Good Luck
Not once in the entire Bible do the words good luck appear. In fact, neither does luck by itself appear. The phrase good fortune appears in some translations; it is the meaning of the name Gad (Gen. 30:11). Why didn't people wish others good luck in the Bible like we all do in our society today? Could it be Biblical persons thought things that occurred had more to do with God's will than with luck? After all, God did not give mankind His commandments, and then say, "Good luck keeping them." No, when He commanded various truths, Israel was expected to keep them. If they did, they would be blessed; if they did not, they would be cursed and punished (Lev. 26; Deut. 28). Luck had nothing to do with it.
Does that mean that luck doesn't exist? No, it does. Take a card game like Blackjack. If someone wins 21 hands in a row, most people would consider that a lucky streak. If someone lost that many hands in a row, he would consider it bad luck. If he won 21 straight times on the roulette wheel, he would probably be considered a cheat and be investigated. So, what is luck? Generally speaking, a person is considered lucky if everything goes his way even though no reason exists that it should do so. What do we mean when we wish someone, "Good luck"? We sort of mean, "May the odds be ever in your favor," or, "May things turn out the way you want them to."
Some things do happen "by chance." In a battle, a soldier drew a bow at random. In other words, he shot at an enemy soldier by chance and happened to wound King Ahab, who later died of the wound. Or did God have something to do with the arrow striking the king "between the joints of the armor" (1 Kings 22:34)? A young Amalekite said he happened by chance to come upon King Saul, whom he claimed asked him to kill him. The Amalekite divulged that Saul asked him to kill him since he was going to die anyway. He was lying because Saul's armor-bearer had observed Saul's death. Possibly, he thought King David would reward him. He did reward him—with death, since he claimed to kill the Lord's anointed. Bad luck, eh?
When David went out to fight Goliath, King Saul tried to talk him out of it, but the youth was committed to fighting the giant. He never wavered in his resolve. And while many probably thought he would be killed, nobody said, "Good luck!" Why? Israelites knew that God worked miraculously and also providentially. They might not always recognize if something was His doing or not, but they knew it was a possibility. When Jesus met with his apostles prior to His ascension, He did not say, "I am returning to Heaven. Good luck!" He gave them the work of evangelism and promised to be with them (Matt. 28:18-20). There was no luck involved. Jesus cares for all the members of His body. Do you intend to be lucky—or obedient?