FATE VS. FAITH Part 2
Last month I began Part 1 with this opening statement: “Well, you know, ‘everything’ happens
for a reason.”– As I pointed out last month, this over-used statement is more of a belief in fate
than it is about faith in a God who moves mountains in response to His Children’s prayers. Read
last month’s article for more on that.
There’s another similar statement that can also create confusion, and that is, “God has everything
under control.” While I believe this to be true, if taken to the wrong conclusion, one can end up,
as with fate, and just accept the current realities to be unchangeable. He is in control, after all.
The first casualty with this mindset is faith-filled prayer; since God is already controlling
everything, why does He need me? Let us consider the view that God directs through prayer.
In June of 2015, our oldest son, Jeremy, at the age of 31, went in for knee surgery, which
triggered heart failure. The only hope for him was a “mechanical heart” (LVAD) and to be put
on the heart transplant list. “God has everything under control” did not mean that He caused our
son’s heart to become enlarged to almost twice its size. What it did mean was that God was
directing the lesser issue of a damaged knee to reveal the asymptomatic “ticking time bomb” in
his chest. The Cardiologist told us that if this knee surgery had not exposed his deadly heart
condition, then the next event would be, someday, he would fall over dead. What appeared to be
a threat to our son’s life was actually the Father directing Jeremy’s physical realities (his knee
issue) to save his life.
Romans 8:26 says that we do not know how to pray, and so “the Spirit intercedes for us with
groanings that cannot be understood.” It does not say that we do not pray, but that when we pray,
there are things we cannot know (i.e., about our son’s health); and the Holy Spirit takes our
prayers and “fills in the blanks.” The Spirit had been “groaning” for our son as we prayed for
him before all this happened. Two years later, a blood clot (and later an infection) in his LVAD
threatened him again. The Doctor told us that if he got out of the hospital without having another
open-heart surgery to replace the device, then “he will have won the lottery.” We did not throw
up our hands and say, “God has everything under control” and go out to lunch. Instead, many
people interceded for him, believing that God could win this “lottery” – and that is just what
happened! The Doctor had no words.
When life gets out of control, our Heavenly Father bids us come to Him in faith, and He will
work to direct those things in ways for our good and work to transform us further to be more like
Christ (Rom. 8:28-29). In this directing work, God is in control. PTL!
My name is Tim White, and I have been the pastor of Tri-County Christian Center in Deer Park
for the last 19 years. My wife Cindi and I have six grown children and “almost” eight
grandchildren. Our desire is for a genuine revival and awakening across our land.