Do you want to win the lottery?

People are in a frenzy all over the country today, waiting impatiently in long lines to buy lottery tickets and dreaming that one of the tickets they purchase will be the winning one in tonight’s “Mega Millions” $640 million jackpot. That winning number will be their ticket to the good life. Worries will flee and happiness will be theirs.

Oh, really?

That’s more fantasy and fiction than fact. There may be short-term euphoria and happiness for the winner, but the more likely long-term outcome is increased troubles and woes. Too often, lottery winners find winning to be times “that try men’s souls.”

For a look at some of the ugliness that comes into a person’s life after winning lots of loot in a lottery, read the article, “5 Reasons You Don’t Really Want to Win All That Lottery Money,” at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-reasons-dont-really-want-190000583.html. While you may be convinced or able to delude yourself into thinking that none of these would happen to you, can you really be sure?

Reason 1—Your friends will take advantage. This may not be true of your real friends, but the article notes you will discover “friends” you never knew you had and they expect handouts, no-interest loans (often not paid back), weekend trips with you paying the bill, etc.

Reason 2—Your relationship could fail. Sudden, unexpected windfalls with big money rolling in strain a marital relationship, often resulting in divorce.

Reason 3—You’ll have an increased risk of bankruptcy. This may at first thought seem illogical, but it’s not. Winners find it easier to spend money and they have more credit available, which often proves too tempting. People don’t plan properly and unthinkingly spend themselves into debt and bankruptcy.

Reason 4—You’ll have to fight off a host of long-lost family members.  One financial advisor says lottery winners often find that family members feel the family has won the lottery and they expect you to use that money to take care of medical bills, car repairs, foreclosures, etc. If you don’t, you risk creating disharmony in the family. On the other hand, granting requests makes your winnings disappear.

Reason 5—You’ll be a target for a litany of lawsuits and scams. Your phone will ring off the hook as people call to ask or con you into investing in a variety of things. You will be surprised how many contractors, babysitters, passersby, family and others “slip and fall” on your property, thus finding it necessary to file a lawsuit for damages.

If reading this article doesn’t convince you that winning the lottery won’t make you live happily ever after, read this one: http://news.yahoo.com/terribly-sad-true-stories-lotto-winners-164423531.html.

It is a collection of sad but true stories of numerous lottery winners over the years. What has happened to them is a horrendous tale of despair, loss, and death. Many have lost their families and their fortune, fallen into drug usage or ended up in jail, been murdered, and even committed suicide. That’s not the happiness people fantasize about when they dream of winning the lottery.

I have never purchased a lottery ticket, though I confess that for years, when my Christian faith was weaker, I regularly filled out the forms from Reader’s Digest and Publisher’s Clearing House in hopes of winning prizes.

Now, I realize how foolish that was and how foolish it would be to buy tickets for tonight’s lottery or any other big money lottery. Not only are hopes and dreams dashed, but money is wasted that could be spent more wisely and beneficially.

A safer and more sure thing than the lottery is that God will take care of me.