Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

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4. Conclusion
To close with two further anecdotes, in one instance a couple with young children
wished to move to a preferable location to bring them up, and asked me for advice.
There were two live options. I immediately suggested the first option. This, however,
precipitated quite a few, rather forceful, comments on the part of the couple enumerating
some serious drawbacks connected with this choice. Without hesitation I, then,
counseled the couple to take the second one and offered the following rationale. I
know that you have a delight in both God and his law. I also know that you are in hot
pursuit of Kingdom goals, and at the same time fully willing to submit to God’s doorclosing
providence. The only “unknown” to me was the deepest desire of your hearts. I
methodologically suggested the first one to find out what it was. I quickly was able to
identify it. It is certainly not the first option. You mentioned it more out of a sense of
perceived family obligation. Since this obligation is not biblically mandated, you are
fully free to pursue the second option. Therefore, do so with all of your heart, and you
will be blessed. They certainly were! They joined a strong Church, had a powerful
ministry in it, and recently returned from a one-year oversees assignment that this
Church asked them to undertake.
In a second instance a student was looking for a research position in a university.
It was my privilege to mentor the process, which had only a window of two weeks.
When my travels led me providentially to two places in one weekend where two “eligible”
universities were located, the decision was virtually made for us to visit both.
The application to the first university soon fizzled, although it looked at first very
promising. The application to the second one ran into an immediate roadblock. No, the
professor in charge of the research program was not even willing to give an interview.
He had all the help he needed, and was not going to waste our time! Somewhat discouraged,
the student suggested that we should go home. My response was that we
should never stop ourselves, which prompted me to inquire with the professor, whether
he was willing to see us in order to suggest another university, or any course of action
for that matter. He consented. To make a long story short, the student had written an
extensive thesis on a topic in an area which was the professor’s research specialty. The
student was hired on the spot, and ended up with a degree.
The upshot? “Go, go, go for God for 100%,” until he stops “me,” must be the
Church’s motto. After all, God’s providential will does not stymie man’s 100%, but
encourages it, and sets it in motion. The reason is simple. It is the biblical model!
Whenever this motto was put into practice in Scripture, God blessed in abundance. It is
the pattern on display in our Lord and Savior himself, and followed by the apostle
Paul. It is also the hallmark of all the “heroes of faith,” some of whom are in God’s
Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11, starting with those who “piled up” victory after victory
(Heb. 11:1-35a) and concluding with those who were stopped in their tracks (Heb.
11:35b-38). Most of them had “their moments,” and experienced bumps and bruises.
Some of them had much more than just bumps and bruises to show for, as the conclusion
of Hebrews 11 indicates in a very sobering fashion. Nevertheless, all of them
ended up with God’s smile of approval! So will everyone who does not stop himself in
the service of his God, but perseveres to the end (Heb. 10:39) in dependence upon
God’s providence (Rom. 1:10; 15:32).