Leaving Room for God

The following is a list of statements made many years ago by experts in their fields.

• "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." Kenneth Olsen, President and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, in 1977
• "Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." Marshal Ferdinand Foch, French Military Strategist and Future World War 1 Commander, in 1911
• "(Television) won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century-Fox in 1946.
• "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out." Decca Records rejecting the Beatles, in 1962
• "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." Western Union internal memo, in 1876
• "Nothing of importance happened today." Written by King George III of England on July 4, 1776
• "Everything that can be invented has been invented." Charles H. Duell, U.S. Commissioner of Patents, in 1899

History has proven just how wrong these perspectives and conclusions were. In pondering this list of quotes, it becomes obvious that people, even very intelligent people, can be extremely shortsighted, uninformed or misguided in their reasoning.

• As powerful as the human mind is, it is still very limited.
• If Noah had relied only on his reasoning ability, would he have built the boat? If Gideon had assembled the greatest military minds on earth to assist him in coming up with a battle plan for defeating the Midianites, would they have even considered going with the plan to take only 300 men and no weapons? If the apostles made their decisions only on their ability to calculate, predict and produce, how many of the 5000 would have eaten?

Someone might say, “Yeah, but the examples you mentioned are all from the Bible and the other list is everyday people living everyday lives”. Should there be a difference? Noah didn’t know he was a “Bible character”. He was just living his life, and while doing so, he was open to God’s guidance; just as it should be with us. Faith isn’t a church word. Faith is a manner of life for those who have a relationship with the Father and his Son.
In the examples of Noah, Gideon and the apostles, each of them left room for God. They made a place in their plans for God to be able to work in a way above and beyond mere human reasoning. We limit our potential whenever we don’t leave room for God. This is true in all of life, and it is especially true in the church. Both the leadership and the congregation must seek the guidance of God in making decisions that could impact the future of the church. We have a responsibility to use every human resource available in making plans and pursuing goals, but we must never use only these resources. We must leave room for God. Our greatest challenge is to discover what we feel lead by God to do…what is God’s will. Then we must do it, even if we can’t get it all figured out through human reasoning. That’s what faith is.