It's not as hopeless as it looks

Photo credit: www.mises.org.br

Unless you've been living under a rock, it is inconceivable that sporting events in Brazil have passed you by unnoticed. Whether it's Bolt bolting to victory in the 100m, Phelps adding to his record medal tally, Rudisha proving that he is King David in the 800m and Jemima Sumgong finally claiming a a medal for Kenya in the Ladies marathon, Rio has been at the center of it all.

The Olympics or sports as we know it, in my view, give us a well-needed break from the circus of the political scene, harrowing tales of domestic violence, school fires left, right and center and the endless drama that grips our country. As a people, we have naturally and assiduously grown cynical, resigning ourselves to the conclusion, that ours is a corruption-rampant country whose leaders will never do anything to break us free from the cycle of theft ; if anything, they will only propagate it further.

The Olympics paints a rather different picture from the one we have been accustomed to as Kenyans. This global showpiece of sports reminds us how life ought to be. It brings into sharp focus merit-based achievement, exemplifying that hard work in the gym or on the field training, actually translates to success not the buy/cheat your way to success model that has been accepted as the norm today. It also showcases the aspect of chance, as time and time again, athletes who aren't even given a prayer in the heats end up amongst those on the podium receiving a medal.

King Solomon, makes a very wise observation in Ecclesiastes 9:11 when he says, " I have seen something else under the sun. The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all."

Solomon's observation is not the preserve of the Olympics, it is of life. A thought that often escapes me when I read this verse; time and chance happen alright but I forget that there is one who is master over time and chance, that is God.

Jesus is often referred to as LORD of LORDS, not just a title that you use in prayer to sound religious but because he actually is the LORD of LORDS.  Colossians 1, speaks in detail of his sovereignty, verses 15 to 19 read," He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church, he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him."

John's description of Jesus in Revelations 1, only serves to illustrate the supremacy of Jesus even more. A similarity in Revelations and Colossians is that Jesus is the beginning, the first or the firstborn. In John 1, this is again highlighted, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Notice that in the beginning, God was already there!!! Jesus was there, before time even began, so how then can he be limited by time when he is the creator of time? I believe time and chance is subject to him.

That gives me the world of encouragement as a child of God. I have experienced God to be gracious and he has given me way more than I deserve. In Economics, ceteris paribus is a term denoting all factors remaining constant, isn't it stupefying that all things are never constant, and that we are loved by the very one who can either ensure all factors are constant, or at the very least, one or two factors change.

It's quite common seeing people doing life with a sense of non-entitlement, with a perennial frustration that it's all hopeless. You can assume a defeatist mentality; ruling yourself out before the competition even begins, an inclination to shrug your shoulders with indifference, wave the white flag and capitulate without as much as an effort.

The gracious LORD Jesus, who is LORD over time and chance, time and time again, tilted the scales and altered chance for his will to be done. Were it not so, David , the last born shepherd would not have become king. Moses, the kid who was placed in the river would not have been 'found' by Pharaoh's daughter. The Moabite lady, Ruth, would not have found Boaz, single and searching and would instead, be just one of the many thinking, "All the good ones are taken."

The Ninevites would not have been forgiven and saved, nor Rahab the prostitute, nor Zachaeus the reviled tax collector. The LORD of time and chance just happens to be the LORD of grace, the LORD of love, who forgives and gives us a hatful of second chances we scarcely deserve so long as it falls in line with his plan to reflect his glory.

No chance of nailing that job, no chance of moving out, no chance of hooking up to that guy or lady you dream of daily, the LORD of time and chance may have something different to say about that.

The Olympic games has shown that things don't always go to script, so has God. The script was that sin had condemned us to death but Jesus changed that script. He died in our place as an atonement for our sins, then resurrected  so as to reconcile us to God and save us from eternal damnation, to take away our shame and our guilt. Before that and thereafter, the LORD of time and chance has been changing the script at will, for his will to those keen on doing his will.  Therefore, run the race, knowing you don't always have to be swift to win it or have all the aces in your pack to win, time and chance can happen to you because you serve Jesus, who is LORD over time and chance, able to tilt the odds in your favor if he means to.