Guaranteed Outcome

If anyone were to ask, we would all probably say that there are no absolutes in this world; therefore, the title of this article may seem like a misnomer or an oxymoron. However, I am here to set the record straight. There are two outcomes that are indeed absolute with a full guarantee.

Who among us, if we are honest, has ever watched an ‘infomercial’ late in the night for some reason or another, with insomnia being at the top of the list? We are all suckers for a good deal, and when we see or hear the statement one hundred percent guaranteed, even when it seems too good to be true, we fall for it. We jump at the chance, thinking that we are getting the best deal since grandma’s apple pie. All logic goes out the window and we just must have that product being advertised, to prove what, and to what end, nobody knows, only to endure the inevitable disappointment.

It almost does not even matter what the product is. We feel that this is a one time opportunity and if we do not have any use for it, surely, we will, on some undisclosed future date. Creams, lotions or potions, household goods, yard equipment or tools, gadgets and gizmos galore are sold with a satisfaction guaranteed seal of approval on them. Some may even come with the message that if you are not 100% satisfied, you can return the said product in thirty to sixty days, even if the containers are empty. Just before the time expires, we decide to send it back whether we liked it, used it, or enjoyed it or not. It of course is on the honor system, so who would ever know, right? However, we find out that there is no address to be found where to return it to, and there is no contact address or phone number, and we will have to pay the shipping and handling, of course. This is where we have a light bulb moment and realize that the 100% guarantee was a hoax, we have been taken advantage of and the wool has been pulled over our eyes, and we have been snookered. We have fallen victim to a scam. We have just bought a product that has the same ingredients as you could have gotten at the Dollar Store, but for five times the price. We see by this example there are no guaranteed outcomes, right?

Marketers have perfected the art of advertising in ingenious ways that are targeted to an exact demographic. You may see a rental company stating that they are the best. Their cars and rates are guaranteed to beat other comparable companies. Airlines could paint a beautiful picture of how their flights are premium and are so comfortable that you will reach your destination before realizing that you left your own lounge chair. A hotel will boast luxury and a ‘dream come true of a lifetime,’ if you book with them. They may even have testimonials and raving reviews, which seem to be all the rage these days, which tell of the grandeur and indeed seem to back up the claims of the companies as advertised. You may fall for it, and though the service is great, the facilities are luxurious and pristine, they cannot guarantee that the car or flight will reach its destination, nor can hotels or the best time share guarantee that the building will be there when you arrive the following year. We have all heard of good ole ‘mother nature,’ that can wreak havoc when we least expect it. Through our journey of life, even with the best that money can buy, there are no guarantees that we will make it. Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”  Life is in constant flux; therefore, we cannot worry about things that are not in our control but live one day at a time.

So, with this sobering reminder, let us look at the two things that are guaranteed. Firstly, we find the most hopeful, promising outcomes within the pages of the Word of God. Matthew, Mark, and Luke record the words of Jesus when he stated, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 1:20 from first hand experience, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”  One of those promises which are all encompassing and guaranteed to come to pass is found in John 12:48 which says, “He that rejects me, and receives not my words, hath one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” With that being said, we should read it, study it, and know what it says in its entirety.

We find in the Word of God that he is a covenant God. The dictionary tells us that a covenant is, “a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement, a compact, a written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action, the common-law action to recover damages for breach of such a contract.”  We are more apt to use the word contract than covenant; however, it does not change the fact that they are absolutely 100% guaranteed. Covenants work on the premise of ‘if you do such and such, then I will to such and such’ and can be simple or complex. For instance, the seller of a beautiful home on the lake says to the potential buyer, “If you give me $300,000, this house can be your forever home. You then make another covenant with a bank, who is the lender, stating that you will pay them $1,200 to $1,500 for the next thirty years to continue to enjoy your home forever. A written document called a deed is drawn up showing that you now own this specific house and piece of land. However, if you default on your agreed payments, you will forfeit your rights to the property, because this is the ‘if you, then I will’ contract agreement that you signed.

