Sitting on his porch with water up to the steps, a boat with two firemen approached. “Get in, they said.”

“Oh, no” the man replied. “God will save me.”

A while later, the man was on the roof of his porch. Floodwater reaching the top of his windows. Another boat approached. “Jump in. We’ll rescue you.”

“Oh no,” the man shouted. “God will take care of me.”

Now perched atop his chimney, water above the ridge of his roof, a helicopter lowers a ladder to him and the voice on the loudspeaker says “Grab the ladder. We’re here to save you.”

“No need,” he shouts. “God will take care of me.”

The man drowned a little while later.

Standing at the “pearly gates,” St. Peter announced to the old man that his name had been erased from the book. He was condemned to spend eternity in hell for his lack of faith.”

The old man said “WHAT??? I thought God would save me?”

A voice boomed out “Well, I sent two boats and a helicopter.”

My next words were “So, he might open a door. But if He doesn’t appear, pick you up, and carry you over the threshold, I suppose He could be hinting that YOU have to actually use those appendages to get there yourself.”

Similarly, I have a very close friend who constantly makes comments starting with “If I ever win the lottery, I will…” followed by things that might be very difficult but could be achieved nonetheless through planning, hard work, and patience. I’ve also heard lots of people say things like “We’re going to have children when we’re financially ready.” Yeah. Uh huh. I’ve NEVER heard someone say “We were financially ready, so we had a child.” They got pregnant. They had a baby. They adjusted their lifestyle accordingly.

I see it this way:

Your intentions create your conscious thoughts.

Your thoughts create your actions.

Your actions create your circumstances.

Nowhere in that equation or chronology does “chance, luck or fate” appear. Unexpected events will happen. But the long-term consequences of such events is not about luck or chance or destiny — it’s all about knowing where you’re trying to go and using that as the compass which guides your actions and reactions, both of which start in your mind, not somewhere “out there.”