God’s will does not always come to pass.
Does that sound… wrong… somehow?
How many times have we heard, though normally stated in softer, more compassionate terms, “Just get over it! It happened, so it was obviously God’s will; accept it and get on with your life!”?
Sometimes it takes the form of, “Don’t grieve about the loss of your child, God just needed another angel and called your child to Him.”
Sometimes it sounds like, “Of course it was God’s will that people flew those airplanes into those office buildings; they could not have done it were it not God’s will!”
Or have you heard, “That storm drowned all those people because they lived in such a sinful city! It was God’s punishment for their sin.”
Why would I suggest that God’s will is not the answer to everything that happens on the earth? Well, because He told me so. And He told you too.
The Bible is replete with references to the will of God. One such verse is 2 Peter 3:9, where the Lord uses Peter to tell us that it is not His will that “any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
But Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:13-14 to “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
What is the will of God? That all be saved.
What will happen? Only a few will be saved.
Does the will of God come to pass in this instance? No.
Does that mean when we see tragedy occur we can say that it was NOT God’s will? No. But it does mean that we can not automatically say, “It happened, so it was the will of God.”
Does this mean that God is not all-powerful, or that God is not “in control?”
Let’s consider those two points separately.
Is God all-powerful? Omnipotent? Absolutely. Without question.
Does that mean He forces you to make good choices? That He prevents consequences of your actions from coming about? That He prevents consequences of sin in a person’s life from affecting bystanders innocent of that sin? In other words, does the omnipotence of God mean that He prevents bad things from happening to good people? (We’ll forego discussion that our definition of “good” does not align with Jesus’ definition of “good” in Luke 18:18.) The answer is “No!” to each question.
Does He WANT you to make good choices? YES. Does He MAKE you choose wisely? NO.
Does He abhor what Satan has done in this world by introducing sin and its wages? YES. Does He prevent sin, and eliminate its consequences? NO.
What about the “in control” comment? Is God in control? By definition, God’s omnipotence means that He is indeed “in control.” Perhaps the more relevant issue though is, “Does He choose to exercise that control?” Hmmm…
Consider Ephesians 6:12:
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
What are (who are) “the rulers of the darkness of this world?” What does “rule” mean? Might “control” be a good definition?
Was God “in control” of you the last time you disobeyed His will?
Was God “in control” of the drunk who killed the parents of a 3-year-old and crippled her for life?
Was God “in control” of the men who took over the airplanes on September 11, 2001?
Well, what about Romans 8:28? Doesn’t it say there that everything that happens is good? NO, it does not say that. It DOES say that whatever DOES happen, God is able to work out for good. Does it say that we will be able to understand the good that He works out? No. Does it say that “the good” will come about in our lifetime? No. This verse bears testimony that in the universal, grand, cosmic sense, God is indeed fully “in control” – else the promise that He can work “all things for good” could not be true. But it also bears testimony to the fact that He does NOT control the individual actions of every person, else there would be no “bad things” He would need to work towards good!
I don’t remember the source of this quote that I found a while back, but it expresses so well this concept: “God’s will does not prevent tragedy, but transforms it.”
You may think that I’ve avoided the real point to all this, the underlying question that can not help but be raised, and that is: “But then why do bad things happen?”
There is a one-word answer to that: Sin.
We live in a fallen world. A cursed world. Because of sin. (Read the first few chapters of Genesis again.) And the creation groans because of it. Even the saved, the redeemed, groan as we wait for our redemption.
Can God act in our behalf in this cursed world? Definitely.
Does God act in our behalf in this cursed world? Again, absolutely!
Does everything that happens in this cursed world:
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- happen because God wills it? NO.
- happen because God causes it to happen? NO.