I will not take God’s right of selection out of His hands. Often I have said, “That person would make a good Christian,” or “This one would make a good pastor or missionary.” But God cannot afford to accept my selection of candidates for His work. My tendency is always to engineer God’s program instead of being engineered by it.
My responsibility is to sow the seed, not make it grow. That means I must be “indifferent” to (that is, not overwhelmed or depressed by) outcomes, especially disappointing ones. Jesus was rejected by the rich young ruler, whom He loved; yet He accepted that rejection as a matter of course (Mark 10:17–23).
In our success-oriented culture, I must be doubly sure that I am not successful in the ordinary sense. Spiritual success is neither selection nor prediction. Spiritual success is imitation: “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17, KJV). That means following the pattern the Father has created for me.
The great danger in my spiritual life is to take the pattern out of God’s hands and reshape it according to my tastes, likes, and dislikes. A true disciple must never be afflicted with the “if only” disease. He cannot succumb to the “might have been’s.” He gladly accepts the word, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 1:2, KJV), not according to me or any other human being. That means duty first, then rest. “Who is the man who fears the Lord?” asks David (Psalm 25:12). If I reply, “I do,” then the promise is assured, “He will instruct him in the way He should choose.” Selah, ponder that!
“For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion’” (Romans 9:15).
Daily with the King 