Bending the World to Your Will?

— by Todd Melby & John Hawkins

We’ve all read stories of people who have seemingly bent the world to their will.  Some believe that Cooper Kupp and Matt Stafford accomplished this in the last 10 minutes of the recent Superbowl LVI.  Many entrepreneurs fall prey to thinking that willing something into existence is a core mindset for leading a successful start-up.  Indeed, all who know anything about start-ups know that endurance and persistence are absolutely needed—but willed into existence?

Here’s the truth.  In faith, I must do all that God calls me to do every day, and then I must leave the results to Him.  Biblically we believe this because of passages like Genesis 12:1-3, Joshua 5:13-6:27, Psalm 127:1-2, Proverbs 3:5-6, John 15:5, I Corinthians 3:5-7.  These passages tell us God is sovereignly accomplishing His purposes in our spheres of influence – both through us and beyond us.  He gives us real work and responsibilities to fulfill as we look to Him for the strength and perspective needed.

But our problem is that we don’t really believe that faithfully pursuing our responsibilities and leaving the results to God is best for us and our businesses.  Whether it’s the next round of funding, the open position, or the latest product launch, we tend to lapse into It’s all up to me, I’ve got to make it happen.   The world, my flesh and the devil are constantly at war with my belief.  Deep and familiar ruts in my mind and heart set disbelief as my default perspective.  Yet, we find that when we do choose to believe, God blesses that belief with eventual peace and freedom, such that we’re free to rest and sleep as Psalm 127:2 calls us to do.  As we faithfully do our part and trust Him with the results, our sanity regarding our responsibilities is restored, allowing us to work and lead more effectively and with better results.

Trusting God for the results is problematic in at least two ways.  The first is that we expect the results to occur according to our plan and time frame.  The second is that we think of results as binary - succeed or fail, complete or incomplete, win or lose.  The results that God accomplishes are usually best understood over time and tend to be more significant than our narrow binary frameworks.  Deuteronomy 29:29 and the book of Ecclesiastes make it plain that there are things about God’s ways and purposes that are hidden from us.  Romans 8:28 says that God works everything to good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose – but it is often hard in the short-term and many times in the long-term to see how God is bringing this about.  In Romans 8:29 we’re told that God works things as He does in order to transform us to be like His Son.  This is a lot bigger than our plan, our timeline and our binary options.

The fact that the results God is accomplishing are difficult for us to see and understand should not discourage us from trusting that the results are up to Him and that He is accomplishing them.  Instead, this should rather remind us that faith isn’t sight and that our trust is in Him and not in what we can see or not see.

In faith, I must do all that God calls me to do every day, and then I must leave the results to Him.

We’ve come to the following perspectives on how the above statement applies in our jobs, families, churches and communities where people expect us to produce specific results.

We rightly handle our commitments to meet targets, goals, deliverables, or expectations when we practice the following:

1. We keep in mind - In faith, I must do all that God calls me to do every day, and then I must leave the results to Him.  This perspective fosters humility and dependence upon God and leads to making wise commitments.

2. We do what God has called us to do wholeheartedly and with all the strength God gives us.  This means that by His grace, we work hard and excellently.

3. We manage expectations as to what we can accomplish.  Our emphasis should focus more on the great effort we’ll bring than on ensuring specific results that we know will happen.  It is right to believe that God will bless our work as it’s done in faith, for His honor and glory.  However, guaranteeing specific results is increasingly beyond our ability as the complexity of the challenge grows.

4. We think and pray before we commit to a specific timeframe (e.g., “I’ll have this deliverable completed within these guidelines by next Tuesday”).  We should not commit foolishly or pridefully, but rather humbly with our trust in God to strengthen us to serve well.

5. We take to God commitments placed upon us (e.g., “You must have this deliverable completed within these guidelines by next Tuesday”), seeking His help in getting them done.  Christians should be known as people who make and keep commitments.  Yet because God controls the ultimate outcome and uses it to serve His purposes, the fulfillment of our commitments is accomplished by God doing it with us (Psalm 127:1).

Did Cooper Kupp, Matt Stafford, and their team, will the Ram’s victory into existence?  No.  However, they undoubtedly fully applied their skill, focus, and strength to that end.  As those who follow Christ, we must do the same in our spheres of influence.  But we do so with our dependence and trust in God alone.  And in Him only, these are well placed.

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