The Staggering Mind of God

There are decisions we could have made in life but instead we chose to do something else. Instead of choosing A, B or C we chose D.

What if we would have chosen A, B or C instead of D? What would have happened? What chain of consequences would have been set into effect? What different choices would other people have made as a result of our changed course of action and what would be the effect of those choices?

It is beyond our ability to know such things.

The scenario I have presented only involves one person’s decisions and four possible choices. In reality, we could multiply the future possibilities described above to involve every person on earth and rather than four choices, the choices would be much wider.

Now, who could possibly know the virtually limitless possible future scenarios?

No one. Right? It is ridiculous to even suggest that anyone could have such knowledge.

Except God. Think of how extraordinary a mind would have to be to actually know how all of the future contingencies resulting from billions of humans exercising free will would actually play out. In the truest sense of this term, it is “mindboggling.”

What is described above doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface, however, it is a tiny little glimpse into the awesome breadth and brilliance of the mind of God.

“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” Psalm 145:3

Action Is What Leads To A New Future

*POSTED:  In order to have a genuine sense of hope we have to believe that the future holds something good and positive. “It is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future.” Victor Frankl

The following question came in response to the post, above...

Question:  What happens when someone believes the future just holds more of the same?

Answer...

The idea that the future “just holds more of the same” would actually be a comfortable place for some people.  But it’s clear that that’s not the sense in which the questioner is expressing this thought.  The idea that the future just holds more of the same would, frankly, be anything but hopeful for a lot of us.

If we don’t want the future to hold more of the same, the bottom line is that we have to be willing to do different things.  I’m specifically referring to “actions.”  For the future to be different, we have to be willing to take new actions.  We have to try things we haven’t tried before.  All the clichés—like “be willing to move out of your comfort zone”—that we’ve heard before apply here.  (It’s helpful to remember that sometimes a “saying” becomes cliché because it’s true.)

So, we have to be willing to take some different actions that might feel risky to us.  (By the way, I’m not talking about doing things that are “risky” in the sense of being illegal or life threatening, but risky in the sense of being actions we haven’t taken before.)

In fact, it’s very likely that the future will, in fact, hold more of the same unless we take some new actions.

When it comes to making changes in our lives—changes that move us into a future that’s not just the same as the past—there are factors that can make a difference, factors like thinking, planning, learning new things, and making new commitments.  But at the end of the day action trumps everything else.  The actions we take will be the biggest factor in moving us toward a different future.