Life's Crazy Bounces

by John Stallings

If you’re like most people, you’ve never heard the name Coleman Mockler.

His story is told in Jim Collin’s excellent book, “Good to great.” The book tells about men who took good companies that people never expected to be more than average & made them great.

Though the name Coleman Mockler probably doesn’t ring a bell, you have no doubt heard the name of the company he made great, especially if you are a man & you shave. The company of which I speak is Gillette.

During Mockler’s tenure as CEO of Gillette, he steadied the company through three hostile takeovers all on the promise of a series of products that might prove profitable. These products were the Sensor & the Mach3. Now when Mockler did all this, these well known brands were in development & it was his determination & leadership that kept Gillette from being just another good company bought & sold to gain market share.

With his patience, Gillette became great. Mockler was a shy & unassuming man, & with his success also came a degree of fame. Forbes magazine came knocking & when they couldn’t agree about a picture of him to run with their article, they used a cartoon of him in the image of Conan the barbarian, showing him conquering all his competitors.

Mockler had the picture in his hands, seeing it for the first time as he walked in the halls of his office & had a heart attack still grasping the picture. He died that day.

LIFE DOESN’T ALWAYS MOVE ALONG THE PATH WE ANTICIPATE.

Look at King David. When he was made king he had every reason to believe all would be right with the world but his first wife grew to hate him. Who better to be king than the man who’d started as a boy giant-killer, was a sensitive poet, a great warrior & leader of men?

Then his father-in-law was bent on killing him, his second marriage started off in adultery, murder & the loss of a child. His daughter was raped by her brother & then this son was killed by another brother. His wickedly vengeful son Absalom starts a civil war ousting David & taking his stepmothers as wives.

We’ve all heard of the providence of God. Though the word isn’t found in most modern translations, in English the word “Providence” has two parts. Its “pro” & “Video” put together, literally meaning “to see before.” It refers to God’s gracious oversight of the universe. The word’s deepest meaning is: God not only knows the big picture, He also concerns Himself with the tiniest details.

The title of this blog, “Life’s crazy bounces” may trouble you at first because we are taught that nothing happens to the child of God in a “happenstance way.” And that is true. God’s people don’t just bounce around helplessly with no rhyme or reason to their experience. Very true. So the correct idea is that “bouncing” is a word or concept we mortals use to explain what our life experience sometimes feels like. But from God’s perspective, we’re all on a divine time-clock experiencing exactly what He has planned for us to experience.

GOD UPHOLDS ALL THINGS,
GOD GOVERNS ALL THINGS,
GOD DIRECTS ALL THINGS,
GOD ATTENDS TO ALL DETAILS,
GOD DOES IT ALL FOR HIS GLORY.

God doesn’t roll dice. Nothing happens in God’s world by chance.

God is in charge of what happens, when it happens, how it happens, why it happens & even what happens after it happens. This is true of all events from the beginning of time. He does this for our good & His glory. God isn’t the author of sin yet evil serves His purpose. He doesn’t violate our free-will yet free will serves His purpose. We’re not supposed to understand all this; we’re just supposed to believe it.

1. WE’RE READY FOR LIFE’S CRAZY BOUNCES WHEN WE TRULY BELIEVE GOD'S IN CONTROL OF OUR LIVES.

Have you ever heard the saying, “God moves in mysterious ways?” Many people think it’s a scripture verse but in reality it’s from a song written in the 1800s by an Englishman named William Cowper. Here’s the first phrase;

GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS
HIS WONDERS TO PERFORM,
HE PLANTS HIS FOOTPRINTS IN THE SEA
AND RIDES UPON THE STORM.

Although the Bible doesn’t actually contain this verse, the principle is everywhere between its covers.

God takes time in His Word telling us the stories of men whose lives dramatize the fact that He isn’t a time-dweller. He’s not a senile old fuddy-duddy, He never gets in a hurry nor is He always scurrying around trying to catch up.

I heard about a man who was praying & said, “God, is it true that a million dollars is about the same as a penny in your sight?” God answered, “Yes, it’s true.” Then the man asked, “God is it true that a minute is about the same to you as a thousand years?” God answered again that this was true. The man then asked, “God will you give me a million dollars?” God answered, “Of course, in a minute.”

God’s ways, His thoughts & His schedule differs greatly from ours & He wants us to understand this fact.

JOSEPH

Joseph is one of the best examples of a young man whose life was subjected to many crazy bounces. If anyone could say they experienced rejection it would be Joseph. He was one of Jacob’s twelve sons, & was in the line of the great patriarchs of God’s people. Joseph was also from a long line of unhealthy family favoritism, as matter of fact he was caught up in one of the worst cases of sibling rivalry ever.

Talk about dysfunctional families. Joseph grew up in a home torn by the conflict of two wives vying for their husband Jacob’s attention. The rivalry escalated when Jacob began to favor Joseph the first son of his favorite wife Rachel. This smells bad already, right? Oh yeah, troubles brewing here.

