If this online journal, this blog, were a movie, the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father and the Holy Spirit in general and the Bible in specific (just look at all the bold text up and down every page and you’ll see what I mean) would be the star.  I suppose I’d be an “actor in a supporting role” as the folks who give out the Oscars each year would say (don’t worry, I shan’t hold my breath for a nomination anytime soon =).  But my bike has certainly reached at least the status of major prop, since I bought it as my only means of transportation after selling my car this past summer so as to finish building this website.

So it’s with deep regret and heavy heart (hey, maybe I could  win an Oscar someday after all!) no just kidding, as you’re about to find out it’s with a heart of gratitude and immovable faith in God’s flawless, “fate”-discarding sovereignty that I tell you that my bike got stolen over the weekend.

I go in to buy a few groceries, I come back out to find NO BIKE.  (That turned out to be a very expensive loaf of bread, eh?)

The store has low prices so given the fact that my entire life savings is (quickly) being spent on this little project, that’s where I went, despite its being in a rough section of town.

Apparently even rougher than I had thought because apparently, in the maybe fifteen minutes I was inside the store, someone (probably a teenager, almost certainly a boy, so I’ll use “he” hereinafter) (a) spotted the bike at the bike rack, (b) used metal-cutters to clip the lock, and (c) fled.

The interesting thing is that when I first arrived at the store, I could hardly believe how desolate the sidewalk in front was, for the first time ever of the ones I had been there, but I very responsibly (as ever) locked the bike to the rack per my perpetual practice, not liking the fact that nary a person was on the sidewalk to keep an eye on things in general (usually the more crowds / sunlight, the better/safer) but never in a million years would I have thought there was a risk of it’s getting stolen in the few minutes I’d be inside the store.

Surprise!  More like SHOCK when I came bounding back out of the store, bread bags in hand, only to find that my only means of transportation was now serving its new master, a bike thief.

A low-down, no-good, dirty bike thief.  (Yes, I think I really could win an Oscar!)

All intermittent kidding aside, I did experience a few moments of shock.  Like when you KNOW that something SHOULD be in a specific, exact LOCATION but wah-lah, it isn’t.  Or when something SHOULD work a certain way but it doesn’t.  That kind of non-physical shock.

After a few minutes, I obviously had to confront and answer the question of “WHAT TO DO NOW?”

Should I call the police and file a report and press charges if they catch the kid who stole my bike, thus condemning him “having a record” (criminal record) for the rest of his life?  (Or at least until he’s no longer a juvenile, I have no idea how all of that works.)  It certainly would’ve been due.  It certainly would’ve been merited.  But isn’t that very same thing true about you and me spiritually, with regard to heaven or hell?  I’m not saying that pressing charges isn’t merited in certain cases.  I think it absolutely is.  Like if someone were to kill a loved one, I’d be the VERY FIRST person to have the book thrown at them (figuratively speaking, of course).  To have them locked up and the key thrown away.  “Forgive ’em, but fry ’em” might be fitting in some cases but when it comes to a material possession of ours getting stolen, I prefer to heed the amazing words of Matthew 5:39-40, from “the Sermon on the Mount”:  “But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if anyone wants to sue you, and TAKE your shirt, let him have your COAT also.”

Should I alert the store and see if they’d cover the cost, at least in part?

Should I just “chalk it up” to God’s sovereignty and look for ways He might intend to use it, for the reason(s) He allowed that to happen, for my only means of transportation to get heisted?

It’s not as though I couldn’t go back a day or week later and do one or both of those first two, but I knew almost immediately, in that split-second of decision time, that I was going with Option #3:  chalking it up to God’s sovereignty.

I suppose it’s possible for such to serve as a “crutch” or “cop-out” in some cases, but His sovereignty has probably been THE MAJOR aspect of Himself which He has been impressing on me since becoming a Christian in general and in recent years and indeed months in specific.  And isn’t it JUST LIKE the Lord to send a test on the very subject into my life?

I have a lot of areas still in need of improvement and lots of room for more growth.  Lots.  Lots and lots.  I definitely have my share of weaknesses, as you’ll surely see as this journey and journal unfold in the coming months and years (and probably already =).  But I can honestly say that an unbreakable, unshakable faith in God’s infinite and loving sovereignty isn’t one of them, that it’s probably the strongest area of my still-growing life.  So viewed in this light, I just HAD to choose that third of three immediate options.

