Ever play "Bible Roulette"? I don't know whose blog In Search of Wisdom is. (It's on the Calvin Theological Seminary website, but it's white on black, which makes it hard to read.) That's where I first ran across the phrase "Bible Roulette", and where I read this:

Dallas Willard, in his book Hearing God comments on this practice of picking random verses. In this practice…

…we see both the desperate urgency and the superstitious character of human efforts to get a word from God, especially a word on what is going to happen and what we should do about it. If necessary some people are prepared to force such a word from him or someone else. Like King Saul many of us have our own versions of a witch of Endor. (p. 33)

I've been doing it, off and on, since I was 8 years old and first heard about it. Mostly, I do it when I'm impatient. I talk to God when I'm awake - usually silently, since it will attract stares if one does it aloud - and the answers usually are overnighted, not by FedEx, but directly into my conciousness. Sometimes, I don't need to wait; I suppose God is impatient with me at times. But when I'm impatient and God isn't, I take things into my own hands.

It's not always a Bible that I use. Richard Bach (the guy who wrote "Jonathon Livingston Seagull") wrote "Confessions of a Reluctant Messiah", in which the Reluctant Messiah is told that it doesn't have to be the Bible, or the Messiah Handbook, or any book in particular. A phone book sometimes gives cryptic answers if you land in the white pages - the yellow pages are easier to interpret - but any book will work.

Perhaps that's because all books are inspired by God. If you have ever suffered from "Writer's Block", it's because God is pissed off at you. Sorry. It's rude of me to tell you that, I suppose, but I wanted to know, so I prayed to God, and that's the answer I got. I apparently pissed off God when I asked, because I hadn't been having problems, and suddenly, I was suffering from writer's block. Oops.

And Bible Roulette, even with a non-Bible works better than simply reading the Bible from cover to cover, and trying to select passages, because Bible Roulette is the living word of God, not something stale, filtered by translators over the years. The Bible itself says that, at Hebrews 4:12 - "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

Anyhow, I played Bible Roulette a few days ago, and I got exactly the same page I had gotten twice before in recent months. There are lots of reasons why a book will open at the same page over and over again, a damaged spine being the most common one, but these incidents of Roulette used different Bibles. Either it's an incredible coincidence, or else God is telling me to pay closer attention, dummy!

It was the Ma href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 37&version=NIV">37th Psalm. It starts out like this:

Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

I've been fretting, and not a little, because last year, Blondie's web hosting businesses were sold to a fellow who ran the businesses in the ground. He didn't have the cash to buy them, but we have him hundreds of dollars in prepaid server rent to get him started, with the understanding that he'd start paying us off out of the profits. He'd end up with the businesses, in exchange for his labor, and we'd end up with the thousands of dollars that they were worth.

Except, as I said, he ran the businesses into the ground, and he never paid Blondie a penny. What's more, he ended up selling the businesses to yet a third party. Did I say I was fretting? I was livid. When someone says it's not the money, it's the principle of the thing, it's usually the money, and in this case, I would have been much mollified if we'd been paid off. On the other hand, it's hard to see something you've worked hard to build up, get destroyed.

And now the guy is dead. Supposedly, it was a heart attack. Often, that excuse is given when someone commits suicide, or dies of a drug overdose. I'm starting to think, though, that he died of Psalms 37. Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Daggonit, I've gotta be careful not to fret. As the Incredible Hulk said, "Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like it very much if I got angry."

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
Bible Roulette - business losses - Dallas Willard - fretting - Reluctant Messiah - Richard Bach - Witch of Endor