Joseph was too young & immature to deflect in any way the favoritism his father showed toward him; in fact he seemed to relish it. He wore the flashy coat his father gave him & actually flaunted it telling his brothers about his dreams of the future when one day people would bow down to him, including them.

Not surprisingly the anger Joseph’s brothers felt grew into hatred & when they got their chance they threw him in a pit, finally selling him into slavery. For Joseph it well might have seemed his life was over but God had other plans for him. To use baseball terminology, it might have seemed he’d bounced out of the park & out of play. Things went from bad to worse for a few years but in God’s time Joseph won the favor & respect of the great Pharaoh whose dreams he interpreted & eventually he was made second in command in all of Egypt.

This seemingly crazy bounce played into God’s plan for Joseph to be instrumental in saving many lives in the years to come through his wise stewardship of Egypt’s grain reserves. As the story unfolds, many years later his brothers visited Egypt to buy grain to take back home to Canaan. They didn’t recognize Joseph but he recognized them & when he revealed his identity to them they were shocked & terrified.

But what does Joseph say to them? He absolves them from blame or responsibility & tells them it was God who’d sent him to Egypt to save many from starvation. After what appeared to be nonsensical bounces in the life of Joseph, a divine plan & pattern finally snapped into focus.

And likewise, God has plans for each of us.

As Joseph’s story closes his father died which gave the brothers further cause to fear for their lives. But Joseph reassured them that the providence of God was at work through it all & said to them;

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done to save the lives of multitudes.”


MOSES

The life of Moses was also a study in crazy bounces. He started off a basket case. By all accounts he should have been dead. He was in the equivalent of a Hebrew refugee camp. Moses was abandoned by his parents under threat of the State. The pharaoh king fearful of the sheer number of the Israeli population ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill any boy babies as soon as they were born. He of course expected this to be carried out, but Moses was spared. Moses was part of a despised minority [baby boys] so despised in fact they were victims of legalized murder.

A question arises here; why did God wait until Pharaoh decides to kill all male infants before Moses is born? Why didn’t God just allow His deliverer to be born before Pharaoh decided to kill all the Hebrew male babies?

Think about it this way; the lethal environment into which Moses was born provided an opportunity for a Hebrew child to be raised by the daughter of Pharaoh. The man who was going to take 2,000,000 stiff-necked people through a hostile desert for 40 years, meet face to face with Pharaoh as God’s spokesman & write the first five books in the Bible required a very special kind of training & the development of some unique abilities.

So God arranges a set of circumstances wherein a Hebrew mother places a perfectly healthy beautiful child into a wicker basket which would end up in the possession of the daughter of Pharaoh who raises him in a manner fitting royalty. Think about the utter improbability of a baby boy born to a hated Hebrew slave receiving grooming required to do all that God had planned for Moses. Yet it’s no problem for God because He’s sovereign.

Moses was banished to oblivion in the bleak "desert university" for forty years until God called him one day out of a burning bush. This calling was the continuation of a life that was marked by ups & downs. We’re told that after a long life of 120 years, Moses died secure in the arms of God.

He came a long way from the wicker basket & passed on in accordance with God’s timetable for him. He must have marveled as he looked back over his life & all that God had wrought through him. And let’s not forget, before he died Moses was still robust enough to climb Mt. Nebo in the land of Moab, a mountain that’s extremely high. He hadn’t sat on the sidelines of life & though he wasn’t perfect we are told after his departure, --No prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.”

2. WE’RE READY FOR LIFE'S CRAZY BOUNCES WHEN WE BELIEVE GOD IS KEEPING SCORE & WILL SETTLE ALL ACCOUNTS IN HIS TIME.

We live in a day when it’s possible for anyone to write a book. Some of the most unsavory of characters have written books & made millions. Victims of crimes have written books telling their side of the story. O.J Simpson has written a book as have members of his jury. Even O.Js prosecutors have written book. Books are written on romance, science fiction, drama, poetry, & there are biographies and autobiographies. Some books are written to enlighten the public, others are written to confuse them.

It seems everyone wants to write a book including me & some books that are written are actually worth reading. I spent a lot of money over the years before I woke up to realize you’re blessed if you get one or two nuggets out of the average book, the rest aren’t worth a whole lot. Some books are extremely important, while others don’t say much at all.

I’ve never had a book written exclusively about me but two of my songs are included in books telling the back-story of the song. This is humbling on more than one level.

Did you know that your life story is being recorded? Well it is. You say, “Brother, my life is so boring no one would write about me.” Oh but you’re wrong. The devil loves for people to think no one is watching & that no one cares what they do or say. But the devil is a liar. You are so important God is writing your life story every moment. Most people aren’t aware that God has that much interest in them but He does. God is a God of justice & He’s going to be very honest in His book about you & me.

The reason God is writing about us is there’ll come a day in which we’ll have to stand before Him & there’ll be no denying anything God chooses to bring to light. Now I don’t profess to know how God keeps His records I just know He does it.

