Shalom,
Today I was really blessed to read Jospeh Prince's "Daily Grace Inspirations" deovtional!
Time and
Chance
The race is not to the
swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men
of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them
all. Ecclesiastes 9:11
I want
you to know how you can have “time and chance” happen to you—where you find
yourself blessed because you’re at the right place at the right time. Let me
show you what the original Hebrew language reveals about how this can be your
reality.
The Hebrew
word for “time” is the word eth, meaning time or season. The Hebrew words
for “chance happen” are pega qarah. Together with eth, they present a
picture not of random occurrences, but “right happenings” that are dependent
on the Lord’s orchestration.
It’s
unfortunate that the word “chance” is used in the English translation. When you
read “time and chance happen to them all,” it gives the impression of random
happenings, occurrences that happen as if by “luck.”
But if
you study the root of the word pega in the Scriptures, you’ll see it
is from the word paga, which actually means to make intercession or pray.
Let me introduce to you at this point a principle of Bible interpretation
called the law of first mention. When you are studying a word, look at the first
time it appears in the Bible. There is a lot of spiritual truth and
significance in the first occurrence of the word in the Bible.
Applying
this principle to the word paga, we see in the Bible that the first time
it is used is in Genesis 23:8 (NIV), where it means “intercede.” The same
word is also used in Isaiah 53:12 where it says the Lord “made intercession for the transgressors”.
The other
Hebrew word, qarah, is often used in other parts of the Bible to explain
God-ordained happenings. So “chance happen” should more accurately be
translated as “prayed opportunities” or “prayed happenings.”
When you
have eth and pega qarah combined here, it speaks of right-time,
right-place happenings, or of being at the right place at the right
time, doing the right thing as a result of prayer.
What an
amazing blessing to possess, which is simply triggered by coming to our loving
Father in heaven and expressing our dependence on His protection over us and
our families. I want this blessing activated every day, don’t you?
AMEN! I certainly do! How about YOU? Here to further encourage you in GOD'S ways is Brandon Lake and Brooke Ligertwood with "Honey In The Rock":
Shalom in Him!
