In today's world, we often hear about "the odds." What are the odds of a certain horse winning a race...what are the odds of a certain return on your investments...what are the odds of this turning out well, or of all your dreams coming true.
And very often the answer is: not that good.
But I like to think about "the odds" with God. What were the odds of the Red Sea parting? I'd say zero. And yet....God didn't seem to be even slightly bothered by the odds, and went ahead and parted the Sea anyway! (Exodus 14).
What were the odds of an ax head floating on water? Again...not very good. But when Elisha threw a stick of faith into the water on the spot where an ax head had fallen, it floated to the top and was retrieved (2 Kings 6).
What were the odds of a dead man -- in the tomb for three days already -- walking out of that tomb alive? My guess is that the odds makers would say the odds were around a million to one. In other words, the chances weren't very good.
Except that you and I know what happened. Jesus wasn't moved by the circumstances or the odds -- He went ahead and raised Lazarus from the dead anyway! (John 11).
We could go on and on. What were the odds of a blind man spontaneously receiving back his sight? A man who'd never walked, suddenly jumping up and dancing and leaping? A woman who'd been bleeding for 12 years suddenly being healed? (Mark 5).
The world would say the odds weren't that good....but the odds didn't bother God at all!
When you're believing God for something, it's important to keep your eyes off "the odds" and on His Word.
I think that, because we live on an earth with a curse and we're well familiar with the ways of this world, too often we get caught up in worldly thinking....natural, limited thinking.
Even after we've prayed for something, we look at the situation and say, "Well, that won't happen. It can't be done. It hasn't happened yet, it didn't happen for so-and-so, I guess that's just the way it is."
The odds don't look very good to our natural minds, but we can't let those thoughts limit us to the possibilities of God. As we know, He is not limited by "the odds." Keep your faith on it!
Nothing To Do With You!
One of the biggest traps of all is to look at what has (or hasn't) happened for other people and let that sway your faith. But Jesus told the woman with the issue of blood, "Your faith has made you whole" (Mark 5:34).
The odds of her being healed after all that time weren't very good. She'd done all she knew to do in the natural. She probably knew other women with the same malady who had died. But that didn't have anything to do with her.
Don't let any circumstance -- including what has or hasn't happened for someone else -- discourage you. Truthfully, that doesn't have anything to do with your faith! As we've seen, "the odds" don't matter to God.
Be like the woman with the issue of blood and continue to say and believe, no matter what. When the situation says your chances are slim to none, saturate yourself in the possibilities of God....when you do that, "the odds" are in your favor!