In simpler terms if you have cash in your hand you can walk into a store and buy a lollipop or a lawn mower, depending on how much you have to spend, what you are wanting to purchase, and how much money is being asked for, in the exchange for the item. You have heard the expression ‘if you fly, I’ll buy.” Meaning that, if you drive to go pick up the food, I will pay for it. This is more often a verbal agreement between two people; however, taking a quick side lesson from the word of God, our word should be our bond as well. We should say what we mean, mean what we say, and choose our words carefully. John14:1-11 tells this story, “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and said unto his servants, this is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore, mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. For John said unto him, it is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. And the king was sorry: nevertheless, for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given to her. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a charger and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.” His word was the contract or covenant that he had to follow through with.

We have read that the Lord keeps his side of the bargain; however, so many people are quick to judge and say what God has not done for them. The other side of the equation of having a guaranteed outcome is us keeping our end of the deal. We must read the contract in its entirety. The small print is just as important, and maybe more so than anything else on a contract, and not to be ignored. We should know what both sides of the contractual agreement says and fulfil our part. His word gives us a roadmap to keep us on track no matter where we go in this life and holds answers to all the questions we will have along the way. We are getting the better end of the deal.

We should not go into a relationship with God looking for loopholes in the contract because we will quickly find ourselves on the losing side. John tells us in Revelation 22:18-21, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He which testifies these things saith, Surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” He is coming back for those who have kept his word and are watching for his return. This is an absolute statement, which comes with a 100% guarantee and those who do not obey his word have a guaranteed outcome as well, which will be eternal torment and separation from Him. I for one, want to keep my side of the bargain.

You might be skeptical about now and say, okay, this is all just pie in the sky, get to the second thing that has a guaranteed outcome. Tell us something we can relate to where the rubber meets the road in the here and now. I am glad you are still with me, and I intend to do just that.

I was perusing through social media recently as it is the norm for most of us these days and came across a short clip of Steve Harvey who was addressing an audience of some type. I am not sure of the exact setting, nor do I know much about Steve Harvey or his beliefs or lack thereof; however, he made a simple yet profound statement. He said, “I know one thing that is guaranteed to happen in life if you quit, and that is absolutely nothing.” Let us discuss briefly the stamp of 100% guarantee that comes with quitting. It really does not matter how small or grand your plans are, where you are going, or what dreams you may have, if you quit, you will achieve nothing and if you quit, you will not reach your destination. Hopes, dreams, visions, and talks of what you want to be when you grow up are just that, but it will be continual action that will get you to the finish line. It is rare that riches, fame, happiness, or contentment will just fall from the sky into someone’s lap, they are all earned. Time and work must be put in.

We all know vacations usually turn out successful and are a blast. They afford us time away from the normalcy or mundane routine of life if just for a short while. We arrive home exhausted physically perhaps but rejuvenated mentally and spiritually. However, vacations will never happen if we do not make the bookings we need, get into the car, turn the key, hit the road, and keep going until we reach our assigned destination. If our car breaks down along the way, it is very discouraging; however, we do have choices. We can find a place to get it fixed, rent another vehicle to continue our journey, or just stop and call it quits right there. Rant and rave that you should not have even tried, everything always goes wrong, and on and on. The outcome will be guaranteed; you will have achieved nothing. The same can be said for our careers, families, and anything we are striving for in our lives. Stopping short of our goals will have a guaranteed outcome.

The thing that so often stops us in our tracks in this life is fear. We may call it shyness, embarrassment, inferiority complex, or anxiety, yet they are under the same umbrella called fear, which will only serve to petrify and paralyze us. This is within our power to change, but not without continual, forward-moving, action. The dictionary definition of petrified is, “converted into stone through a slow process of mineralization, overwhelmingly fearful, rendered motionless or unable to act by fear.” Fear must be eradicated from the picture for us to forge ahead. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  We should take notes from Paul who stated in Philippians 3:14, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  Notice he did not mention anything about life being easy-peasy. In fact, Jesus made this statement in Matthew 11:12 about the kingdom of heaven, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”  We must have tenacity, press forward, and strive for the things we want to achieve in life. If we would rely upon the Word of God which is the first outcome that has a 100% guarantee, we will be much better equipped to avoid the second.

