How I Failed Forward Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today I wrote a post that changed my life.

I didn’t intend for that to happen. It was an attempt to write a piece of satire. I wrote it, posted it and sat back to see what would happen.

It was,

by far, the most successful post that I had written to that point. Guess what? It was also my greatest failure as a writer and blogger.

Don’t go back and try to find it. It’s gone. I deleted it.

The problem is that no one got the satire. That’s probably because it wasn’t really funny. I wrote some things that bothered some folks. It affected somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen to two dozen people. And I now know I shouldn’t have written some of it.

Most of you would wonder if I learned an important lesson through this. Did I learn to watch what I write? Certainly. Did I learn to avoid certain subjects? Possibly. I’m not keen on trying satire any more. However, those are not the most important lessons that I learned.

What I learned most is that God is sovereign, even in the mistakes of our lives. In our sins and trespasses, He is putting us on the path where He wants us. I don’t fully understand that or claim to know how He does that, but I feel certain it is true.

In about two months, I will write a follow-up piece to this one. I will talk about another anniversary. Stay tuned until then.

Do you believe in God’s sovereignty, even in the “bad” things in your life?

Sovereignty, Prayer and the Pastor Search

My local church is currently searching for a pastor.  Another I know of is about to begin this process.

I have been through this many times before.  At one church I was even on the search team.

One of the things that I hear and have heard is that God already has this pastor chosen.  It is just the job of the team to find this man.  They have to pray, seek suggestions and speak to different men in the interest of finding the right man.

We have even begun to meet and/or pray at 11 am each day to see this man.

My question is this:  Why should we pray for this when God has already chosen the pastor for us?

My answer is this: This is exactly why we should pray for this process.

If God has chosen the man, then by praying we are admitting that we cannot control this process and that it is up to Him.  We trust Him with guiding the process.

However, if we don’t believe that He is in control of the process or that it’s up to man’s free will, then you shouldn’t pray for the search of a pastor.  You would be violating what you believe by asking Him to be involved in the proceedings.

Things like this tell us what we really believe about God.  Is He a God who is involved and decrees what happens?  Or is He a God who allows man to make choices on his own.

Which will it be?

What do you believe about God’s sovereignty?  Is God in control?  Or is man?

Was It Meant For Evil Or Good?

Someone wrote Facebook status the other day.  It said something like this:  Sometimes an accident happens.  Then it turns out good.  Was it really an accident?

I could answer what I believe about that with one word, but then you might feel cheated by a short blog post and I want you to get your money’s worth.

Many years ago, as detailed in the book of Genesis, Joseph was thrown in a pit.  Then he was sold into slavery and taken to Egypt.  From there, he ended up second-in-command of Egypt.  His brothers, who sold him into slavery, came to him looking for food when there was a terrible drought.

Eventually, he revealed himself to them.  The brothers were afraid that he would take revenge upon them.  He eventually told them, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good.”

What perspective and maturity.  What trust in the sovereignty of God.

How would Joseph answer the question I led with?

Yes, from our perspective, accidents happen.  Events seem random.  Oopsies occur.

From God’s perspective, randomness does not happen.  He is not surprised.  He is not caught off-guard.  Nothing is an accident to Him.

I truly believe that everything that happens fits into the course God has decided will occur.  Do I fully understand that?  Absolutely not.  Too many things happen that I do not understand.  I simply trust.  I trust He has the ending decided.  Everything points to that.  He has it all under control.

We may see an accident.  Good may come out of it.

We may mean something for evil.  God, somehow, means it for good.

Do you believe that “accidents” happen?  Do you believe God is in control?