That fully firm faith sprang forth into my life like a bigger beanstalk than “Jack” could ever have dreamt, based on the bulletproof bedrock of two verses which serve as beautiful biblical bookends on the matter of God’s sovereignty.  I’m sure I’ll discuss these again in the future since they have such a constant, continual presence and impact in my daily life but for now I’ll just say that ANY AND EVERY situation or occurrence in life – real or even hypothetical – absolutely falls within the sovereignty of God.  I’m not saying that NOTHING can escape God’s sovereignty and control; I’m saying that NOTHING can escape even the infinite CENTER  of God’s sovereignty and control.  It is infinite, and infinitely pervasive.  It is absolute, and captures absolutely every single thing in life.  Real and hypothetical.  Past, present, and future.  Everything.  From “random” to “rigged”!

• “The lot is cast into the lap, but its EVERY decision is from THE LORD.” (Proverbs 16:33)
• “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of THE LORD; HE turns it WHEREVER He wishes.” (Proverbs 21:1)

In other words, God’s sovereignty has “all the bases” completely covered!  It encompasses the ENTIRE SPECTRUM of life!

On the one end of said spectrum are the things that happen in life, in our lives, to us, which seem RANDOM.  Like, oh, I don’t know, going into a grocery store for a few minutes to buy some bread and having your bike get stolen.  Or the stock market.  Or flipping a coin, or rolling dice… or casting lots.  You see, that was probably the ultimate example or illustration of “randomness” in biblical times, in Old Testament times when that verse was written.  It means that even things which seem random are TOTALLY (“every”) controlled and determined by the Lord!

What a massive blessing!  What a huge relief!  To know that NOTHING “random” EVER happens!  That EVERY SINGLE OCCURRENCE in our lives has definite and usually deep purpose and is in the center of God’s loving sovereignty.

On the other end of said spectrum are the things that happen in life, in our lives, to us, which seem RIGGED.  Like (again!) the stock market.  (Isn’t it funny how so many people are convinced it’s totally random and how many people are equally convinced it’s totally rigged?  They’re BOTH wrong!)  Or that boss or supervisor at work who seems to “have it in for you” and seems to always be trying to trip you up or set you up for failure or tries to get you fired or just make your life a living you-know-what.  Or perhaps a parent who seems to exert enormous control over your life.  But in Old Testament times, when that second verse was written, the ultimate example of that which was pre-determined or “rigged” or controlled by another was a king.  Read the books of Esther and 1 & 2 Samuel and Kings and Chronicles for countless illustrations.  He literally held the power of life and death in his pen (er, stylus?), in his little finger as we might say today.  Uber-powerful.  To us.  Yet that verse makes crystal clear that his heart, his mind, his emotions, his WILL is like a tiny trickle of water.  In fact, in the original language (Hebrew), that word “water” can be translated “water of the feet”, i.e., “urine”.  Isn’t that funny!  Someone like a boss or despot or king seeming to have so much control over us, in our lives, is like a mere trickle of urine compared to the awesome power and true control always wielded – and just as importantly, never yielded – by the Lord.

He shares control/sovereignty with nobody and nothing.

Double blessing!  Infinite relief!  Just to know that EVERYTHING from one end of life’s spectrum to the other is TOTALLY AND SOLELY controlled and determined by our loving Lord!

And, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, it is THIS infinite truth, this immutable fact, which enables one to truly obey 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and a second very similar verse we’ll discuss in a minute:  “In EVERYTHING give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

We can (and must) literally be THANKFUL in EVERY single situation or occurrence in life because such resides squarely in God’s will and control and sovereignty.

This seems like the perfect time to share with you several items which comprise my perspective in this weekend’s bike-got-stolen matter:

