COUNTING THE COST

 *COUNTING THE COST* 

Nothing just happens but things are made to happen. The saying rules out the possibility of coincidence in life. Is it true that there is nothing like coincidence in life? Let’s think of a lady who suddenly, along the streets, meets a handsome man whose looks are exactly as per the man of her dreams. They pick a conversation and for a 30 minutes’ walk down the street, all the talk fits the lady’s bill of ideal man. Down the corner, the man needs to make a turn, but the lady needs to walk ahead. The Man asks if he could have the lady’s contact but the stubborn monster in her pops up and says No, explaining that they just met. Of course she doesn’t want to appear cheap. They then part ways but lady walks questioning herself regarding what she just did. Could she have just allowed her dream man slip off her fingers? ‘Why do I have to always be so stubborn?’ ‘Could the idea of that man be a messenger of the devil who I was lucky to escape from?’ ‘Did I do the right thing?’. The questions keep coming to her mind till late into the night but none of them can she answer confidently. Thinking of coincidences, was it a good or bad coincidence that she met the man? Could she have rejected Mr. right sent to her by God?

Believers of no coincidences try to make meaning of everything that happens to their lives. Many passages of the bible bring out the idea that everything in life happens according to God’s plans. Talk of John 1:3 that says that without Him, nothing was made that was made. Think of Luke 21:18 that says that not a hair from his head will perish. Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for the good of those called according to His purpose.

On the other hand, God’s word implies that for things to happen in our lives, we need to first consider what we want, sit down and calculate the cost we must pay to make it happen, much before we begin any of the projects that we want to engage in. This implies also that nothing will happen in our lives by coincidence or luck, but we must pay the cost equivalent to what we want to happen for us. Luke 14: 28-30, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and cannot finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

It looks like there are no coincidences in life. Maybe there is also nothing like luck. Rather, we need to consider what we want and pay the equivalent cost for it. So, what do you want? What is the cost? Are you ready to pay?

@Stephen Mungai