The God of Intended Consequences

January 16, 2025January 14, 2025Todd R 1 Comment

Case studies, detailed write ups of real-life business situations, are a common teaching tool for business students. From these examples, students are supposed to draw lessons for their own job and for management. One case study I read covered Nordstrom; a large retailer famous for their strong customer service[1]. At the time studied in the case, Nordstrom had recently hired an up-and-coming manager with a strong track record and trusted him with a lot of power to run the business. Since the purpose of a retailer is to sell things, management decided to pay every employee in every store more if they sell things. Seemed to make sense.

However, there’s a thing called the “Law of Unintended Consequences,” or more simply, a lack of foresight. In the Nordstrom case study, this Law led to disaster. Employees stopped cleaning the store. They stopped stocking shelves and organizing displays. Customers couldn’t find what they wanted, but they were hounded by enthusiastic employees who were eager to sell them something (and get credit for it). Instead of each employee doing what they specifically needed to do, they all swarmed around annoyed customers.

Not only did sales go down as a result, but Nordstrom damaged what had been its key strength of customer service. This happened decades ago, and Nordstrom has recovered, but what an interesting story. More recently, JC Penney had a similar disaster when they decided to back off their aggressive discounting strategy – the entire reason many people shopped there. A lack of foresight can lead to disastrous unintended consequences.

Nordstrom’s problem was what economists call a “coordination problem,” where a group of people aren’t properly organized to achieve a goal. Even if you have a theory that sales are the sole objective, making everyone focus on sales might not be the right way to coordinate. As Yogi Berra apparently said: “In theory there’s no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.” Humans don’t usually behave the way theory says they will.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-11, titled “The God-Given Task” in my study Bible, says this:

“What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

The point is the scope of man’s awareness, in his business, or economically. Man works, and sometimes it looks like pointless toil, and sometimes it is beautiful. But, as an image-bearer of God, man knows there is more to it – eternity in his heart. Therefore, we have some sense of a bigger picture, but the whole picture can’t be seen, only bits of it.

God on the other hand sees all, and nothing appears as unpredictable chaos to Him. His foresight includes all future circumstances, and everything is predictable. In the movie Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum’s character explains chaos by putting drops of water on the back of someone’s hand and saying there’s no way of knowing which direction the water will flow. But, when God watches Jurassic Park, he knows exactly which way the water would go. Every. Single. Time. And not because He’s seen the movie before. We look at water and see chaos, but God looks at it and says “Peace! Be still!”

Proverbs 3:19 tells us:

“The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding He established the heavens;
by His knowledge the deeps broke open,
and the clouds drop down the dew.”

Because the world was created with wisdom (and not by accident), gravity does what it’s supposed to do, photosynthesis does what it’s supposed to do, and likewise with many “laws” of science. God as omnipotent creator orchestrates all those laws of science how He wants, but in terms of people He has the same raw material as the managers of Nordstrom.

However, God doesn’t get blindsided by anything, including but not limited to:
People not doing what they’re told – He can, and does, include this in His plan.
Second- and third-order effects of rules, such as employees not stocking shelves.
Theory that might not apply in practice.

Managers of your company or organization don’t have perfect foresight. They can’t be certain that their strategy is correct, and they probably don’t know what every employee does on a daily basis, but God is CEO of the entire universe knows all and has a personal relationship with every member of the “company” – and all its competitors.

He has a plan, and while He doesn’t tell us the entire plan, He “has put eternity into man’s heart” that we may learn to trust Him and know that everything will be fixed in the end. Therefore, dedicate more of your time, treasure, and talent to God and see what happens. He intends that there will eternally be good consequences, and when He intends something, it happens. Guaranteed.

Our God is the God of Intended Consequences.

[1] I can’t find the case online or in my files so I’m going from memory here. Forgive me if I go astray, or if you work at Nordstrom.