In 1 Cor.3:11-15 Paul tells us that we who are saved will appear at the Judgment seat of Christ to be judged according to our works. This of course isn’t to be confused with the Great white throne judgment where sinners will be judged & punishment will be meted out. The child of God won’t have to worry about being lost when he comes to this judgment, but we’ll all be judged according to our works.

If you study Paul’s words here, the only concern for the Christian is that his works will be burned if God finds they weren’t done out of the right motivation. God will determine if our works are wood, hay & stubble or gold, silver & precious stones.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay & stubble.

Every man’s work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

If any man’s work shall be burned he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.—1 Cor.3:11-15Notice our work won’t be judged by what SIZE it is but what SORT it is. We’ll also be judged as to our attitude, aspirations, & abilities. Our works will be presented before God on that day & He’ll take His Holy Ghost blow torch & hit our pile of works with it. If it can stand up under the fire, then we’ll receive a reward.

Years ago I read a book entitled, “The thimble crown.” The writer depicts a man who thought he had so much to present to God, down on his knees trying to find the small amount of his life’s work after God’s judgment fire had hit it. Then in the story, the man was presented with a crown, but it was the size of a thimble.

This should give us all pause, that the things we do, we do for the glory of God.

3. WE’RE READY FOR THE CRAZY BOUNCES OF LIFE WHEN WE DON’T LET THEM STOP US FROM DOING WHAT WE KNOW WE SHOULD BE DOING.

Let me tell you the story of a strapping young eighteen year old Greek man named Marcus Engels. Several years ago Marcus was riding in a car one night with some other young people in the Saint Louis Missouri area when their car was struck by a drunk driver. Marcus was left legally & permanently blind by the accident.

When the dust settled from the tragic wreck, Marcus was forced to accept the hard cold reality that a lifetime of blindness loomed ahead of him. However, instead of allowing himself to be enveloped by grief, Marcus determined to fight his way out of his set of his circumstances & be a whole person. He’s certainly more than made good on that vow.

Today, fourteen years later Marcus is indeed a shining example of what can happen when a person refuses to give in to self-pity & despair. The reason I know about Marcus is, he’s my son-in-law. He’s one of the nations leading motivational speakers, speaking annually to multitudes in schools & other venues, challenging young & old alike to be all they can be, by God’s grace in spite of their setbacks.

I know you’ll forgive me if I seem to be biased but I know of no greater example than Marcus of what can be done in a life touched by unforeseen bounces. He doesn’t need my endorsement or help of any kind from me, but since I felt his story so fit this article he has graciously allowed me to use it.

If you’d like to know more about Marcus you can pull up the address below & be further informed. If you take a moment to look at Marcus’ website I know you’ll be happy you did for Marcus is one the most inspiring young men in America today.

www.marcusengel.blogspot.com

4. WE’RE READY FOR THE BOUNCES OF LIFE WHEN WE BELIEVE---- HE WHO HAS STARTED A GOOD WORK IN US WILL COMPLETE IT.

Paul said,--being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ…… Phil.1:6

Paul knew what it was to be on a roller coaster ride in his life experience. He had learned to be the big dog or to be considered a complete flop. He knew how to have everything or how to have nothing. Paul could take it all in stride because he understood the sovereignty of God & had all faith that He would finish every work He started.

Sometimes Paul soared to great heights & sometime he plummeted to the depths.

Listen to some of Paul’s life in his own words;

Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night & a day have I been in the deep;

In journeyings often in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

In weariness, & painfulness, in watchings often, in cold & nakedness, beside those things that are without that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. --2 Cor.25-28Paul gives us a verse of verses when he tells us;--We know that all things work together good for those who love God who are the called according to his purpose.—Romans 8:28

As Christians we believe that God holds the future in His hands. We believe that God’s Will in human history --will ultimately be done. The only problem is that so many times we just cannot see it, & are tempted to doubt that all things work together for good.

There are many times when we’ll not see the good even if it were right under our nose. We have to accept that our notion of what is good may not always square with what God calls good in His divine wisdom & infinite understanding.

Won’t it be a wonderful day when we’re finally be able to see it & say, “Ah! Now I understand?"

Sometimes life is a tapestry, a weaving, a quilt. If we look at it from the backside all we see is a confusing jumble of knots & threads & colors. It seems chaotic without rhyme or reason. We don’t always see what God’s hand is creating.

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God who are called according to His purpose. That promise is our anchor in this troubling & confusing world. That promise is our security, our comfort, our hope.

“HE MAKETH NO MISTAKE.”

My father’s way may twist & turn my heart may throb & ache,
But in my soul I’m glad to know He maketh no mistake.

My cherished plans may go astray; my hopes may fade away,
But I’ll trust my Lord to lead, for He doth know the way.

Though night be dark and it may seem that day will never break,
I’ll pin my faith my all in Him, He maketh no mistake.

There’s so much now I cannot see, my eyesight’s far too dim,
But come what may I’ll simply trust, and leave it all to Him.

For by and bye the mist will lift, and plain it all He’ll make,
Through all the way though dark to me, He maketh no mistake.

By A.M Overton

Blessings,


John