Proverbs 16:33: Your Life Is Not Left to Chance

Introduction

"Do we ever live by chance? As Christians, do we live with the notion of chance?" That is the question Rémy asks as he opens this Bible study at the Assemblée de Dieu de Montpellier Richter. It came to him during his recent times of meditation, when he kept running into passages about casting lots.

His answer is clear: "I don't believe in chance." Yet he doesn't stop at a slogan. He takes the time to walk through the Bible, first the Old Testament, then the New, and he does it on purpose, because there is a turning point between the two.

One verse runs through the whole study: "The lot is cast into the lap, but its whole outcome is from Yahweh" (Proverbs 16:33). Even when something looks like chance, we remain under the eyes of God, who stays sovereign over everything.

Outline of the Message

1. In the Old Testament, the Lot Never Gets It Wrong

In Joshua 7:14-18, a theft has taken place among the people. Joshua brings the tribes forward, then the families, then the men one by one. The lot falls on Judah, on the family of Zerah, on Zabdi, and finally on Achan. A "rather strange" way to find the guilty person, Rémy admits.
How were lots cast? Not by drawing straws. Exodus 28:30 speaks of the Urim and the Thummim placed in the breastplate of judgment, over Aaron's heart before Yahweh. Rémy goes no further: the Talmud gives other details, but "it is good to stick only to the Word of God."
The territory of Israel was divided the same way (Numbers 33:54). In Joshua 18, Joshua casts lots before Yahweh at Shiloh to give each tribe its portion. Those who received their land did not believe in chance: their hearts were turned toward Yahweh.
Even to choose the first king, there is no vote "like today." Samuel brings the tribes forward, the lot picks Benjamin, then the family of Matri, then Saul son of Kish (1 Samuel 10:20-21).
"In all these examples, every time, there was no mistake. God was not wrong." If you are going through a hard situation and wondering how this could happen to you, know that there is no chance involved: God is leading things perfectly.

2. Even Among Pagans, God Leads

Jonah runs away, a storm rises, and he sleeps in the hold of the ship. The sailors say: "Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is on us." The lot falls on Jonah (Jonah 1:7).
Rémy points out that these sailors are pagans, men who have no faith in Yahweh. Yet, in a way he says he doesn't grasp, everything is led well. Jonah is not surprised: he knows.
"There is no chance, even for someone who may not be converted and who thinks things happen by chance. In reality, God is at work."
One last example: after the ascension, the eleven want to become twelve again. They put forward Joseph called Barsabbas and Matthias, and they pray: "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen." The lot falls on Matthias (Acts 1:23-26).

3. Pentecost, the Turning Point

Rémy asks the congregation a question: what is the precise moment in the Word when the idea of the lot disappears for the believer? Someone answers, and it is the right answer: Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1 and Acts 2 follow one another. "From that moment on, everything changes." After the Spirit comes, Rémy found no more casting of lots among believers: "I may be wrong, but I haven't found it. I did look a little."
Who is the Holy Spirit? We have only one God, in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, all present from creation. Jesus promises "another Counselor, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth" (John 14:16-17).
At Jesus' baptism, the word Trinity doesn't appear, but everything is there at the same moment: the Son comes up out of the water, the Spirit descends like a dove, and the Father's voice says: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17).
"You don't act by chance, but because the Spirit of God guides you." Rémy encourages us to seek to be filled with the Spirit every day, not just once a year at Pentecost.

4. Being Led Starts With Prayer

In Acts 6:3-6, the apostles ask the people to choose seven men "full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom." They choose Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolaus. Then the apostles, "when they had prayed, laid their hands on them." No more lots: the method has changed.
"How do we expect to be led if we don't pray?" Rémy shares that he has sometimes blamed God for not helping him, and heard deep within: "Rémy, have you prayed? Have you sought me?" He answers honestly: no, I have only myself to blame.
For a long time, his life was "an enormous desert" without prayer. The day he disciplined himself to pray every day, he saw things change: "being led like I had never been before."
Some of you may have followed astrological signs and the horoscope, "right in the middle of chance." Rémy hopes you can say today: "I get up and I don't look at the horoscope, I look to God."
His testimony: before his ministry training, he had two jobs, including a business he had started that was doing well, "a bit like your baby." He strongly felt the Spirit telling him to close it and trust him. His pastors listened to him, but could not decide in his place.
He sent an email to his service providers: he would honor his commitments, but the business would no longer exist in January. He was reluctant, then a few minutes later he felt peace, joy and relief. Some doors closed, others opened "miraculously," and he says he has seen many miracles this year.