• At least it wasn’t stolen at gunpoint!  (Thank You, Lord)
• At least it was stolen on a Saturday, giving me enough time to replace it before Monday (as discussed in previous posts, it’s now my only means of transportation, having sold my car last summer so I could finish building this website)  (Thank You, Lord)
• At least it was stolen on a warmer and drier day than the past several, making the necessitated subsequent walk far more tenable  (Thank You, Lord)
• With no bike anymore, I had to WALK home after this happened, and ALONG THE WAY a fellow pedestrian was within inches of getting hit by a fast-moving car when I pulled him back at (literally) the last second, thus saving him from certainly serious injury if not death – had my bike not been stolen, I wouldn’t have been there and that fellow might’ve been killed and slipped into eternity, probably in hell based on the odds Jesus Himself clearly set forth in Matthew 7:13-14, i.e., I was ONLY there to save him from death or at least grave injury BECAUSE my bike had just gotten stolen  (THANK YOU, LORD)
• I was able to find the EXACT SAME bike I’ve grown to really, really like – and ON SALE to boot!  (Thank You for “lessening the blow/sting”, Lord!)
• It’s very possible that I had grown to like it so much that I perhaps came close to clinging to something of this world (Philippians 3:7-8,20; 1 John 2:15-17; James 4:4; Colossians 3:2; 2 Corinthians 4:18), to a mere material possession – but this incident certainly nipped that in the bud!  (Thank You, Lord)
• It was a PERFECT opportunity to FULFILL Scripture (Romans 12:17-21; Matthew 5:38-41; 18:22-35; Colossians 3:12-15; among many others) which in my humble but firm view is the most important thing  we can do
• I was able to pass a test in life, both humanly and spiritually  (THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Lord!  We both know that likely wouldn’t have been the case a few years or maybe even months ago so thank You for the growth You and Your Word, the Bible, have wrought, have brought about in my life on both a “big picture” and daily basis, just like You say in 1 Peter 2:2!)

And it’s that last one in particular which brings me to that second verse.

You see, it’s one thing to be able to give thanks “in” all things, but God’s loving sovereignty is so amazing and complete and all-encompassing and pervasive that we can even give thanks FOR all things.

“… always giving thanks FOR all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Ephesians 5:20)

In other words, not just giving thanks in situations in general  but literally FOR every single thing that happens.  Because, based on God’s loving sovereignty, it WILL redound to our good, better, and best.  EVERY TIME.  WITHOUT EXCEPTION.  In some and even many and even the vast majority of cases, a person might not realize that, but it’s true.  And it’s how I live my life literally every minute of every day.

I’m pretty sure that the children of Israel didn’t view the rise and reign of Pharaoh as something for which to be THANKFUL.  But it was.  Why?  Because of what I’ve written here as confirmed so beautifully in Romans 9:17 – “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I raised you up, to DEMONSTRATE MY POWER in you, and that MY name might be proclaimed THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.'”

So whether it’s a supervisor or boss or king or ANYONE or ANYTHING in your life that seems to be causing you grief, please know that (a) God is INFINITELY SOVEREIGN in that situation and therefore (b) COULD HAVE PREVENTED IT had He wanted, had THAT been for your good, better, and best, but (c) LET IT HAPPEN because He KNEW (indeed, from eternity past) what would be BEST for you, and everyone else for that matter.  Only the omnipotent God could manage all of those crosscurrents.  Only the loving God would care to do so, would care for us SO MUCH that ONLY what’s truly BEST for us EVER happens!  Which is why we absolutely should “ALWAYS give thanks FOR all things” – because “we KNOW that ALL THINGS work together for GOOD to those who know God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Therefore, I can honestly say that even if I could go back in time to Saturday morning when deciding which store to buy that handful of groceries at, I wouldn’t.  I wouldn’t change a thing, I wouldn’t have done anything differently to have prevented that person from stealing my bike.  Why?  Because then I would’ve missed out on passing a fairly sizable test, not just a bike.  I.e., passing a test from God is infinitely more important and precious to me than any bike.  (Even that one which was PERFECT in every way for me.)  Because that fellow pedestrian would likely be mangled and, based on that car’s rate of speed, probably DEAD and therefore probably relegated to hell for all eternity.  And because I wouldn’t have such a PERFECT illustration to finish and crystallize the post I had already begun writing a week or more ago.

And I’ll conclude by sharing one last insight with you about this.

I can remember like yesterday an incident years ago (when I still had a car =) in which I “caught a red light” which was the FASTEST from green to red I had (or still have) EVER seen.  It was as though yellow didn’t even exist, as though it skipped right over that middle one.  While I can’t claim a flawless driving record, I do think it’s very important to obey ALL laws, so I slammed on the brakes – and grumbled about how blazing fast that light turned red, how I probably just wore an inch off of my tires… I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about, secondhand if not first.

