In a scene from one of my favorite movies, Pirates of the Caribbean, pirates
Ragetti and Pintel are in a longboat on the open sea. Having just escaped from jail, they are
headed for Cannibal
Island
Pintel responds, "And
I say it was me bein' clever." There is a dog in the front of the
boat, holding a set of keys in its mouth and Pintel says, "Ain't that right, poochie?" Ragetti
asks, “Well, how'dya know it weren't
divine providence what inspired you to be clever?" Pintel is clearly dumbfounded by the
intelligent question, so to deflect it he says: "You know you can't read and besides it’s upside down." Ragetti retorts, "It's the Bible, You get credit for trying."
This humorous scene helps to frame the longstanding
debate: “I say it's God's providence that rules our lives, no, I say it’s me
being clever.” God's will verses
human free will. We look at this world,
with life and death, with its joy and sadness, with good and evil, with its
justice and injustice, with health and illness, with loyalty and betrayal, with
the thrill of success and the agony of failure and we wonder. If we are honest, we acknowledge our own
fickle selves in the light of this question.
Like the man who was having personal problems who prayed: “Lord,
I’m ready to change my life. All I want
is to do is your will.” Later, when
his situation had greatly improved, he said:
“Lord, about that prayer the other
day, never mind.”
Have you ever prayed, “Lord,
show me your will.” “Lord, I want to follow your will in my life.” I have.
I cannot stress this Biblical mandate enough – God desires for you and
me to seek, to know and to follow His Will.
God wants us to open our hearts and minds to His Will in all times and
in all places and in all our years. We
are never too young or too old.
What is God’s will? This is the question we are addressing today
and next week. Will it answer all the
questions you’ve ever had on this subject?
I doubt it. But it will give you
some biblical insights. Next week, we
shall address the more specific question, “How
do I discern God’s will in my life?”
The subject of God’s will isn't simple, it always involves
mystery. Scripture teaches that we live
in a context of conflicting wills. There
is our will, other people's wills, Satan's will and God's will. So we
have a challenge ever before us, to discern God's will amidst this
reality. Further, scripture says that
God's will is at work not only in human lives, but in the cosmos and in
history, in the destiny of nations. And
so we look at the world today, at the relationships between the nation of
Israel and the Arab nations, in the relationships between moderate Muslims and
radical or extremist Muslims, in the relationships between America and these
and other nations and we declare that God's will is at work and God's plans and
purposes will prevail.
In the Lord's Prayer Jesus speaks about the Will of God. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth
as it is in heaven.” God’s Will or
Kingdom has existed in the past, it is a reality today, and it is coming in the
future, so we should pray for God’s Kingdom or God’s will to be done.
In the letter of Romans, we read: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good
and acceptable and perfect.” We must
be careful to prayerfully discern God's will vis-a-vis the world's will, or the
message of our culture, and not get caught up in thinking they are one and the
same.
These biblical passages are comforting. They are hope-filled. They affirm a truth. God's sovereign and powerful will is at work
in this world and in our lives. God’s
will is not simply a wish-fulfillment or fantasy. God’s will occurs here and now, it’s a
reality today and happens on earth as in heaven.
This biblical truth means that you and I are not merely
pawns in life, helpless victims of capricious and impersonal forces over which
we have no control. Life is not
fatalistic. We are not victims of fatalism, a blind amoral force which we call
fate. God's will is present and active
and God has given us a free will to seek and follow His will in our lives. Conversely, we also have the freedom to
disobey God.
Is everything that happens in life God’s will? Predeterminism. This is one interpretation of God's
will. Everything that happens is God's
will, that is, it has been predetermined by God. Do you believe that? If a child dies in an accident is it God’s
will? If a person is diagnosed with cancer
is it God’s will? If you or I do
something foolish, something stupid, which we later regret, it is God’s will? As a Christian and pastor I believe the
answer is no. For we live in a context
of conflicting wills. Jesus acknowledges
the existence of Satan, of human sinfulness, of a fallen creation and of
accidents which occur in life.
Jesus clearly stated that things happen which are not the
will of God. In 2 Peter we read: “It is
not God’s will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Jesus does not tell sick people that their
illnesses are God’s will; Jesus heals them.
Jesus does not say to the crowds that hunger is God’s will; Jesus feeds
them. Jesus does not tell a man with
leprosy that his disease is God’s will; Jesus cures him. Jesus does not tell a man who is possessed by
an evil spirit that its God’s will; Jesus frees the man from the spirit.
I have found the book titled The Will of God helpful
in thinking about the question of God’s Will.
The author divides the concept of the Will of God into three aspects –
the Intentional will of God, the Circumstantial will of God and the Ultimate
will of God.
