Mike Lindell is quite familiar to us from his My Pillow television infomercials. Behind the inventor of this pillow is a most interesting story which he shares in this book. Dr. Ben Carson writes on the foreword, “What Are the Odds? is a testimonial about the power of a dream. It is about a man who went about as far down as a human being can go, but came out clean and sober on the other side. It’s a story about failure, success, humility, courage and ultimate hope.”
On the first page of the book Lindell says, “In this life we all experience moments, sometimes so unique or unusual that we pause to say, Wow . . . what are the odds that could happen? And if something like that happens again, maybe we say it’s just coincidence.” Lindell goes on to say, “How many once-in-a-lifetime events do we attribute to simple chance before we believe that perhaps it’s something more? At what point do you ask yourself, is it all just luck or have I experienced a miracle?”
Mike Lindell’s parents divorced, and he grew up with his mother and stepfather. Early on he did kids’ kind of gambling, eventually leading into drugs and alcohol and a life of big-time casino gambling. Always being good with numbers, he was later a successful casino card counter. Trying crack cocaine once, he became a crack addict. Working on inventing My Pillow, he started his small business in a shed while owning a bar in his home town in Minnesota. He always needed crack to keep going, while trying to hide his severe addiction from his family and others.
Mike had countless bad and even life-threatening experiences. He often lost thousands of dollars from gambling and drugs, but each time he came out unbelievably successful. He was always amazed at his escapes, and from his gambling vocabulary would ask himself, what are the odds? After almost losing his growing My Pillow enterprise, he lost the bar and his marriage.
Mike remembered Sunday school as a boy. His sister was a Christian and while trying to counsel him told him that someday he would do great things. Other Christians, including a friend of his sister, also had an influence in his life. After running from God for so long and finding himself at the bottom, at age fifty-five, he was convicted and his life completely changed. Mike says, “It had all become clear. All the close calls, all the impossible coincidences, all the time I asked myself, what are the odds? That was Jesus, waving His arms and saying, ‘I AM HERE.’”
As his sister had predicted, Mike is now influencing many, including young people. He also influences people through his foundation. He dedicated his book to those looking for hope. The book ends with quoting Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the Lord with your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.”
This book is one that is hard to put down. The descriptions, however, of some of the spiritual experiences are a little different from what some of us are accustomed to. The book is loaded with photos of Mike’s life and experiences.
Myron Rau is past president of the Reformed Fellowship board.