What are Under and Beyond our Control?

 A friend on FB shared the following:

What do you learn from the picture?

I think the message about:

"We do our best and leave the outcomes to God" should be the teaching of the author and "encourage us not to abdicate our responsibility".

Below are some actions we could take;

1. Changing People: Changing others begins with us changing our attitudes and behavior towards them. When we respect others, most often the respect is returned. 你给他面子，他就很讲理；你不给他面子，他就非常不讲理。- 曾仕强。https://www.toutiao.com/article/6597884896746668548/

2. Future： Our future is determined by our present actions. To break free from poverty, we need to invest in getting educated and acquiring a skill.
Vision is about doing things now to achieve it.

3. When growth happens: Can we work smarter + harder + get mentors etc to make growth possible and maybe earlier.

4. People's perception of me: while not any particular person, in general, our image is determined by our behavior.

5. Others' action: "We do our best and leave the outcomes to God" should be the teaching of the author and encourage us not to abdicate our responsibility.

6. Past: While we cannot go back to the past nor live in the past, we can find closure to our past and let not the past haunt us. We can make remedial actions for those hurt.

7. Outcomes: We are encouraged to focus on the journey and leave the outcome the God. But God says to seek first the kingdom and its righteousness and all things will be added to us. (Mat 6:33).

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. （Prov 16:3).
The outcome may not be what we expected or liked, but God ensures it will be good for us. 

Steve Jobs said “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

8 God's Timing: While we wait and what we do in the meantime is under our control. How do we prepare and live for the 2nd coming of Christ?