What are the odds?

I have never bought a lottery ticket, not even one. I am not a gambling man. I would buy the occasional raffle tickets when a student or a friend approached me to do so, but I did so not because I hoped to win, but because I wanted to contribute to their hockey team or whatever charitable cause they were promoting. When I did that, I would always read the list of prizes to be won on the ticket and jokingly say, “This is the prize I want, and I want you to deliver it to me on the day of the draw!” No prize ever came, and I did not expect one to materialize either.

I have been extremely busy since the end of August and, toward the end of October, the pace was starting to feel a bit overwhelming, so much so that I remember praying to God, “This is too much Lord, I can’t keep on doing this!’ Even though things have slowed down this month, I still had 8 scheduled appointments this past week. Four of these were primarily to take care of my personal needs and four were aimed at taking care of other people’s needs. Strangely enough, every single one of the latter, and only these, were canceled, not by me, but by the people I was to meet. What are the odds of that happening? The question popped into my mind, and I could not resist checking on the Internet to see if I could find an answer. Turns out that the odds are 1 in 256. Coincidence? Possibly. I prefer to think that God was answering my prayer and saying, “It’s OK to take care of yourself once in a while.”

I am not a gambling man. The odds of God wanting what is best for me because He loves me are 100%. I like those odds!