Words of Life and Death

November 26, 2024Todd R 5 Comments

Rummaging in the basement for a book recently, I found a book I wasn’t looking for: Encouragement: The Key to Caring by Dr. Larry Crabb and Dr. Dan Allender. It was a good find. The authors define encouragement as “the kind of expression that helps someone want to be a better Christian, even when life is rough.”[1] This is the kind of expression recommended in Hebrews 10:23-25 – “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (emphasis mine)

However, if we don’t believe our words matter – that they have real power – we might think such encouragement is pointless. Making a case for the power of our words, the authors cite these Proverbs:

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” – Prov. 18:21
“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” – Prov. 12:25
“A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” – Prov. 15:4
“Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” – Prov. 16:24
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” – Prov. 25:11[2]

In these Proverbs, words have the power of life and death. Power to lift or break a spirit. They have real power to influence others for good, or for bad. They can influence our health, bodily and spiritually. Our words are one of the hardest things for us to control – especially online – and unless we realize their power, we’re too likely to take them lightly. James wrote that taming our tongues may be our biggest challenge, and if we can tame it, we can tame our whole body. (James 3:2-3)

Therefore, pray for more encouraging, more powerful words today, and that God would cleanse our hearts, the spring from which our words come[3], so we may praise Him and provide “sweetness to the soul and health to the body” of those around us.

It won’t happen all at once, and all will stumble, but as the saying goes:

Yard by yard, life is hard!
Inch by inch, life’s a cinch!

[1] Crabb, Larry and Dan Allender. Encouragement: The Key to Caring (1984). P. 10.
[2] Ibid. P. 19. See also Proverbs 25:20 and James 3:5-6.
[3] James 3:11

Wisdom, “in Quotes”

October 8, 2024October 7, 2024Todd R 2 Comments

Corporate training booklets are great sources of interesting quotes. I came upon this one from Greek philosopher Socrates (470 to 399 B.C.) in a training session on presentations: “The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.” This makes a lot of intuitive sense because if people can’t agree on something as basic as definitions, it’s difficult to move forward.

However, I think there’s something even more fundamental – closer to the real beginning of wisdom -than the “definition of terms,” and that is: who gets to define the terms? Doing that requires wisdom, so we can’t really be wise until we find someone worthy to define the terms. Socrates probably considered himself a good candidate to provide it! For most of us, in moments of honesty, we might admit that most of the time we are either trusting our own judgment, or maybe just improvising.

There’s another necessary factor. If we find someone we can trust to define wisdom for us, but when it comes time to act we go against their advice, their definitions do us no good. Therefore, we don’t begin to be wise without having the will to choose rightly. Although we say we trust someone’s wisdom, by not acting on it we disrespect them, and perhaps Wisdom itself, by not following through. We might have more knowledge, but not more wisdom.

So, I’ll suggest a better quote (there were no Bible verses in my training booklet). In the Old Testament book of Proverbs, Solomon – another historical figure (like Socrates) famous for wisdom – wrote that:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” – Proverbs 9:10

Solomon neatly fills in what the earlier quote is missing, because:

There is a Holy One, whose very character of holiness is the definition of terms we need. His decision making has no flaw and is trustworthy.
He is the LORD, who has authority, and uses it to lovingly advise His people on how to live wisely.
Fear of the LORD means that respect for Him is required for us to not just go off on our own, but to follow His perfect advice. This fear turns the abstract knowledge into useful wisdom.

Wisdom ignored isn’t wisdom. As I’ve written earlier, “Wisdom is about taking the right action, not about accumulating facts.” The verses leading up to Solomon’s above saying are Proverbs 9:7-9, which say:

“Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,
         and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.
Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;
         reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
         teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.”

We cultivate wisdom by considering God’s works and His will for our lives (through the law and the Holy Spirit). We cultivate wisdom by allowing Him to define our terms as only He can. It is the presence of the fear of God – respect for His wisdom – that determines whether we scoff at correction (verses 7-8 above) or increase in learning (last verse).

