Outcomes...

Who can really control any outcome from any decision or even non-decision made? I was thinking of the tragedy that is almost 24/7 in our faces from newsprint to TV down in Christchurch. Outcomes… two stories come to mind. One man saved from under the rubble and the action was caught by TV cameras. They pulled him out very much alive and rushed him to an ambulance and off to a hospital. He never made it as his internal injuries were just too severe, a casualty of this terrible earthquake. Another man, pinned down with his legs caught under concrete slabs was on the phone with his wife giving her his exact location. Some doctors in town for a convention heard his cries for help, found him, assessed the situation, and decided to amputate both of his legs to free him. All they had was a hacksaw and a pocket knife to do the job. They successfully removed him from his situation however; he had lost a lot of blood. They put him in an ambulance and he was zipped off to a hospital and he is currently recovering from his ordeal and very thankful for the quick minded efforts of the visiting Australian Surgeons who saved his life. Outcomes. In both scenarios the rescuers were brave, quick, efficient, in both cases they had desires for the patient to “make” it, in both the rescuers did everything they could humanly do and in both cases the outcome was completely out of their hands.
On a less traumatic front, my wife is currently searching for a job as a school teacher. She does everything she can do to get a job; dropping off CV’s, volunteering in classrooms, sending emails, and taking upgrade classes and training seminars. She can do all this and do so diligently but the outcome is completely out of her control. She prays, she believes this is God’s leading in her life, she has made many “signs” that this is the right direction but in the end the outcome is completely out of her hands.
As a pastor I moved my entire family here to NZ to work in a church that wanted to grow. We’ve done everything humanly possible to inspire and encourage this fellowship to grow. We’ve hosted music concerts, we’ve held ALPHA classes, we’ve done community volunteering, we’ve hosted evangelistic meetings, we’ve had discipleship training in our home groups, we’ve prayed in big groups, medium groups and small groups. We’ve done strategic planning weekends, we’ve had people come to faith in Christ and we’ve have been working, almost tirelessly, to grow people into maturity in Christ. But in the end the outcomes are not ours to control.
Working towards a desired outcome is not bad, but without understanding that a key ingredient in working towards a desired outcome is trust in the Lord can prove disastrous to our faith. Faith that God will do what is best for his plan, best for us and best for those who we love and care about is a matter of trust. We cannot control the outcomes. Learning to let this sense of control go is difficult, but the result is total freedom to enjoy the journey we are on today. Worrying, stressing, forcing, anxiety, and striving are all symptoms of those who believe they can control outcomes. Joy, peace, patience, calmness and trust are the results of those who labour but entrust the outcomes to God.
Jesus had a conversation with Peter in John 21:18-19 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!" What really matters is that we simply follow the master, leaving the outcomes safely in his hands.