God Controls the Outcome

My grandma was one of the most important people to me when I was a kid. Their farm was a little piece of heaven for me. She died when I was fifteen, and I remember thinking, “Man, I wish my grandma could have seen me amount to something”. Because, at age fifteen, I was not exactly tilting the scale toward great potential. But my grandma taught me all kinds of good things; she lived a good example; and she prayed for me. There’s a lesson in this story: when you look at a flaky teenager, know that God controls the outcome.

God is in the habit of doing good things in all manner of unlikely places. Paul wrote, “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong” (1 Corinthians 1:26,27).

Consider something. Read the verses again, and know that being ignoble, unwise, and foolish might be for a while. And God has chosen those, as I am reading the passage, to show just what He can do. So, we do well to look at our children or someone we are trying to help and never give in to the thought that it might be hopeless. We do NOT know what God is able to do. As long as we are still breathing and since God is forever there is always hope, and people are a work in progress.

Most Young People Aren’t Spiritual Giants…Yet!

One thing to consider, there are not that many spiritual giants among children and teens. I have worked with people for over forty years, and I would say most people have the most radical growth, spiritually, mentally, emotionally after the age of twenty. We look at someone that just makes us shake our head (and I would have been one of those) and wonder if they will ever figure life out.

But there is a great promise in Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus”. If we will introduce them to faith in Jesus Christ then the work has begun and God will finish it. There may not be many spiritual giants under the age of twenty, but most people who come to faith in Christ do it before they are twenty, we need to keep that in mind.

My Faith Journey

When I went to Bible college, I was on fire for God, but I had not been saved for very long. I was committed to my faith, but going to Bible college was a radical change from the life I had been living. At the end of my first year, my roommate (a godly brother who was graduating) admitted to me the Dean’s Department had asked him to room with me because they were leery of me! I understood that, and thought it was pretty funny, knowing I was on my faith journey and would never look back. That was 44 years ago, and I am now Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the College and the Seminary. God has a sense of humor!

Never give up. I am praying for a little girl right now that is related to a friend. In her life she has just about everything stacked against her that could mess her up on all sides. She is safe and healthy, but so many things are a mess. I am praying that she will be a deep spiritual giant of a woman when she grows up. Because I know God controls the outcome.