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!” – Psalm 111:10

The Way of Escape

October 5, 2024October 4, 2024Todd R 2 Comments

Reliable knowledge of good and evil is hard to come by, and the wisdom to follow it even harder. A well-known and oft-quoted Proverb is 1:7, which says:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

This Proverb tells us that we only gain useful knowledge, wisdom and instruction when we have an attitude of reverent respect for God, and that we are fools if we do otherwise. Fear of the Lord should be the rudder that guides us through the waves and storms that buffet us in this world. Every decision we make should have as its foundation: does this honor God? No other foundation is good enough for our lives to rest upon.

What’s left unsaid here in Proverbs is that we can’t expect this to come easy. We are constantly tempted to not fear the Lord in our minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, and day-by-day decisions. It’s hard, and not just because we aren’t perfect.

In the account of the serpent’s confrontation with Eve in the garden in Genesis 3, the serpent’s whole objective was to get Eve to make one decision that wasn’t based on fear of the Lord. “He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?””[1] “The serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’”[2] Eventually he wore her down and she ate from the tree God told her not to eat from, all because her reverence for God had been worn down by constant criticism of God by the serpent. He wanted her to decide for any reason other than the fear of the Lord, to become a fool, and thus bring down humanity.

When we make decisions, are we always being guided by the fear of the Lord, or do we sometimes think “He didn’t really mean that”? If you’re like me, you find yourself constantly confronted by influences that oppose God. Are we foolish when we follow these influences? Yes. Do we do it anyway? Yes. Could there be a hostile spiritual influence pulling us in that direction? Sure, but it could also just be our own broken wills, prone to go our own way.

However, in 1 Corinthians 10:13, Paul assures us that “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” And if we fear the Lord, we will believe it.

If we fear the Lord, when we’re tempted, we will know that “he will also provide the way of escape.” We need to look for it and pray for it until we find it. When we do, God will remain in the driving seat of our decisions and knowledge and wisdom will be ours. He can overcome any of our temptations if we let Him and we fear Him.

Let the fear of the Lord be your guide. There is always a “way of escape.”

[1] Genesis 3:1b
[2] Genesis 3:4

We Will Not Live in Tents Forever

August 28, 2024August 27, 2024Todd R 3 Comments

The apostle Paul was likely one of the finest Old Testament scholars of his day, and sometimes draws on existing imagery to make a point. One example might be Proverbs 14:11-12, where the second verse is more widely known than the first, but not unrelated:

“The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the upright will flourish.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.”

Physically, it seems obvious that a house is far more durable than a tent, but both of these Proverbs tell us not to judge by appearances. Looks and reputation may suggest otherwise, but it is righteousness that determines eternal destiny, specifically acceptance of Jesus’ righteousness.

In 2 Corinthians 5:1-3, Paul gives an example of why we should focus not on what “seems right”, but instead focus on the unseen things that matter for eternity, drawing on the tent image:

“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.”

Paul, defending his apostleship to the Corinthians amidst his suffering while other false apostles lived in ease, knew that an upright tent was better than a wicked house in God’s eyes, and therefore being less comfortable was entirely worth it, since there was an eternal reward waiting in heaven.

Commenting on 2 Corinthians 5, Warren Wiersbe notes that “Heaven was not simply a destination for Paul: it was a motivation. Like the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, he looked for the heavenly city and governed his life by eternal values.”[1]

When frustrated by your earthly limitations, or frustrated by discomfort in this world, know that we will not live in these tents forever. For His faithful, God is preparing an eternal dwelling for us. While it “seems right to a man” to think a house is better than a tent, every tent and house in this world is temporary. Hebrews 1:12 says of all creation, the earth and all the heavens, that:

“like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.”

Do we long for our new, eternal heavenly dwelling? Does this longing motivate us to live for God? Let us keep Driving Toward Morning today!

[1] Wiersbe, Warren. Be Encouraged (2 Corinthians) (1994). P. 69.

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