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God Controls Outcomes

by Dr. Henderson Ward  
12/14/2014 / Christian Living

It's ironic, isn't it, how things are turned on their heads in unexpected ways and at inconvenient times. The very thing that you tried so hard to avoid is the very thing you end up accomplishing.

It is not always true that irony has disastrous consequences, but it is always true that the consequences were not foreseen or al least not anticipated.

When I was living in Berkshire in the UK I had reason to recall a tragic irony. A schoolboy from our district was late from school and it was getting dark. His mother was worried and she decided to drive the normal school bus route to see if she can find her son. Going around a corner her car knocked over something. It was her son walking home. He died. If the mother had waited another half an hour the youngster would safely have arrived home.

About 465 BC, in the land of Persia, a certain man by the name of Haman was fervently anti-Semetic and planned to destroy the Jews in the city of Shushan and the region roundabout. His plan was devilishly clever and everything pointed to it being successful. As we know from Scripture, Esther 9:25 sums it up, a massive irony occurred because Haman ended up getting hung on the very gallows he built to hang the Jew Mordecai.

Some years ago when the Soviet Union fought a bitter campaign of insurgency in Afghanistan, a young man by the name of Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, aka Osama bin Laden, was recruited, trained and equipped by the CIA to fight the Russians. By all accounts he led the Mujahideen to some grand victories. Years later this same Osama bin Laden, with his CIA weapons and skills, fought the USA as head of a group calling itself al-Qaeda, the same group responsible for the destruction of the twin towers in New York.

The plain truth is that people in power, often they are rich and influential, try to usurp the role of Almighty God and decide who lives and who dies.

Playing God is the ultimate ego trip of the idle rich and powerful but God is a jealous God, and does not cede control to the whims of fickle humanity.

Therefore irony happens.

The abundance of good food and drink stored up and consumed by the rich, and expected to give health and long days, end up with an assortment of health challenges, heart attacks and premature deaths. And the food of the poor, with basic nutrients and common fibre, produce the centenarians.

Because irony happens.

There is not a single doctor on earth can give you good health, because health is not a medication you can take. The doctor can give you medicine, the surgeon can perform excellent surgery but God only determines the after effects. Even a simple, routine operation can cause death, and many proven medications have proven lethal to some patients.

Although we can do what ever we like, the final outcome is not in our hands.

Unconverted people find this concept hard to understand, they never fully comprehend that God may appear silent, and detached, but he sees everything and is always in control.

Hungry lions eat any meat thrown to them, as the vile Nero demonstrated by throwing believers to the lions, but when Daniel was put in the den of hungry lions he suffered not so much as a scratch.

Because God determined that Daniel would survive.

There are those who have convinced themselves that God has created this world and has now withdrawn from it, leaving it to manage however it can. This is wishful thinking and has never been true.

Jesus reminded us that his being out of sight does not mean being abandoned or deserted for he says, "...and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (Matthew 28:20)

The truth is that at times believers seem to be on their own, things are going badly in spite of their best efforts, and God, it seems, is doing nothing to help.

That is how it feels sometimes; and all believers know the feeling.

And if we allow ourselves to wallow in such a dismal mindset then a spiral ensues, and we become apathetic, discouraged and defeated.

Believers need to remember that all of these things are common to the pursuit of godliness, they strengthen our resolve and prepare us to better meet future challenges.

We recalled the case of Joseph, as recorded in Genesis 37:13-36, when through hate and envy his brothers disposed of him. They thought that their strident action to silence him forever was successful, and that they would never see or hear him again.

But God determined that Joseph would survive.

Sometime later when famine was rampant throughout the land, and survival depended on the seed of Israel getting corn from far-away Egypt, these same brothers arrived to find that Joseph was the governor in charge of that country.

Joseph's declaration reminds us that God is always in charge:

"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." (Genesis 50:20)

So remember that whether you feel it or not makes no difference, God is eternally committed to your welfare, your protection, your spiritual wellbeing and your journey to heaven.

Here are some scriptures to bear in mind as you travel along life's pathway:

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:28-31)

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." (Psalms 126:5-6)

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." (Psalm 27:14)

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all." (Psalm 34:19)

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." (Psalm 42: 5)

"The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places." (Habakkuk 3:19)

"The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him." (Nahum 1:7)

We absolutely need to remember, that in our darkest moments, Almighty God still controls outcomes. We can say like David, "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me" (Psalm 118:6); for His will SHALL prevail, and on this believers depend: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

Enough said.

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Dr. Henderson Ward received his Doctor of Divinity in theology, with distinction, from Masters International School of Divinity, USA, where he is currently a post-doctoral fellow. Dr. Ward's career involved pastoring, evangelism, and teaching. Copyright 2017

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