Is everything that happens to us God’s will?

Is everything that happens to us God’s will?

God is reflected in His creation in a limited sense, and does not infuse creation so that the universe becomes divine where God is in everything and controls everything. God remains distinct from His creation. There is so much in creation that clearly does not reflect God. Creation is not only finite, but fallen and is not what is was before, and is not fully what God originally created it to be.

After the fall, God not only cursed the serpent, Adam, and Eve, but the ground too. It is legitimate therefore to assume that the destructive elements of natural world are post fall phenomena. How can these be a reflection of God? It is the thief who comes to kill, steal and destroy. Nature now is not only a blessing, but also a threat.

We do believe that God’s will is ultimately supreme and that He holds everything in His hands, but one very important thing that must not be overlooked and fully understood is that God’s will is to give us as man, free will.

God has given us His children, authority of Satan, but when He returns all will be perfected, but until such time, He has entrusted to us the ability to choose. He gave us free will as man and the ability to choose, and so in that, He will not override our will. For e.g.: If someone gets raped, it was not God’s will that they get raped. If someone chooses to rape someone else, the free will of that person in a fallen world causing the action would be contrary to God’s will, and we know that Christians are not exempt from ever getting raped, but He has the power to turn that devastation into something beautiful. The child could for instance grow up to change many lives for the good and bring great joy to the mother, should she allow God to work in that situation for the good. To council a Christian lady who has been raped by telling her it was God’s will, would insinuate God’s judgement and punishment on her and implicate it for something she must have done wrong. We know it would be insane to think that. How could a loving Father originate and enforce such destruction on His children? He has not come to destroy one’s life and future, but to bring beauty and a hope. Jeremiah 29 vs 12: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

AND

John 10 vs 10 -The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

There are various origins for various situations/effects, beliefs and manifestations in the world. Some are situational, some are spiritual/passed on spiritually, some are genetically inherited, some come from curses, and some come from natural causes, and there are more. For eg: One person might have gotten cancer as it is strongly inherited through their family in the genes, and someone else may have gotten cancer through exposure to certain chemicals and poisons over time. Similar problem, different source.

Another controversial subject is homosexuality and lesbianism. Could it be God’s will that someone was born with these traits or preferences? Could it not be that situational and spiritual influences may have caused it? Why would God judge something that He created according to His will? Ie” Make someone homosexual and then judge them for being what He created them to be? Of course not. 1 Cor 6 vs 9: Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders. I personally do not believe that homosexuality is genetically inherited, but something that has developed though situations and choices people have made.

We know that it is God’s will that all are to be healed, but still, not all are healed… His blood shed has covered all sin, not just some sin; the stripes He bore covered and made payment for all illnesses and sicknesses, not just some. We know this from Isaiah vs. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. God can’t be good and evil. He can’t make someone sick to heal them. This is completely contrary to His nature. It is never God’s will for anyone to be sick.

If Jesus raised people from the dead, why would He have done that if God the Father had killed them in the first place? It could be that Jesus raised people from the dead because it was not the Father’s will for them to die prematurely when he has allotted a certain amount of years to man and had a plan and purpose for them as he does for every individual which was not yet fulfilled. People are still being raised from the dead even today, but we will not detract from the point.

Matthew 12 vs 25 “And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand”.

We can conclude that the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit are not divided in any way, but are in perfect unity and will. Jesus said that He has come to do the will of His Father…

I am going to briefly touch on providence which is seen in three areas: preservation, government, and supernatural intervention.We can focus on government: God controls/governs the affairs of men and human history upholding his moral law and providing for, and directing individuals and nations - Acts 14 vs 15-17, 17 vs 26, 4 vs 28 But this government, this control, is not total/obsolete. If we say that God’s providence means absolute control of human affairs, then we have to say that everything that happens is God’s will, ordained/predestined by Him before the creation of the world, which means that He would have created man, deciding that some people are not allowed to get saved, But John 3 vs 16 says For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life. Human history (if predestined by God in this way) would be acting out a rigid blue print I.e.: it is to make God out to be a monster, a demon and the author of evil. Quite obviously this is not true and so then not everything that happens is God’s will. Much of what happens is man’s will (his fallen will) or Satan’s will, or the effect of fallen creation. This is because in creating man and giving him dominion over the earth (dominion which man subsequently shared with Satan), God gave man the power to really affect history, to make decisions which would affect his circumstances and his future. So history is not simply the acting out of a blue print laid down by God before the creation of the world, but something that in a real (although ultimately limited) way man is creating as he goes along.

