Abandoning Outcomes

Several months ago I saw Phil Vischer, creator of VeggieTales, speak at a conference.  He shared his story of trying to attain his "Big Hairy Audacious Goal" of building one of the biggest animation studios in the country.  And then he told us the difficult and painful story of going too far too fast, of trying to do too much to make it all happen and the bankruptcy and heartache that followed.  He had plans and dreams and great goals, but in the end, they fell apart and people and their livelihoods were hurt.

As Vischer shared his story he gave us one significant learning - a phrase I've not really been able to get out of my mind.  He said that when we are out there doing what we think God wants us to do, "we have to abandon outcomes."  What he meant by that, he said, was that we do what we sense God is calling us to do, we do it well and with great passion, yes.  But we must not try to control what it will look like when it is finished.  We cannot be attached to the outcomes.  Outcomes are God's job.  Our job is to be faithful to do what God calls us to do - in generalities and in particulars.  In general we seek to do God's will as it is laid out for us in Scripture.  In particulars, we seek to go where God has called us to go as individuals, households and church communities.  In neither sphere are the outcomes of our obedience to be our primary concern.

This is similar to what we talked about in James this past Sunday (4.13-17).  If we are to become all that God dreams and knows we can become, we will concede our wills to his.  We will let go of trying to control things and choose, rather, to submit to God's plans and purposes.  To concede our lives to God's will is to abandon outcomes in a sense.  It is to so yield our lives, plans and dreams to God, open and willing to something different than what we had originally envisioned.

Like most people, I have dreams and hopes for ministry, for family and children and for the general shape of life to come.  Do I simply stop pursuing them in obedience to the teaching in James 4?  Sometimes, yes.  Sometimes I believe God tells us we must lay down something near and dear to us in order to pursue something better for us and for others.  Quite often, however, it's not about laying down all my plans and walking away, but yielding the outcomes to God and his purposes - even when they may run contrary to what I initially envisioned or intended.

When we abandon outcomes we are not abandoning dreams.  We're yielding our dreams to God's purposes and design.  We are saying to God, "This is what I sense you are calling me to do, but I might be wrong.  In that case, not my will, but yours be done."

Have you ever felt called to lay down something precious to you?  Have you ever seen disappointing circumstances yield a less than hoped for result, only to discover something better in the end?