Does all of this mean we will never be discouraged or want to quit? I would be remiss if I did not address this. It is a big, fat no. We all have those thoughts, and maybe some more than others, but learning that there is no shame in falling, or even stopping to rest a while, as long as we get back up and continue forging ahead. This is far preferred over quitting. We have all heard stories of athletes who have won races in their event even after falling or tripping up. One such incident was reported in 2021, Sifan Hassan, a Dutch Olympic star, won her heat in the women’s 1,500 meter race in Tokyo. She had fallen after being tripped up by her opponent, with only 380 meters to go. Hassan, 28 year old, Ethiopian-born athlete, sprang back to her feet making up the lost time and distance, and won the race with astonished onlookers stating that she was superhuman. No, she just refused to give up and quit. We may not all be sprinters, but we can all share her resilience and determination.

Struggles and trials are inevitable in this life, but history has shown how endurance, hard work, and perseverance pays off. We see in history the first American in space was Alan Shepard, on May 5, 1961, and the first lunar landing due to the Apollo program, occurred in 1969; however, the space research program in the United States began in the 1950’s a decade before any quantifiable achievement. We cannot live with a microwave, immediate gratification mentality and hope to achieve anything worthwhile. If we give up and quit the outcome is guaranteed to leave us empty handed. Though Steve Harvey has probably gone through many ‘hard knocks’ of life personally, he did not just produce this concept on his own willy-nilly. This is a principle passed down directly from the teachings in the word of God, which could probably be traced back to his parents, grand-parents, pastor, or Sunday school teacher, as we probably all can testify to.

Jesus said in Luke 9: 62, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”  He gave an example that those who were of an agricultural society would understand. Ploughing the fields was done by hand, which can often still be seen by us in Amish communities. This had to be done to plant the crops. Of course, if they were to stop ploughing, and quit half way through, there could be no planting, which also meant no harvest. Quitting does not only affect us, but those around us who are depending upon us. The scripture is filled with admonishment for us to never quit, but to always take affirmative action. Jesus said in Matthew 7: 7-8, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

We have always heard of King David being “a man after God’s own heart” but it was not because he was perfect. On the contrary, however, whenever he did fall short, he sought and pursued after God’s forgiveness with a broken and contrite spirit. Because he never gave up and always got up and tried repeatedly to be what God wanted him to be, God promised him that his throne would have no end, which was fulfilled in the man Christ Jesus who was of the tribe of Judah, of the lineage of David.

2 Kings 13:14-19 gives this account. “Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands. And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, the arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.” Complete victory was within his grasp if he had been more persistent and not quit so readily.

We know our callings and talents are from God, not of ourselves, yet what we do with them is given into our hands. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” And Romans 11:29 tells us, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” God is not going to change His mind, so keeping our hands to the plough, persevering, and enduring to the end is incumbent upon us if we want to see results in our lives, homes, and careers. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air: But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” Our endurance and persistence show our faith.

To avoid seeing the 100% guaranteed outcome of failure, or seeing nothing become of our lives, because we quit, we should consider incorporating the word of God which gives the first 100% guaranteed outcome. We should make this a collaborative effort with the Lord as our confidant, our friend, our leader, our advocate, and our Savior in every sense of the word. He will never quit fighting for us. Psalm 34:15 says, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.”  The fact of the matter is that we cannot make it in this life, we will not succeed, or see our dreams fulfilled, without Him. Jeremiah 32:19 proclaimed of God, “Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:”

We must keep keeping on, as the old timers used to say, and never give up or quit. In Matthew 10:22 Jesus said, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved.”  This sounds a little like the Olympic runner who was tripped up by her opponent, but she got back up and continued to run. It is not always guaranteed that you will reach your destination when you start out on a journey, given all the variables of traffic or accidents that can occur along the way, but one thing that is guaranteed is that you will never get there if you never leave the house. Put your fears and dread aside, get back up when you fall, dust yourself off and keep on running. Let me leave you with the guaranteed outcome that Paul wrote about in Romans 8:31which says, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”