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Sure, we know the Almighty as the Alpha and Omega, the Great I AM. There is a long popular poster in Christian circles that features various names and titles of God. He has more names and titles than the queen of England! It occurred to me that, while certainly orthodox, this list is by no means exhaustive.

The world has many names for God, too. Some call him Fate, an impersonal power that is supposed to determine events. Others say he is Chance, occurrences that cannot be accounted for by any discernable pattern of cause and effect.

The gambling community likes to refer to him as Luck, the tendency in some people to be persistently fortunate or unfortunate. For the astrologically inclined, he is called Destiny; our assumed predetermined lot in life; though whom it is exactly that does the predetermining is not readily explained.

In the Eastern world, the offhandedly call him Karma, a kind of spiritual cancer that contaminates the soul preventing it from reaching Nirvana. Karma is more or less a Detour sign on the astral plane, a Do Not Pass Go in the great game of life. It’s like Snakes And Ladders without benefit of the Ladders.

In the mathematical world, they call him Probability, a frequency of occurrence over an indefinite period time to measure events. Will such statisticians come to the full knowledge of God? Probably.  Are these guys much fun to debate with? Probably not.

For gamblers he is called Fortune, the power of chance in the affairs of mankind, and he is happily rumored to favor the foolish.  And for many, he is simply The Man Upstairs, who benignly watches over us, his halo and harp all a-glowing. No repentance required.

My physics pals call him Quantum, but when they attempt to quantify and explain their non-linear theories and beliefs regarding their bizarre field of research, people kind of stare uncomprehendingly at them, often excusing themselves to go to the bathroom, never returning to the weirder than weird conversation.

For moviegoers, he is now called The Force. Darth Lucas should be ashamed of himself for muddying the minds of impressionable little kids with such drivel. Now, shhh. Kindly dim those light sabers and please pass the popcorn.

The point of my quasi-theological rant is that there is a universal recognition of Something that we all intuit to be out there, Something much higher than us, Something eternal that simply IS.

Take an intelligent leap of faith. The wonderful hope of Christianity is that the Something out there has a name, personality, and purpose. For those who seek after him with all their heart, he promises to reveal himself. Colossians 2:9, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” His name is Jesus.

Fate will merciless betray you. Chance often works against you. Luck can be good, bad, or dumb. Destiny lies. Karma is the uncaring universes’ way of damning you forever as a loser. Probability makes no commitment to your welfare. Fortune comes in cookies, but seldom when the bills are due. And, sad to say, The Man Upstairs is usually napping when you cry out to him. If you tell the Quantum guys to take a leap, they will mumble something about the leap already occurring infinitely in the multiverse, and resume mumbling while ham fistedly consuming their Doritos.

And The Force? Sure, it’s a juggernaut at the box office, but just try trusting your feelings and tapping in to the universal power when you have a flat tire in rush hour traffic. At your closed casket funeral, your eulogy will conclude with, “He trusting ‘The Force’. Alas, the careening 18-wheeler proved to be more forceful still. Amen.”

God invites searching humanity to seek and find him with this lovely invitation, in Psalms 46:10. “Be still, and know that I am God.” The price of admission? Your whole heart.

In the wonderful name of Jesus, amen!

Bryan Hupperts © 2009

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