Why You Will Never Win the Lottery
You’ve heard it said that you have a better chance of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery. That’s certainly true, but perhaps we’ve heard it so many times, we’ve become a bit numb.
A recent article by National Geographic put things a bit more colorfully. Turns out, you’re far more likely to be killed by a shark, hit by an asteroid or comet, or—wait for it—injured by a toilet, than you are to win the lottery.
So, what are the actual odds of, say, winning the Powerball grand prize? According to the Powerball website, they’re 1 in 175,223,510. And the odds of winning second place? 1 in 5,153,632.
Perhaps you’re aiming much lower than that, and you’d be happy to win the smallest prize of just $4. Your odds are still not great: 1 in 55. And if you spend $2 per ticket and it takes you 55 tries to win, are you really winning after all? You just paid $110 to win 4 bucks.
We know all of this in our minds, but it’s another matter entirely to grasp it in our hearts. It seems there’s still something inside many of us that fights against logic and says, “But it could happen to me.”
To help move our lottery knowledge from our heads to our hearts, let’s take a quick look at what the Bible has to say about the matter.
Proverbs 13:11 says, “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it” (ESV).
I’d say winning the lottery is the definition of gaining wealth “hastily,” and there are scores of sad stories detailing the misery of lotto winners who experienced the truth of that proverb.
But that only addresses the problem of winning. What about the desire to win in the first place? And the money spent in pursuit of that win?
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10, NIV).
Those who find themselves chasing after a Powerball win in hopes of becoming rich are not only in danger of distancing themselves from God, but hurting themselves through unnecessary heartache.
As for all the money spent trying to win—$520 a year if you buy just one Powerball ticket every weekday—it’s difficult to justify when held up against Proverbs 3:9.
“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce” (NLT).
For those who find themselves giving into the temptation to chase after the latest jackpot, those are words worth considering. Does that ticket purchase honor God? Are you giving Him your first and best gifts through tithes and offerings? Or is your lottery habit preventing you from giving God your best?
That’s a lot to think about, but let’s wrap this up with one last idea, from Jesus Himself, as recorded in Matthew 6:24 (NIV):
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
