God's Will

I recently read a blog talking about when times go bad we have to remember that its God’s will for our life. Now, in some ways, theologically I can understand this way of thinking. The concept of God being omniscient, for instance is not something I would disagree with. However, when people assert that that omniscience translates into God planning all the good stuff and bad, I think the conversation often moves outside of man’s ability to understand, becoming practically unhelpful and often damaging to the truth when trying to apply theology to our lives. There is a difference between knowing and planning.

Let me issue a disclaimer by saying I’m a lay theologist. I’m not trained on the subject. I’ve observed as a believer for a lot of years, but don’t let that fool you into believing me. There are those who will read what I’m about to say and call me an idiot, and I will not debate that fact. Over the years, for some reason, its become unimportant for me to prove I am not one. So with that in mind.. read on if you so choose.

Take for instance, this verse. 1 John 5:19 says: "We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one."

This verse is interesting to me. Some feel its out of context, and contradictory of the concept that God is in Control. I take a different view. I believe God has the ability to relinquish control to others for a time. I think he did that with the earth after the fall. Can he take back “control”? Of course. Does he step in when he chooses.. Of course. Does he know what going to happen? Well.. he knows.

But does God pre-destine people to drink and drive and kill innocent life? Is it his will that children are killed in drive-by gang shootings? More applicably, does he predestine us to make bad choices for our lives that affect our futures and those of the ones in our path?

Time is the main dimension that causes man to misunderstand God in terms of predestination, free-will, etc. Time is a man-earth thing. God is not bound by time. He is in eternity right now. We are in eternity right now. Everything has already happened. Ok.. see what I mean about our understanding...

I've always felt that the analogy of our lives on earth being length of string, and God's perfect will, a designed path, was one that seems to fit my observed reality. The string, the length of which we do not know, and the perfect will of God for our life: a path with a potential distance down that path for our life-string to reach.

When I look back on the string of my life I see it meandering off the path, wrapped around trees of all kinds of distraction, then back down the path, and then off again, forgetting at those times that my mortal string does not stretch on forever. It is in these times of reflectance that I seek to find the path again. I think that is one of the few things we can do on our own: Seek the path.

Surely God is omniscient and knows the choices I will make and the paths I will take. Surely, he grants permission to walk away from his potential for my life. Surely, he is there to comfort me when my string is impacted by the sin of the world and the poor choices of others... But MY choices.. are they the perfect will of God?

I think not.