5. Listening to the Spirit, Even When It Doesn't Make Sense

Paul and his companions are "forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia," then "the Spirit of Jesus didn't allow them" to enter Bithynia (Acts 16:6-7).
How can the Spirit stop someone from going to speak about Jesus? Rémy admits he doesn't have the answer. What he knows: the Spirit knows everything, he protects, it may not be the right time or place, and another place is planned.
We need to show humility: "Lord, it's true, I thought that, but I feel led another way. All right, I want to be in your plans."
Is it God speaking, my conscience, or me? Rémy compares it to an exercise: he heard a voice in his heart, he went, he saw good fruit. Little by little, he becomes more sensitive to that voice, without claiming he is never wrong. "It's not chance that leads me, it's God who holds the helm."
A recent example: all week long, he couldn't find a subject. In the middle of a conversation with someone, he stopped listening and started hearing, and a reference came to him: Acts 4:12. Back home, he opened his Bible, the verse spoke to him, and the message came together little by little.

6. Wanting to Be Led, in Worship

"It isn't enough to say: Lord, lead me. Do we really want it?" In Acts 13:2, it was while they were serving the Lord and fasting that the Spirit said: "Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them."
Things happen when we seek God's face, not when we sit idle waiting for them to fall from heaven. Rémy asks each person whether they take time for personal worship, without judgment: he himself was for a long time among those who didn't really read the Bible.
Today, the first thing he does in the morning is spend time of worship with the Lord Jesus. "Otherwise, something is missing."
Barnabas and Saul were ready, but they were waiting for "the green light." They didn't set out thinking they made a good team. It is the Spirit who decides and who sends.
What is the advantage of having the Holy Spirit in your life? Acts 15:28: "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us." In the debate over circumcision, the apostles discover that they are on the same wavelength as the Spirit. Rémy sees real joy in that: when God confirms what he has put in your heart.
Another testimony: faced with a difficult verse, he was about to look up a Bible commentary when he sensed the Spirit telling him to search for himself and pray. He reread the verse and wrote almost half a page on a text he hadn't understood a minute before. He doesn't reject commentaries for all that.

7. Replace the Word "Chance" With "Led by God"

"I took this road by chance": we say it out of habit, we have said it "a billion times." Rémy wants to change the way he talks: I went that way because God led me there, sometimes even without my knowing, because he protects me.
To the person who thinks they came tonight somewhat by chance, he answers: let me believe that it is the Lord who put in your heart the desire to come and hear the Word.
We must not give glory to chance, nor trust it. The same goes for "life led me here": "Jesus is life. It's not life that leads me, it's Jesus Christ, who is life, who leads me."
At the foot of the cross, the soldiers cast lots for Jesus' tunic (John 19:24). They are not believers, and one could speak of coincidence. Rémy sees a fulfillment: about a thousand years earlier, Psalm 22:18 already said: "They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing."
He tried to calculate the probability of his own existence and gave up. "That you are here, alive, is a miracle." No one was born by chance, no one is here by chance. God created you, shaped you, formed you, and he chose you.
Rémy adds that our choices and their consequences remain, but that this is another subject. The study ends with a time of prayer to be renewed and filled with the Spirit.

Key Takeaways

"The lot is cast into the lap, but its whole outcome is from Yahweh": even what looks like chance remains under the eyes of a sovereign God.
In the Old Testament, the lot identifies Achan, divides the land and chooses Saul, and God is never wrong. He even leads the lot cast by pagans.
After Pentecost, believers no longer cast lots: they pray and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
We cannot be led without praying, without really wanting to be led and without accepting a no from the Spirit.
Replace "by chance" and "life led me" with "God led me": no one was born or is here by chance.

Personal Application

What hard situation are you asking about right now: "How can this happen to me?" Can you place it in the hands of a God who is never wrong?
When have you blamed God for not leading you, without really having prayed about that situation?
Do you take a time of personal worship every day? What moment of your day could you set aside for it?
Is there a door the Spirit seems to be closing, which you are trying to open in your own way?
This week, when you say "by chance" or "life just worked out that way," can you rephrase it by acknowledging that God led you?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Bible say about chance?

Proverbs 16:33 sums it up: the lot is cast into the lap, but its whole outcome is from Yahweh. Rémy shows that in Israel the lot identifies Achan, divides the land and chooses Saul, and that every time God was not wrong. Even when something looks like chance, we remain under the eyes of a sovereign God.

Should Christians still cast lots to make a decision?

The last casting of lots among the disciples takes place in Acts 1, to replace Judas. After Pentecost, Rémy finds none among believers: in Acts 6, the apostles pray and lay on hands. Since the coming of the Holy Spirit, we are led by prayer and by the voice of the Spirit.

How can you be led by the Holy Spirit day to day?

Rémy stresses prayer and personal worship: it was while the disciples were serving the Lord and fasting that the Spirit spoke (Acts 13:2). You also have to really want to be led, accept a no even when it seems illogical (Acts 16:6-7), and learn little by little to recognize his voice.