1. A tendency to stress the negative or unfavorable or to take the gloomiest possible view: "We have seen too much defeatism, too much pessimism, too much of a negative approach" (Margo Jones).

2. The doctrine or belief that this is the worst of all possible worlds and that all things ultimately tend toward evil.

3. The doctrine or belief that the evil in the world outweighs the good.Beware of the PESSIMIST

Pessimism

The essence of Murphy's Law is that bad things happen because the universe is designed for bad things to happen. It's tough, but expect it. What does the Bible say?

First, we should expect bad things to happen. Satan is the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4), and we live in "this present evil age" (Galatians 1:4, WEB). Peter tells believers not to be "astonished at the fiery trial" (I Peter 4:12, WEB). The Bible and Murphy's Law agree that bad things happen - but they disagree radically on why they happen.

By Murphy's Law, things go wrong because the universe is sadistic. From the Bible, we know that troubles can have a number of causes: testing us, helping us grow, correcting us when we stray, and others. We won't know all the reasons until we see the Lord. Through it all, though, we have this promise: "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28, WEB).

Conclusion

Paul wrote an anti-Murphy's Law: "Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.... We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering works perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn't disappoint us..." (Romans 5:1-5, WEB, emphasis added). He also wrote the first corollary, Romans 8:28, quoted above.

Although Murphy's Law is a very popular mindset - I tend to fall into it often - it is completely opposed to the truths in the Bible. Instead of, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong," we should say, "Anything that can go right, will go right, and it will happen in God's perfect timing."

 

Published by Eric R.