#2 - Outliers

Book #2 for the year was Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. It was a fascinating sociological read about "men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us as a cold day in August."

Gladwell proceeded to show how sociological phenomena play a huge part in determining the success of people. For example, the success of hockey players in Canada are not simply a result of how athletic or how hard a person works. But their birth month plays a pivotal role in their development also. Because the older boys, even by just 6-9 months, who compete against each other are at a distinct advantage in their younger years which then domino into distinct advantages in their older years.

In study after study, national culture, the era in which a person lived, a person's parents generation, and many other examples all play pivotal roles in determining the success of an individual beyond simply their individual hard work and dedication.

What I found fascinating was that as a non-Christian, Gladwell though highly interesting, misses the eternal point - the sovereign and all good God of the universe actively interacts in every person's situation by His providence. Acts 17:28 says, "In Him we live and move and have our being." He planned our days before we were born - Psalm 139:16. "A man's steps are ordered by the Lord" Proverbs 20:24. And ultimately God is the one who determines our success or failure - "For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up; but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another" Psalm 75:6-7. Everything we have comes from God as a gift - "What have you that you did not receive? If then you receive it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?" 1 Corinthians 4:7.

So while Gladwell is correct in that all of those extraneous factors play a part in every person's life. Ultimately it is God's providence which utilizes every single detail of life that we can analyze and far more that we are ignorant of, to accomplish His perfect plans for each of us. What an amazing God we worship!