Walking With Christ

(Part 5 of 8)

⚓ Floatie:  You Cannot Control Outcomes — You Can Only Obey

Proverbs 19:21  Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.(ESV)

Most Christians do not try to control God — they try to control what obedience will cost them.  Outcome control is the quiet idol that lives underneath hard decisions, delayed obedience, and spiritual hesitation.  You cannot sanctify it.  You must expose it.

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✒️ Forge:  The Anatomy of Outcome Control

1. Controlling Outcomes Is the Oldest Temptation

The serpent’s lie in Eden was not about pleasure — it was about control:

Genesis 3:5  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”(ESV)

The promise was:  “You will no longer depend on God to define reality.”  That is outcome control.

It is the desire to:

• predict the future,
• secure the future,
• determine the future,
• avoid the painful future,
• or manufacture a preferable future.

It is not wisdom.  It is idolatry.

2. Outcome Control Is a Direct Rejection of Trust

Outcome control says:

• “I will obey if You guarantee the result.”
• “I will follow if You show me the ending.”
• “I will surrender if You secure my comfort.”
• “I will trust You as long as You prevent loss.”

But obedience does not negotiate.  Obedience moves — without conditions.

This is why Jesus says:

Matthew 6:27  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?(ESV)

Outcome control never works — and yet we cling to it because it gives the illusion of safety.

3. When You Try to Control Outcomes, You Lose Yourself

Outcome control produces:

• internal tension,
• emotional exhaustion,
• spiritual deafness,
• overthinking,
• paralysis,
• relational strain,
• disappointment with God,
• bitterness at life,
• anxiety about the future,
• resentment toward others who disrupt your plans.

Scripture is blunt:

Proverbs 16:2  All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit.(ESV)

You may think your outcome-control is responsibility.  God sees it as distrust.

4. When You Are Obsessed With Outcomes, You Will Manipulate Process

Outcome control always corrupts obedience.

If the goal is to:

• avoid rejection,
• avoid suffering,
• avoid conflict,
• avoid loss,
• avoid exposure,
• avoid failure,

then obedience becomes distorted into:

• half-truths,
• partial obedience,
• strategic silence,
• relational manipulation,
• “wise timing,”
• spiritual excuses,
• selective submission.

Outcome control turns obedience into negotiation.  God does not negotiate with idols.

5. Outcome Control Makes God Look Untrustworthy

When you require certain outcomes:

• you redefine God’s goodness based on results,
• you accuse God of failing when plans collapse,
• you measure God by circumstance instead of covenant.

This is why outcome control is spiritually lethal.  You will judge God by an outcome He never promised.  You are not asked to manage outcomes.  You are asked to trust the One who owns them.

6. God Dismantles Outcome Control to Restore Trust

Scripture is full of examples:

• Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac — outcome unknown.
• Moses confronted Pharaoh — outcome unknown.
• Joshua marched around Jericho — outcome unknown.
• Gideon faced Midian with 300 men — outcome unknown.
• Elijah faced the prophets of Baal — outcome unknown.
• The disciples followed Jesus to a cross — outcome unknown.

In every story:  God requires obedience before outcome.

He reveals Himself through the outcome — not before it.

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⚒️ Anvil:  The Outcome You Fear Most Reveals Your Hidden Master

Outcome control is not about logic.  It is about allegiance.

Ask these questions:

• What outcome can I not bear to experience?
• What loss do I fear God will not redeem?
• What scenario would destroy my sense of identity?
• What failure feels unacceptable?
• What rejection feels intolerable?

Where you fear the wrong outcome, you reveal the wrong authority.

Outcome control exposes the idol of:

• safety,
• reputation,
• comfort,
• success,
• predictability,
• approval,
• emotional stability.

Outcome control is idol worship wearing Christian language.

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🔥 Ember:  God Has Never Asked You To Control What He Has Already Decided

Here is the truth that cuts deepest:  God already knows the outcome you are terrified of.  And He will allow anything that brings you into deeper trust.

This is covenant love, not cruelty.  You are not safe because outcomes are favorable.  You are safe because your God is faithful.

The unknown future is not an empty space — it is the territory of God’s sovereignty.

You are not walking into chaos.  You are walking into His will.

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🌿 Covenant Triumph:  You Are Responsible for Obedience — God Is Responsible for Outcomes

This is the bedrock of all biblical faith:

Psalm 37:5  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.(ESV)

You act in obedience.  He acts in outcome.

Proverbs 16:3  Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.(ESV)

Not because your plans are good — but because your obedience is surrendered.  Outcome control dies at the feet of covenant truth:  God never promised you the outcome you want.  God promised you Himself.  That is the triumph.

The Practice of Obedience:  Surrendering the Outcome

For this message you will relinquish outcome control in one concrete, measurable way.

1. Physical Act:  Perform One Act of Obedience Without Knowing the Result

Choose one step of obedience you have delayed because you fear the result:

• a conversation,
• a confession,
• a decision,
• a risk,
• a boundary,
• a surrender.

Do it this week with no demand for how it must turn out.  When you finish, speak aloud:  “The outcome belongs to the Lord.”

2. Relational Act:  Tell One Person the Outcome You Fear Most

Share with a trusted believer:  “This is the outcome I have been trying to control.”

This breaks the secrecy where fear grows.

3. Spiritual Act:  Pray the Prayer That Destroys Outcome Idolatry

Pray slowly and mean every word:  “Lord, I release the outcome.  Give me courage to obey, even if the result is not what I want.”

This is the core of surrender.

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[⚓ Floatie] [✒️ Forge] [⚒️ Anvil] [🔥 Ember] [🌿 Covenant Triumph]
This post follows the Forge Baseline Rule—layered truth for the discerning remnant.