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Written in the Book

There's a verse of scripture tucked away in Psalm 139 that I know I've read many times, but I heard it maybe for the first time not long ago. The interesting thing is I heard it not while I was reading the scripture, but I heard this verse in my spirit not in a sermon or a Bible study. I heard this scripture when I was looking at a photograph.

As I looked at the photograph, I thought back to that verse of scripture from Psalm 139, which says, "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

That's a remarkable verse. I wonder if we believe it. We know it, but that's a remarkable thing. And there are some cross currents tucked into that verse. For example, on one hand, the verse seems to imply a strong sense of predestination. If God foreknows the future and all the days were written in his book, then is everything predetermined?

Certainly, some people believe that, and it makes sense in one way. But if that's true, if everything is predetermined, every time we stub our toe or sneeze or end up in the hospital, that's all God's plan, then what happens to free will? That makes us robots. On the other hand, surely we're not just drifting with no sense of direction.

I think there's a middle ground in there. And the middle ground might be that God has a preferred future predetermined for all of us who will in fact, by faith, follow him. I think what we're dealing with is the difference between a map and a compass.

Now, if you're headed somewhere and you have a map, you know the distance, you can look ahead, and you can see how far you go, and then you make a turn and then something else happens. It seems like we, as humans, want to have a map. We want to know what the future is going to do. But I don't think we get a map.

I think God gives us, rather than a map, a compass. He gives us a sense of direction. He gives us a star to guide us. He gives us a companion along the way, the Holy Spirit. And I used to tell college kids at Olivet, particularly seniors who were graduating wanting to know what's next, “Following God's will is a lot like driving your car at night. We don't even think about it anymore, but we get in a car and drive 50, 60, 70 miles an hour into complete darkness. The only thing we can see is just the distance of our headlights, which really is not very far when you're going 70 miles an hour. But we do it because we know as we go forward, what happens? The light goes forward.” The light always precedes us.

God has a preferred future for those who will walk in the light as He is in the light. The explorer Magellan was looking for a way to get to the Spice Islands. The Americas had already been discovered, but he assumed that just on the other side of the Americas would be the Spice Islands, rather than go all the way around Africa the other way. He decided to make a journey around the southern tip of South America through the straits that now bear his name, a rugged journey. When he gets on the other side, rather than encountering the Spice Islands, he encountered this vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, much wider than the Atlantic. I think it's a good thing he didn't have a map, because he might not have gone. He might have said, “I can't do that. There's no way we can go that far.” He did, though, have a compass, and he just kept going, and sure enough, he finally made it.

I don't think we, in our pilgrimage with Christ, get a map. I think we get a compass, and the compass sets the points of direction for us.

Let's go back to that photo when I heard the scripture. I'm a junior at Olivet at this time. It's 1969, way back there, and I run into a student who is the editor of the college yearbook. She asks, “Would you be in a photo for the yearbook? It's just one of those campus scenes. It's not an organization or a team or anything. It's just a candid photo we're going to use as a page divider.” I said I would, and she said, “Well, wear a suit and show up at this particular place on campus.”

I showed up on a crisp fall day in 1969 and had my photograph taken. There were four of us. I was standing on the left, a thin guy with lots of dark colored hair.

On the right was the president of the university. His name was Harold W. Reed. He was a distinguished president. In fact, he served Olivet as president for 26 years, which was longer than anyone else in the history of the university had served.

And by him was the student body president, a fellow named Mike Neely, who went on to be a physician.

And then there was a girl who was chosen at random.

The photograph was taken my junior year, and between my sophomore year at Olivet and my junior year, I changed my major from business to religion. I started as a business major thinking I would be going to business with my father who had a publishing company. But I felt a call to ministry. Before I came back for my junior year, I had breakfast with my dad and said, “I feel like I've called into the ministry and I'm going to change my major.”

My dad said a very interesting thing to me. He said, “Well, now you're halfway through your studies. Why don't you finish your business major? And then if you still feel the call to ministry, go to seminary and get your ministerial training. The truth is your business major will help you in the ministry.”

I thought that was very good advice, made a lot of sense, but I didn't take it. I felt like I needed to change my major right then and not delay saying yes to God. So, I came back and this photo was taken just about six weeks after I changed my major.

When I changed my major, I really closed the door to going back to Ohio where I was living, going back to my dad's business. My dad went on and established a phenomenal business. When he retired, he owned nine newspapers and had a large printing company. I had just said no to all of that.

It was when I was seeing this photograph not very long ago, that I heard that verse: “All the days ordained for you are written in the book.” Now think about it. On the right side is the college president, Dr. Reed, 26 years. And on the other side of the photo is a young student who would one day be the college president at Olivet and would in fact, through God's grace, surpass Dr. Reed's record of 26 years. I served for 30 years. Who knew?

Who knew in that fall of ’69, what would transpire? I think God knew. God had a way of capturing a moment on film that would later speak to me about the providence of God.

To tell you the truth, the best part about the photograph is that the girl, her name was Jill. We had never had a date, but after that photograph, I thought, “Well, she seems nice.” I asked her out, and we've been married 53 and a half years. Who knew that all of that was wrapped up in that little photograph taken on that particular fall day.

God has a kind of double vision. He sees what is, but He also sees what will be. That's the comforting part of that.

God sees what is – a student at Olivet – but he also sees what will be. And that's true not just for me, it's true for all of us. “All the days ordained for you were written in the book” doesn't mean we don't have free will, that we don't have choices, but it means that if we will follow the Lord Jesus, He will in fact direct our paths. He'll help us to walk in the light as He is in the light. I'm also convinced that it's true not just for people.

I think it's true for Nazarene Bible College. The Bible college was established a little over 60 years ago, and God has honored that. Thousands of ministers and lay leaders who have been trained by NBC continue to serve the church, and I have to believe that God sees the next days in the unfolding chapters of NBC, and we get to be a part of that.

– Dr. John Bowling is serving at Interim President for Nazarene Bible College.