediterranean Sea.  But he didn't run away from God at all:

Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. - Jonah 1:4

We heard a Baptist preacher on radio say recently God controlled the weather in this case -- and then God controlled the toss of the lot, as it accurately pointed to Jonah as the reason for the storm.  (He even provided that great fish, for which Jonah is most famous.)

If God can control a form of dice (and lots were used by Jesus's apostles in Acts 1 to determine a successor to Judas), we think He also can step into poker rooms at times.  We've had enough success at unexpected moments to reach that conclusion.  And we thank God for every blessing He brings - at the table, or away from it.