First, God’s Intentional Will means God’s original plan for
creation, God’s purpose in creating the world and human beings. This was before things went south after the
Fall. God created people: to love Him and
obey Him with heart, soul, strength, and mind and love their neighbor as
themselves, to worship God alone, rather than self or idols, for people to be
whole - spiritually, relationally, physically, and emotionally rather than
broken, to treat one another with fairness and respect and dignity, to make and
nurture new disciples of Jesus Christ, to live together as the People of God,
for people to lead holy and moral lives, to help the poor rather than
neglecting or exploiting the poor, to work for justice, for people to find
salvation in Jesus Christ, to care for the earth rather than exploit it, for
people to gain knowledge and learn rather than live in ignorance, and for
people to live a meaningful and joyful and fulfilling life in God.
Some Biblical examples: Micah 6:8 says: “God has told you what is good, and what does
the Lord require of you, to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly
with your God.” I Thessalonians
says: “See that none of you repays evil
for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks
in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
I John says: “Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one
another. If we love one another God
lives in us and his love is perfected in us.” God’s Intentional Will is clear and understandable
and noble.
Second, God’s Circumstantial Will refers to the assurance
that God's Spirit and power and grace is present with us, that is, in and under
and through all circumstances. Here is
where we most often encounter mystery. This is the aspect of God’s will about
which we have the most questions and difficulty in understanding God’s purpose
in our lives. God promises to help us by
His grace and power to not let us be defeated by our circumstances, but rather
to triumph over them. The letter of
Philippians says: “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ
gives me.” God promises to help us
not become embittered by adversity, but to remain positive and hopeful. God promises to instill hope in the midst of
seemingly hopeless times. God promises
to guide us and lead us amidst times of confusion and darkness. God promises by his Spirit to impart courage
to us when we are overcome with fear and anxiety. God promises to provide strength for us, when
we feel weak, exhausted and helpless.
The late theologian Paul Tillich wrote: “God’s
will doesn’t mean everything is predetermined, but rather that there is a
creative and saving possibility, implied in every situation, which cannot be
destroyed by any event. It means
destructive forces within ourselves and our world can never have an unbreakable
grasp upon us and that the bond which connects us with God’s love can never be
broken.”
Recall two inspiring biblical promises. Romans 8:28: “We know that in everything God works together for good with those who
love him, with those whom he has called according to His purpose.” And another promise in I Corinthians: “God is faithful, and he will not let you be
tested beyond your strength, but with the testing, he will also provide the way
out, so that you may be able to endure it.”
This doesn’t mean that everything will always turn out all
right or that everything that happens to us is really good for us, or that
everything that happens to us is God’s will.
Like the story about a police officer in a helicopter who spotted a car
speeding down the freeway. He radioed
his partner on the ground and a few miles later the patrolman in the car
stopped the speeder and began writing a ticket.
“How did you know I was speeding,”
the man asked. The patrolman didn’t
say anything, but simply pointed skyward.
“Oh, no,” moaned the man, “You’re
not against me too.” God’s circumstantial
will means that God’s grace and power and love is continually active in our
lives. It means God promises to do what
is best for us in accord with His will in the various circumstances which we
face in life.
I recall the story of a couple whose son was born with a
congenital heart defect. When he was
four, he went to Children’s Hospital in Los
Angeles for open-heart surgery. Despite their prayers, and the skills of the
doctors, sadly, the child died. His
mother said: “God helped us through our grief in such a loving way that we continually
marveled at what was happening. The
people who brought us the most comfort were those who had also lost a
child. They knew what we were
experiencing and when they softly said, “We understand what you are going
through; there was a bond between us, an empathy that really lightened our
load. The Bible verse that popped into
my head was: “In everything God works
for good with those who love him.” We
hung onto it for dear life and watched it come true. In the weeks and months to come, we were led
to accept Philip’s death without bitterness and other people’s faith was
strengthened as they watched what was happening to us.”
Finally, we come to God’s Ultimate Will. This aspect of God’s will affirms that God’s
purposes in the world will ultimately be achieved. God's plans and purposes cannot be defeated
or destroyed by any power or event. It
says God can even make evil and defeat serve His final purposes, so that nothing
can destroy God’s ultimate will.
What end does God have in mind for your life or mind or for
the world? Our Christian faith
declares: “I don’t know what the future
holds, but I do know who holds the future.” Ps. 33 says: “God’s plans endure forever, His purposes last eternally.”
Yes, God’s will at times is hidden, no question about that.
I have certainly found it to be so. It
appears to be temporarily defeated in the world or in our lives. But Scripture and our faith says: in spite
of evil and human sin, God’s plan for the world and for your life and mine will
one day be fully realized, be consummated, be completed. We have a beautiful picture in the book of
Revelation: “See, the home of God is
among mortals. He will dwell with them
as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them, he
will wipe every tear from their eyes, death will be no more, mourning and
crying and pain will cease.” And so we pray: “Lord, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Amen.
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