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by Richard Gazowsky

As God is moving me into higher circles of influence, I am making some unusual discoveries about leaders that are in positions of power. One of those discoveries is that you should be careful if you mention the casting of lots, because it can cause a lot of controversy. But oh, what fun that controversy is! It’s amazing how powerful men squirm when losing control over any aspect of the decision- making process. I have found it to be so fun to see how freaked out these guys get–try it, you’ll see what I mean.

It was many years ago that I heard about the casting of a lot. I was shocked to discover that some of the most important decisions made by the early Pentecostal movement were made by this method. As a boy, I remember sitting around a group of old Pentecostal evangelists and watching them draw straws on who was to preach that night. It was so random, yet so fresh, and the man upon whom the lot fell spoke with such fresh anointing and unction. But as I grew older, I never heard of people putting the decision up to the Lord.

Of course, everybody said that they did the will of God. But to them, the will of God was only expressed through their decision making process. It even got to the point where people would say, “If you have the money to do it, it’s God’s will. If you don’t, it’s not.” Of course, in this last case, the God of money had complete rulership over a person’s lifestyle. Jesus taught that you cannot serve God and money-you’ll hate one and love the other. Of course, this point brings me back to the question of casting of lots.

Any person who is making a decision of any importance has any number of choices to determine what process they’re going to choose to effectually make the right decision. One common method would be to reason something out. But of course, since the carnal mind is enmity against God, that thinking process already appears to be flawed from the beginning. Another way to know God’s will would be listening to the still, small voice of God that speaks in your spirit. Now of course this process is clearly the more perfect way, but I can count an innumerable amount of events where I saw people say that they heard God speak to them, but their decision led to disaster, and there was no way to go back and verify whether God actually spoke, or that the person confused their own lust of the flesh with the true voice of God. This becomes especially important when your decisions begin to effect large numbers of people who are there to help you on your pathway.

A method in the past has always been the pastor hears from God and everybody else follows. But, what if he makes a mistake? If he makes a mistake, everybody blames him, and they have no method of going back and checking on how the pastor asked God. By nature, I am a very practical person, so I’ve always wondered, what is a method of asking the Lord that is completely verifiable so that others could look and see it answered? This is where the casting of the lot comes into play. I cannot tell you how it works, but I know it does.

The casting of the lot is used many times in the Bible. When David was facing annihilation at Zigklag, he cast a lot and asked the Lord if he should pursue the enemy. The lot came up ‘yes,’ and they went off to pursue. David’s men were exhausted, tired, and needed an answer desperately from God. The answer had to be seriously verifiable. If David had said to the men, “Well, I feel we should pursue,” would not be enough. He needed something physical that he could throw the decision weight upon and the casting of the lot proved to be perfect.

In Proverbs 16:33, it says, “The lot is cast into the lap, and its every decision is of the Lord.” That is about as clear as the nose upon your face. If you are sincere, and honest, and you do not want to manipulate the influence of the will of God, casting of a lot is the purest non-argumentative decision making tool. It simply tells you if God is saying ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Usually, I will pray and then flip a coin. If it comes up ‘heads,’ the answer is yes. If it comes up ‘tails,’ it usually means do not rush the decision, wait a little bit; or it may be just a flat-out ‘no.’

Proverbs goes on to say that the casting of a lot can bring peace among a group of strong leaders. It appears to me that this should be a normal function, especially among Christian leaders. Sorry guys, but I just can’t find it. As a matter of fact, if I even suggest it, I am amazed at the instant strong anger that rises up against my suggestion. The only thing that I can perceive is that it simply comes down to the spirit of control. People work a long time and make a lot of sacrifices so that they can be the one that is in control and then suddenly, this idiot comes along who says, “Hey, let’s ask God first.” They think ‘Well, wait a minute! I’m the person in control and haven’t I already told you what decision I have made? And don’t I hear the voice of God? So why would you want an independent confirmation that is out of my control?’

Hmmmm… let me think. My reply in these cases is ‘Maybe that is the reason that I want to ask God independently, because you are so in control.’ Hey look– I know this is not easy. When I first started casting lots and asking God with a pure, innocent heart, I felt like I was throwing my whole future away, right into the wind. But now that I have been doing it for more than 13 years,thousands of decisions later, I can tell you that every time I let God decide, His decisions have been better than mine. And for me, that is fascinating because the more I let God make a decision, the more I admire His divine wisdom. I want to become more vulnerable and dependent upon hearing God’s voice every day and every way.

Richard Gazowsky pastors a church in San Francisco called The Voice of Pentecost, and is also president of Christian WYSIWYG Filmworks. He has directed the films, “Guardians” and “The Roman Trilogy.”