“The buck stops here” is a saying we’ve heard many times. Perhaps most famously from former US President, Harry S. Truman. He regularly said “The Buck Stops Here” in speeches and he even had a sign made and placed it on his desk in the Oval Office.[1] As believers we have a slightly different saying. We could alter it to, “The buck stops with God.” And that’s how Paul saw his ministry and his life.
Paul wrote in one of his letters to the believers in the city of Corinth, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God” (2 Corinthians 1:21, NASB, emphasis added).[2] Paul describes God’s direction for his life and how God’s direction was different than his personal desires. Paul is telling us that God was in control of his life. Paul continues that it was God “who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge” (2 Corinthians 1:22, emphasis added). Here the word “seal” indicates ownership, authentication, and security.[3] The word “pledge” is a guarantee of God fulfilling his promises.
Paul shared similar assurances in his letter to the believers in Ephesus, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14, emphasis added). These types of assurances that God has a hold of us and that His Spirit indwells us should free us up to do ministry in our churches, work hard at our jobs, and love our families well.
Cooper Kupp is a wide receiver in the National Football League. While performing well individually and reaching the Super Bowl game as a member of the Los Angeles Rams in 2022 he was asked by reporters what kind of pressure he felt to perform in the biggest game of his career. He casually replied, “My motivation coming in every single day is to run the race in such a way as to honor God with the passions and the talents that He’s given me.”[4] Imagine the pressure a young twenty-something year-old feels playing football in front of 60 million people watching. But when you know you are placed where you are by God and for a purpose by God, it removes all the pressure.
We too can experience that release as well. It’s nice to know the buck stops with God. Why? Because that means it does not stop with us! That’s comforting. And it takes the pressure off of us. While we might experience struggles and difficulties in the place we are in now, the buck stops with God. He’s placed us where He wants us and we are there to give Him glory.
[1] “The Buck Stops Here” Harry Truman, https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/trivia/buck-stops-here-sign. Accessed January 12, 2022.
[2] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[3] Murray Harris, 2 Corinthians, New International Greek Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005), 207.
[4] “Rams WR Cooper Kupp finds ultimate purpose in honoring God on journey to Super Bowl” by Joshua Doering. February 9, 2022 at Sports and Spectrum. https://sportsspectrum.com/sport/football/2022/02/09/cooper-kupp-purpose-honoring-god-super-bowl/. Accessed January 12, 2022.