There are also natural factors that come into play with unfortunate circumstance like a miscarriage where there is a chromosomal problems and various other problems. With the increase of preservatives, colorants, poisons, toxins, unhelpful things injested which cause sickness, even stress, natural accidents, simple imperfection in a fallen world unfortunate effects result etc. We do not live in a perfect world and there are so many variables and factors that could affect the health and growth of a child in the womb. There is no conclusive and single answer to explain a miscarriage. It is not ever God’s will to kill a baby or end the life as that is contrary to His character.

Psalm 139 says: 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, Oh God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. We do not need to walk in fear, but can commit everything to God as He can change anything, restore anything, and turn any situation out for the good to us who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

Romans 8 vs 28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

So what IS God’s will for our lives?

God will for our life is not complicated, but actually straight forward. The scripture continually instructs and guides us, cautions us and warns us of various things that are very clear. The will of God is for you to obey His Word and accept His council and wisdom that can only produce life. Beyond that is to find out what your spiritual gifts are as we have all been given different gifts, and they come without repentance so it is not something earned.

Romans 11 vs 29 ‘For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance’.In order to walk in God’s will, it simply is to know Him and know His Word, and understand what gifts you have been given… to walk in them and find satisfaction in being who you were created to be. Man is ultimately satisfied when God is glorified in his life. We are ultimately happy when we know what our purpose and calling is, operating in the power of God as we walk in love and unity with Him. God’s will for us is that we walk by faith

Hebrews 11 vs 6 ‘And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him’

To sum up with a simple conclusion (This however is a vast subject and realise that the following will not do true justice to it): 1 Find out what God’s Word says and follow Him as this will bring life to you 2. Walk by faith in believing what He says 3. Find out what you spiritual gifts are so that you can operate it them and make a difference to the world around you. 4. Very importantly, listen to the Holy Spirit who guides and leads you as He will never lead you into the wrong decision ie: Learn, understand, walk by faith and listen.

John 14 vs 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

We have a choice:

Deuteronomy 30 vs 15: 14No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

God does not control our choices. Why would he say ‘choose’ if we were not able to? His will is to give us the freedom to choose, and in that know that not everything that happens to us is God’s will as we have fortunately and unfortunately been given the freedom to make our very own decisions. All of us know the continual problems this freedom has created. Hopefully some will stop blaming God for all the misfortunes they face in life. When we can learn that God is loving and strong, kind and compassionate, abounding in grace and mercy, we can come to Him as a Father and let Him in.

Once we get to really understand our God, and know that he is love itself, the giver of life, the Deliver, the Redeemer, the Savior of the world, we will begin to understand that he is not the one to cause despair, destruction, hurt, pain and sickness in our lives. This does not and cannot originate from Him. He however has ultimate authority over all, even though He does not control all, and we know with full confidence and assurance that it is His will to deliver and redeem us from the sin and pain of this world. When Jesus returns, only then will all be perfected. All pain and every tear will be washed away, but for now, He has given us His Word, authority over Satan not to accept what he tries to throw at us, and we can choose to embrace this will full conviction, knowing that anything negative that could happen to us, is something God has full and ultimate power over to be able to change it for our good, if we let Him, even though it did not originate from Him. Why? Because He is all-powerful, all- knowing, infinite, unchanging, full of mercy and love and only wants life for each of us. Yes we are protected in His love and need not ever to fear life.

The new song is titled ‘Unborn’ After some very sad news: Last week, for our 12 week scan, (end of Feb 2012), the gynie told us that our little one did not make it. Growth apparently had already stopped at 9 weeks. We were really quite devastated and disappointed, but we are OK and have accepted it. This situation inspired me to write a song about it titled - Unborn. I dedicate this song to all the moms who have gone through a similar experience. Understanding that our heavenly Father is so good and merciful as well as understanding that we do live in a fallen world where Jesus has not yet returned to restore and perfect it, these things do happen, even though God is ultimately in control. Having the understanding that in Rom 8 vs 28 it says that all things work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes, means that whatever can happen to us in this life, because God is all loving and all powerful, He has the ability to turn anything out for His glory and for our good.