Be Careful What You Choose
Let me ask an uncomfortable question: Do our choices matter? To this I answer, yes! Your plans and the choices you make have consequences. Having said this, let me interject a seemingly paradoxical thought. God is also at work in this world. His plans are grander than ours and His power is greater than ours. Consider the following Bible verses: Proverbs 16:3>>"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." Proverbs 16:9>>"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."(NIV) What are these verses saying? Your plans are yours. Your choices are yours. You are responsible for what you do. If you do something wicked, it is on you. If you do something good and noble, that too is on you. People will hold you accountable and God will hold you accountable, but what happens as a result of those plans is also swayed and determined by God and His grand agenda.
As we observe the initial results of a deed, word or action, we can only guess where it might end up. It is in the hand of God and His providential control regarding what history says and what the end result of that decision or event becomes. Nothing happens that is not according to God’s plan. Your plans belong to you. We all make decisions and carry out our plans, but the course of history and the flow of the world belongs to God. Now, as limited and finite human beings, we struggle reconciling these facts. We think that we are in control of everything, yet we are not. We think that our “free will” is what makes the universe unfold and keeps the world spinning, yet it does not. There is a force at work in creation that is far bigger than we are. There is a power in the cosmos that is more majestic than we can imagine. There is a wisdom that upholds everything, and it is far beyond our simple thinking. The course of the universe is completely fixed. While we are 100% free, God’s plans are 100% dependent on His power and wisdom.
This truth is a "slap in the face" to our arrogant pride. Humanity likes to think that it has a say in the way the world works. Let me illustrate how we have been trained to think. In the “Back to the Future” movie trilogy, Doc Brown explains the message of that profound set of movies to Marty McFly. At the end of the third movie, Doc Brown states that one’s future is whatever they make it, so make it a good one. This thought is at the core of current cultural thinking. Work hard. Choose well. Your future depends on it! Can I pause and observe that we humans are terribly arrogant? Mankind has long been under the delusion that they are the center of the universe. Back in the Middle Ages, scholars believed that the Earth was the center of the Solar System and the center of the universe. It was a rude awakening to find out that our egocentric focus was wrong.
You would think that we would wake up and realize that there is a greater power at work than our own, but that has not been the case. Back in the day, doomsayers said that the invention of the longbow would eradicate the human race (because it could kill a person from a distance). Today doomsayers point to nuclear disaster, global warming, COVID and a host of other fears as things that will mark the end of humanity. All such thinking forgets one key truth: man is not in control of this creation. We are the creature; we are not the Creator. We foolishly think we can cure and fix everything, though we cannot. Mankind bows and worships technology and the things it creates. We forget that, at best, we figure out bits and pieces of the great puzzle that God has designed.
It is good to be reminded that there is someone who is greater than we are. We do well when we admit our limitations. In a seemingly endless universe, we need to humble our hearts and seek the God who not only made it, but moment by moment sustains and controls it. We will only find true peace and fulfillment when we come to grips with who made us and why we were made. Many people are stressing over the coming 2024 elections, the seemingly endless conflict in Ukraine, and a world that seems to have gone crazy. I am not endorsing a mindset of "do nothing" and "take no responsibility." I am encouraging you to open your eyes and trust in a God who is greater than we are and who has all the power needed to accomplish His plans. Relax and find peace in the shelter He provides. Keep looking up!