God's Will, Continued

Okay, where were we? Two and a half months is not the ideal pause for such a topic, so please accept my apologies. Surely it was God's will for me to write sooner (ha), but I am a mother to a 9 month old, and the holidays were in there too, so hey. :)

There are two main themes I want to address that seem central to grappling with this issue. First -God's foreknowledge and how it relates to His will, and second - God's orchestration of planet earth apart from people's wills.

Let's talk about foreknowledge. Personally, I've not understood why his foreknowledge and will are thought to go hand in hand. I see no problem with them being quite separable, both from a logical and scriptural standpoint. Knowing everything that will ever happen, and even having it written down sometimes in advance, doesn't mean God desires those things. In fact, many times they grieve him. God absolutely knew that a monarchy would be established in Israel, yet he didn't desire it. When they begged for a king, God comforted Samuel by assuring him that it was HE they were rejecting, not Samuel. God never intended for the nation to have a human king like their pagan neighbors, yet have a king they did. And God prophesied to Samuel that they would regret it. The Old Testament is full of prophecies of Israel's harlotry - things that God never wanted or willed but expressly forbade, and yet he accurately predicted they would happen.

It is full of prophecies about the Messiah's rejection and dozens of other particulars about his birth, life and death. And yet God did not desire that all of them would occur (note I do not say he didn't will for any of them to occur, just not all of them). E.g. Herod slaughtering the innocents in Bethlehem, Judas' betrayal (Jesus explicitly says that satan entered into Judas that night, so we know whose will was at work there), Israel's corporate rejection of the Messiah, etc. Yes, God knew about it. He told his prophets about it in advance, so that many would see and believe after the fact. But God does not desire evil - he does not ordain murder, betrayal, suicide, and eternal separation from himself. I think this is underscored by Christ's assignment of blame to the guilty parties. Yes the stumbling block must come, but WOE to the stumbling block! They were not puppets unthinkingly acting - their wills, as well as satan's, were involved and guilt was accordingly assigned. I could go on but I will hope these few examples make the point.

The second thing I want to address is God's moving and working in this world, apart from human or angelic will. I absolutely believe that God orchestrates and moves in circumstances, whether or not there is human willingness. Nebuchunezzar would have preferred not to graze in the field like a wild animal, Jonah would have preferred not to swallowed by the fish, I would prefer not to be living with my parents in Royse City!! But all of these events were brought about by God for the sanctification of his people. God moves on his own initiative, but I am convinced that the response, the posture of the heart, is left up to the individual human soul.

Prime example - Rob and I have had a very rough year where it felt like every door was slammed in our face, like everything we tried failed, and yet I finally begin to see God's hand in this. There is so much he is bringing up in our hearts, much bigger issues than the surface discomfort. And yet I am quite aware that we still have choice. What I do with this season is my choice. I can humble myself and cooperate with the Lord as he dredges my heart NOW, while the muck is up on the surface due to some suffering, or I can resist and take another lap around the mountain. Because God is so good, I suspect he would bring me back around to the same crossroads at a later time, though through different circumstances. You know how he is!! But I would have a choice then, too.

So I suppose I should have said in the first blog that God is unwilling to overthrow a human heart when it comes to his work in that heart, when it comes to his taking up residence in that heart, when it comes to his will for that heart. He is the consummate gentleman in that respect. I can't think of once instance in Scripture where he forced a knee to bow (tho the day is coming!), where he barreled into a human heart to call it home. He disciplines, he strips, he chastises, but isn't the response always ours?

The heart is where free will reigns in the most terrible sense. Nebuchunezzar chose humility. Most of the kings of Israel didn't. Jonah finally chose obedience. Most of the Jewish religious leaders in Jesus' day didn't. The jury is still out on me - I don't care to see my record to date. In all of these cases, more lives are affected than just the person with the choice. And that is the awful point.

God has ordained that our free will counts, and it has a domino effect on this planet. Countless people have said no to his overtures today. Some brazenly, others by procrastination, others by being too busy to hear what is asked of them. You and I are affected by each other's disobediences, not to mention the lost world. Here God's will is thwarted. :( Not to mention the unspeakable evil chosen by unbelievers, inspired by satan himself, inflicted on lost and saved alike.

I am not a theologian and for some this logic is too simple. But it seems to me that if a theology is so sophisticated that it no longer makes common sense, something may be wrong. Does it look like God's will is accomplished all the time, in your own heart or in this wicked world, based on what he has revealed as his will? Is the view of an all-controlling God, arms folded in utter pleasure with all that goes on (since everything is happening according to plan) - is this view consistent with the God of Scripture who weeps, becomes furious, regrets creating mankind, compares himself to a jilted lover? If not, reexamining the issue may be worth your time.

Finally, I want to clarify a few specifics from the last blog. Some of these have been mentioned to me, others haven't but deserve clarification anyway.

1) The title of the last blog was meant to be inflammatory :). I am, of course, not exactly sure how often God's will is accomplished, but I am certain that it is not always accomplished.

2) Notice that I did not attempt to say under which circumstances we could discern whether a particular event is God's will, human will, or satanic will. I did not say that bad things are from the devil, good things are from God, etc. etc. Suffering and death are undoubtedly sometimes given from the hand of God, and they are sometimes just as surely brought upon by determined human stupidity or by satan's unquenchable thirst for agony and destruction. Similarly, prosperity and blessing are equally up for grabs. They can be gifts from God, the products of human drive and greed, or distractions happily bestowed by satan. My point is only this - we err when we assume that whatever happens, happens because God desires it. I make no attempt to categorize or characterize the things God brings v. the things satan brings v. the things we bring upon ourselves. Trying to make blanket judgments like that is as much an error as believing that everything that happens on earth is God's will.

3) A possible exception to the free will rule - God's judgment. Certainly that is a time where God overthrows free will and executes justice. I suspect that the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah would have preferred not to be incinerated, but their wills were overridden in that judgment. In the last blog I said God was reluctant to override free will. Not totally unwilling, but reluctant. He waits and waits and waits. He gives time and opportunity for repentance. He seems to bring wrath as a last resort. But at some point, he does says game over.

However, looking at judgment in a different light you could say that it is the ultimate honoring of free will. In a very real sense, judgment is a granting of a person's choice. You don't want to live with God, would rather do it on your own? You are granted that wish for eternity. Hell is utter separation from God and all of his goodness. The devil, his angels, and all humans who have rejected their Creator and Savior are allowed to live apart from him, which they chose. What could be more hellish?

In conclusion, I'm positive that I don't have it all figured out, but I do feel confident that this view of free will comes the closest to reconciling the whole of the scriptures with God's character revealed in them.

Lord, help us see you as you are!