What would you do if you won the lottery? Would it be a blessing to you or a curse? I am fond of saying that I would only want to win the lottery if I could do it anonymously. That way I wouldn’t have to worry about people knocking down my door, or long lost acquaintances showing up out of nowhere.
There are some states that do let you remain anonymous if you win. Delaware was one of the first states to allow this when they passed a law for it in 1988. Texas passed a law in 2017 that allows winners of over one million dollars to remain anonymous. Georgia residents can choose this if they win at least 250,000 dollars. Other states that have laws on the books for this include Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Ohio.
Many people who do win, whether they tell anyone or not, end up losing their winnings within about 5 years. I think that is because people don’t know how to handle suddenly being rich. And other people around them don’t know how to handle it either.
There is a pretty good example of someone in the bible who won the lottery: David.
1 Samuel 16:1-3; 10-12
16 The Lord asked Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul now that I have rejected him as king of Israel? Fill a flask with olive oil and go. I’m sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem because I’ve selected one of his sons to be king.”
2 “How can I go?” Samuel asked. “When Saul hears about it, he’ll kill me.”
The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I’ve come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice. I will reveal to you what you should do, and you will anoint for me the one I point out to you.”
10 So Jesse brought seven more of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel told Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these. 11 Are these all the sons you have?”
“There’s still the youngest one,” Jesse answered. “He’s tending the sheep.”
Samuel told Jesse, “Send someone to get him. We won’t continue until he gets here.”
12 So Jesse sent for him. He had a healthy complexion, attractive eyes, and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Go ahead, anoint him. He is the one.” 13 Samuel took the flask of olive oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers. The Lord’s Spirit came over David and stayed with him from that day on.
In a way, David won the lottery that day. God chose him to be the King of Israel. When people win the lottery today there are all kinds of negative things that can happen. People have received threats, and been subject to lawsuits, and thievery. I think David would understand this more than most. He was anointed King of Israel, and the current king, Saul, tried to have him killed.
1 Samuel 19:1; 8-10
19 Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officers to kill David.
8 When war broke out again, David went to fight the Philistines. He defeated them so decisively that they fled from him. 9 Then an evil spirit from the Lord came over Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. David was strumming a tune. 10 Saul tried to nail David to the wall with his spear. But David dodged it, and Saul’s spear struck the wall. David fled, escaping from Saul that night.
It occurred to me that what the real issue with lottery winners is this: the good fortune comes too quickly. Imagine getting a large sum of money all at once with a lottery win, vs. slowly accumulating that same amount of money over time. What would be the difference? Would anyone come after you in the latter case?
You see this in sports often, with a rising star that doesn’t put in the work because he doesn’t have to. Everything comes to this person and he or she rockets to fame. And they can’t handle it very well. You see it in entertainment. Child stars that build up expectations that their adult selves then have to live up to. They have had a huge step change in lifestyle and, being famous, can never really become normal again.
So what if we had slow improvement instead?
Now this has real potential. Imagine you had a messy house, and one day people come and clean it all up for you. Now imagine the same house that you commit to cleaning, little by little, each day until it is all the way clean? Which case has a better chance of staying clean?
Slow improvement can beat a step change in life, for the simple reason that you have time to adjust to the changes taking place. The focus is on the quality of the work, rather than the speed at which the work gets done.
I think this is true when applied to our faith as well. Slow improvement spiritually lets us absorb the gains. Commit yourself to spiritual improvement, little by little, and you just might be amazed at the what you become.
God Bless.