Oprah Winfrey - If It’s Not Luck Then What Is It?

IF it’s not luck then what is it?

   Oprah Winfrey once said that “luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity." There are many events in history to back this up as well as in my life, but is there a big part of the equation missing? What about laziness, ineptitude, oblivious, unprepared. These are just a few words that come to mind when we talk about luck. Was it luck that saved the hiker in the desert who chopped his arm off to escape or was it just preparation.  I am sure he felt lucky to be alive.  Would we Americans’ call the 911 pilots lucky? They avoided detection, trained in America, took over planes with box cutters and then hit their targets. Someone out there thinks they got lucky but were they? Or was it someone’s bad luck.  Luck is not only influenced by my actions but by the bad luck and poor preparation of others. We can’t rule out the hand of God when people think of luck either. With most of the world believing in some higher power who needs luck.

     Some would say they can control their lives, their destiny, and so they basically are not depending on luck, they even say they don't believe in it.  Take for example the flight that landed in the Hudson River, good old Sully, I imagine he didn't believe in luck when it came to landing the plane; he might think it amazing that the plane didn’t fill with water after landing, or that the plane did as it was supposed to do.  I see no reason to say lucky even though he was prepared, and he was given the opportunity. On the other hand, from the copilot on down to the last passenger, believe they got lucky that day. Were they prepared, or given opportunity? No, they just bought a ticket. I am sure it changed a lot of lives that day but was it luck?    

    I became a Christian 20 years ago at the age of 25. I came to a point in my life where I was alone, homeless, scared and not very lucky. I walked down the streets of Bakersfield with my military bag strapped to my back, no destination, no money, just walking.  It was when the soles of my boots peeled off from the heat of the road that I saw the sign, "JESUS SAVES." It was on the side of an ugly building with high windows, underneath the overpass where I had always seen the bums gathered. It glowed neon red and flashed. I hadn't eaten in 2 days, and I had never been homeless.  Hell I was a rich kid and a veteran. I walked to the door, and a sign said doors will reopen at 6 am. What was behind the doors and what was a rescue mission? I slept on the doorstep and at 6 am they opened and for the first time in years I felt I was home. For two years I slept with, cooked for, read to and repaired the buildings for the homeless of Bakersfield. I read my first story of the bible in my second week. I became baptized three months later. Was it luck or was it a Divine intervention? What led me there?