But the most amazing thing happened next which I’ll never, ever, ever forget.  Never have and never will.  When the light turned green and I proceeded (slowly, with heart still pumping hard) and took the curve around 50 feet away from that traffic light, you won’t believe what I saw:  a very large tree had literally just fallen across the entire road.  Where I and my car quite likely would’ve been had that light NOT turned red, so blazing fast.  I had initially grumbled about something which probably SAVED MY LIFE.  And I can’t recall a SINGLE TIME I’ve questioned or doubted the Lord’s loving and unlimited sovereignty ever since, and that happened many years ago.  And just this ONE ASPECT of God has made my life a total joy, a total blast, all day every day.

Let’s look at it from a different angle.  Let’s say that my bike hadn’t  been stolen while I was inside that grocery store.  I of course would’ve ridden it back home as always.  So let’s say that on the way home, I got hit by a bus or car and suffered serious injury.  What would many of us surely be saying as we lay mangled in a hospital bed?  Probably something like, “Lord, why did You let that bus hit me?  You are omnipotent, You are sovereign – WHY DIDN’T YOU STEP IN AND PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING?”  Right?  Sound familiar?  But that’s EXACTLY what He did!  In this case, as always, He DID step in, in a very real, tangible way, to prevent something, anything, EVERYTHING which WOULDN’T be for my good, for your good, for our good.  He didn’t stretch forth His holy hand from heaven as in, say, Old Testament times, but he absolutely intervened directly via, yep, a bike thief.  God’s sovereignty is so infinite and pervasive that He often uses even the wicked, even the sins of others, to accomplish what’s best for US and what will bring Him the most glory.  That’s the whole point of Romans 9:17 quoted above.  God even uses animals – figurative and literal (2 Peter 2:16) – to bring about and make happen what’s best for US, what’s most beneficial for OUR lives.  The human mind almost always just looks at things based on what actually happened, not what might have.  But I’ve found that there’s tremendous perspective and wisdom gained by doing so, by looking at the proverbial “other side of a coin” so as to be grateful, to give Him thanks not just for what happens to us or in our lives but also what DOESN’T happen!  Not just for the presence of the positives but also for the absence of the negatives!

This will probably blow your mind but it’s 100% true – not 90%, not 95% … 100% – that EVERY SINGLE thing which happens to you, which happens in your life, is for your BEST.  Without exception.  Such that you, your life, would be WORSE OFF if it HADN’T.  So instead of giving in to the very natural human tendency to doubt and thus disbelieve God’s sovereignty, let us not ask whether  something that occurs is for our best but rather HOW it’s for our best – and, like me in the case of my bike, you’ll almost always find MULTIPLE answers to that question.  One would be enough, but in these things, the more, the merrier.

So to the long list above we can add this:

• Had the Lord, in His loving sovereignty, NOT allowed that thief to steal my bike in those few minutes I was inside the grocery store, it’s very possible that I would have gotten hit by a car or bus and been killed or lost a LOT more than just a bike, I could’ve lost an arm or leg, that happens every single day in virtually every single city, but what I have NO DOUBT about is that something very negative would’ve happened to me had my bike NOT been stolen and had I thus ridden it home.  And what ISN’T open to ANY speculation at all is that I’m much better off in any case as a result of my bike’s being stolen than I would’ve been otherwise, that such absolutely redounded to my good, better, and best even if I can’t say for sure the exact “bad” which would’ve happened, I KNOW that I would’ve been worse off.  But the Lord lovingly “stepped in” and intervened.  Like that straight-to-red traffic light years ago.  And like Pharaoh millenia before that.  So how could I NOT be utterly thankful  that my dear bike gotten stolen?!

Am I going to go around hoping  that its replacement bike gets stolen, too?  Definitely not.  But IF it does will I take it in stride and faith in the knowledge that because of God’s loving sovereignty ANYTHING that does or even could happen is for my GOOD – not just in some sort of after-the-fact, back-end kind of way but indeed from eternity past?  Absolutely.  The Lord lets everything happen for our, for your, for my good and benefit:  spiritually, emotionally, and even physically.  (E.g., I’m not writing this from a hospital bed. =)

The takeaway from all of this is a very easy, straightforward “rule” for life, a “rule” for living:  If it HAPPENS, never RESENT it, always THANK GOD that it DID!  I give you my word (and infinitely more importantly, GOD gives you HIS) that if you simply but truly believe in just this one aspect of God, His loving sovereignty, and adopt this “rule” each day, it will not just change but REVOLUTIONIZE  your life.

I hope that this pair of “beautiful biblical bookends” of Proverbs 16:33 and 21:1 will be as much of a massive, unmitigated, ongoing blessing in your life as it has been in mine.
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