Due Rewards & Control

“The key to a happy life is to accept that you are never actually in control.” – Simon Masrani, Jurassic World

Yeah, I’m still on a Jurassic kick, but trust me, this is going somewhere. Even secular works, by the grace of God, can remind us and point to our need for Christ.

I think we’re all, to some extent, control freaks. We’re prone to believing that we have plans, goals, and ideas about what we want and what we should be doing with our lives. In our arrogance, we think we’ve mastered ourselves and our environment, that we can execute these promises to ourselves without regard to the reality which surrounds us. We are wrong.

Life isn’t ordered like that. Life isn’t something we plan one step at a time. It happens to us, around us, and without us. Whether you’re in the midst of your own personal American dream or down in the dumps, scraping by, looking to eke out an existence, the truth is that you cannot account for every outcome. Or any outcome. Life is chaos, a branch of one decision leading to another, often with unintended consequences.

Now, don’t get me wrong. We bear the responsibilities of our decisions. Our sins belong to us. We are culpable for them in every way. If we choose to murder, to steal, to lie, or simply to gossip behind our friend’s back, that’s entirely on us as sinful people.

“We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did,” says the crucified thief on the cross (Luke 23:41). He understood that he was 100% at fault for present predicament. He did not blame the world or God for his actions, but acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ before man. For this reason, for his belief in his Savior, the Lord assured him a place in paradise (Luke 23:43).

So am I being contradictory? No. We receive the due reward of our deeds. If we do not believe on Him, we will not be saved. If we choose to cheat and harm others, we will reap what we sow. But it is also true that we cannot control our own lives. We don’t have the power, the foresight, or the wisdom to accomplish such a great task. We are small, fickle things, and in our sin we affect each other in ways that we never imagine until it’s too late.

“Some of the worst things imaginable have been done with the best intentions.” – Alan Grant, Jurassic Park 3

You won’t see me give credit to JP3 often, but this quote rings familiar and true. You can see it in the storied history of humanity. Our efforts to end a horrific war led to the creation of nuclear warheads. We seek to keep world peace, but put peoples in internment camps, rattle governments, and spearhead rebellions. We try to cheer up a friend, but set him down a darker path. Like the Pharisees, we, in our ignorance and pride, can take a person and make them twice the child of hell that we already were.

Think of how the governments of the world have increased security at the expense of privacy. We exchange dignity, love, and fellowship for an unsteady peace of the mind. We tear down philosophical barriers only to put up walls between ourselves and the ever-changing “them” that frustrates us. This is the chaos of our existence, the great evil that is in control, our ever present sin, the will and voice of the enemy – “the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens” – who deceives us (Ephesians 2:2).

We are not in control. We never have been. We struggle, we concede ourselves to the enemy, and we die in our sin. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There is a man, a God, who loves us so much that He died for our trespasses. There is a person, our Holy Savior, who looks on us and sees scattered children, sheep, that He sacrificed Himself to bring into His flock. May you look to Him, to the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe on His name. Amen.

Thanks for reading. God bless and peace be with you.