Luck o’ the Irish

It was over 20 years ago, but I remember it like yesterday. I was standing there in an emerald green dress and matching heels, surrounded by people drinking green beer in a pub decorated with shamrocks.

“Luck o’ the Irish to you!” Griff said with a wink, as I headed up to the stage. It was the closest I would ever come to being in a beauty pageant, and I was representing Griff’s sports bar in the citywide Irish Queens contest. Just a few days later, I would be waving from a float in Houston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

The greeting “luck o’ the Irish” sounds like a positive one, but its original meaning was to imply that “only by luck” (not brains) could the Irish have made their fortunes in the American gold rush.

If I take an honest look at my life, I have to say that I have truly had the “luck ‘o the Irish” on my side, because some of the choices I have made have certainly been brainless. Nevertheless, it has all worked out.

In the eternal scheme of things, we who are in Christ don’t need to rely on luck. In fact, the word “luck” does not appear anywhere in the Bible! Instead, it talks about how we are blessed, through an outpouring of God’s unconditional love. We are also blessed when we act in accordance with His will.

No matter how short we have fallen, we don’t need the “luck o’ the Irish.” We can find blessings when we put our faith in Him.

“Blessed are those whose wrongs have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered.” –Romans 4:7