(Part 1)

JBTM Daniel I. Block
86
These days college and graduate students are encouraged to set their sights high and
then to establish specific plans to achieve those goals. For decades now we have been
feeding our kids the notion that they are the best, and therefore the goals they set become
virtual entitlements. And if the plans don’t materialize either it is someone else’s fault or
we find ourselves in deep and dark valleys of depression. “How did this happen? They said
I could do it, but I obviously could not.”
I am not hereby saying we should not dream, or that we should not plan carefully. I
am simply saying that the more fixated we are on achieving our goals, the less we need to
trust in God, and the more we close the doors to serendipities. How do you think Abraham
would fare in this environment? O yes, the Lord granted him magnificent dreams of a
homeland, of innumerable descendants, of a mission of being a blessing to the world. But
the more he tried to control the means whereby these goals would be achieved, the more
he floundered spiritually and in terms of his calling. The foundational motto of the sages of
ancient Israel was not “You are somebody,” or “You can do it,” but “The fear (trusting awe)
of the LORD is the first principle of wisdom.” Indeed, in Proverbs we read,
Commit your activities to the Lord
and your plans will be achieved. (16:3)
A man’s heart plans his way,
but the Lord determines his steps. (16:9)
Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (19:21)
I am sure the gecko did not plan to invade the king’s palace; he just landed up there.
You know what, this kind of sums up my life. When I was young, my dream was to be a
long-distance truck driver. As a total introvert, there could be nothing better than getting
into that eighteen-wheeler in Halifax, on the east coast of Canada, and driving all the way
to Vancouver, all by myself. What a dream! This is obviously not how my life turned out.
No, my life has been one unexpected and unplanned for turn after another. How did I land
up being the husband of Ellen? Wow! I certainly married up. How did I land up for a year
of studies in Germany when I was an undergraduate? The Lord knew I would need German
later. How did Rev. Henry Harder come to be the pastor of the church we were attending
while I was university? He’s the one who excited me about the Old Testament. How did I
get a teaching position at Providence College with only a Masters Degree in 1973? When
I graduated from seminary I was ready to take a church. How did I become interested
first in the book of Ezekiel, and then in Deuteronomy? How did I find myself lecturing in
Cambridge, Athens, Moscow, Sydney, Medillin, Colombia, and Wheaton?
None of these images were on my radar screen when I was growing up in the sticks of