My life has had a lot of changes in the last month or two. I got married, moved out of my parents' house, and started attending a different church (congregation) with my new wife. These changes were either not how I saw my life going or happened sooner than I thought they would, but they were the will of God. That's a little bold to say, isn't it? Whenever someone claims that something is the will of God, it can strike us as kind of hokey, or even arrogant, but I can say with confidence that something that has already happened in my life was just that. In fact, it is arrogant of me to talk about my future with certainty, thinking I control it.
We find evidence of this in James 4:13-16. Verse 13 sets up the situation many (all) of us put ourselves in, making a plan to do something tomorrow, or even today. I am sure I have already done this today, and I'm sure you have as well. In fact, this morning I woke up and said "I'm going to drive my wife to work, then sit at a coffee shop and blog, read, and write some poems. Later we'll go to the beach with her family." So far, this is actually working out for me, but verse 14 reminds us that we cannot have confidence in that because we don't know what the day will bring.
Think on this a bit. How many times have we made plans and knew everything that would happen that day without a doubt? Never. How many times have we made plans that never came to fruition because something outside of our control affected them? This verse is backed not only by our belief that the Bible is infallible, but by common, empirical evidence. Humans do not control everything in the world, and they cannot. My plans are not the be-all and end-all of the universe and I should not hold them as such. Countless events could have happened this morning to keep me from driving my wife to work and writing this blog in a coffee shop that my plans had no control over. For my life is short and insignificant compared to time as a whole; it holds no power over the world.
At this point, if anyone here says "well it is unwise to plan then" should continue reading James 4, for this is not the point nor the end-goal of this passage. The reader will notice that the correct and right way to plan is given in verse 15 and it still very much contains planning, but in humility. It is alright and good to make plans and goals, but with the understanding that God is Lord and is in control. My attitude this morning should not have been one of confidence that I would be able to drive my wife to work and come to a coffee shop, but one of humbly knowing that my plan may not come to be the way I envisioned it because I am not in control.
Here are the implications of this verse and attitude: nothing happens in our lives apart from God's will. There may be some friction between the reader and this statement, so let me try and sand it down, although I don't believe this will ever be an easy pill to swallow. I'll start with a question: why would the correct attitude be to say "if the Lord wills" if he is not 100% in control? Then he would be helpless to affect our plans like us, and we could not leave them up to his will. It would not be correct to say "if the Lord wills" because there are forces beyond his control that might upset not only our plans, but his will. So if he was not sovereign (in control), we could not say "if the Lord wills" but rather "if it just so happens." Here, an objector could say that he does not will everything, but allows some things to happen. Does this language not imply things happen outside his will? But this is not what the divinely inspired James writes. I see no way calling the statement "if the Lord wills" correct leaves room for God to not be sovereign over all or for him to simply allow something to happen outside of his will. If it happens, it is God's will.
This opens a whole new mess of why we suffer or experience pain. Why do we get cancer* or get into horrible car wrecks inside of God's will? To be honest, we will not perfectly understand here on Earth, but many wise people have written about just this if you are seeking a better understanding. What we can know is that God is good (Psalm 100:5), is working everything for our good (Romans 8:28), and is sovereign (Proverbs 19:21). We can also know that making plans with confidence is foolish and arrogant, because we are not in control like God is.
When my bride and I wed, when we signed the lease of our apartment, when I left the congregation I attended for our new one, I could be confident it was God's will for my life. The Bible teaches that nothing could happen outside of his good and perfect will and I can be happy knowing we acted inside of his will, as these decisions were not sin. So as we grow to be more like Christ in our Christian walk, we should ask him to humble us in our plan making. We should strive to not speak of plans as if they were in our control, but rather desires subject to change. God is Lord of all and his will will be enacted in our lives, through or despite our plans.
* This link is to a blog that was written by my late father-in-law during his battle with cancer. I highly recommend reading the whole thing if you are struggling with the question of "why?"
Showing posts with label Sovereignty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sovereignty. Show all posts
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Friday, May 4, 2012
When God Is Good
Turns out a lot of what I write about is spurred from social networks. If you have Christian friends on Facebook, you have no doubt seen them get excited about something that has happened and end the status or post with "God is sooooo good!" And they are right: God is a good God. But this ending proclamation is much less prevalent if someone isn't happy. Have we forgotten He is good because of our circumstances?
First of all, I don't think this is the case with any true follower of Christ. If someone has a basic truthful understanding of God, he or she should know that He is good, otherwise He is not worthy of our praise. If you remain unconvinced, consider Psalm 34:8, 100:5, and 25:8, to name a few. The God of the Bible is good, and worthy of constant, continuous worship.
But how, then, do we consider our trials and calamities? One base to lay down is that He is in control of everything, or sovereign. A good illustration is in Acts 17:25 (I'll focus on the last half), which says "(God) himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." There is a difference here that should be noted between life, the start of a person's time on Earth, and breath, the continuation of that with each inhale and exhale. This means God not only gives someone life, but continues that life himself, and not in a passive manner (Isaiah 42:5 uses the word "gives" in terms of this breath, a very active word). Now think of the implications of the term "all mankind." He not only extends a purposeful life to His children, but to everyone who walks the earth. From you to me to heroes to villains, anyone who is alive is not "left" alive, but He literally keeps them alive. Therefore, God gives life and sustains it purposefully of all who are on the earth. A God this sovereign must have a plan then, if He's to be good.
My personal favorite proof of this plan in the Bible is the story of Joseph (the one with the Technicolor dream coat). As a brief overview, he was beaten within an inch of his life by his own brothers, who then threw him into a well and sold him into slavery. While a slave he was accused of trying to rape his master's wife and, despite being innocent, imprisoned. Eventually he was brought out of prison to interpret Pharaoh's dreams, with God's power, and because of the interpretations, a famine was foretold and the country could prepare, even to the point of helping others. We see in Genesis 50, Joseph's brothers apologizing to him, and his response is one that may shock us. "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (v 20) Joseph was not allowed to go through these trials and calamities for no reason, nor was the saving of people's lives a passive after thought. God meant it, in His good and perfect will (Romans 12:2).
We do not usually have the privilege of seeing this plan from the vantage point of a recounting of events in the Bible, nor do we usually see it while we're in the midst of our trials and calamities. But we trust that He is good, and that He is in control. We have faith in our God's goodness in times of happiness and times of sorrow because He is sovereign and for those who love Him all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). Thus, He is worthy of praise all the time.
If you never knew the meaning of my blog's name, it is derived from Luke 19, when the Pharisees criticize Jesus for letting his disciples shout in praise. "He answered, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.'" (Luke 19:40) Christ followers should keep in mind that God is good all the time, and always worth of praise. Don't let the stones speak: fill the air with praise so they don't need to.
First of all, I don't think this is the case with any true follower of Christ. If someone has a basic truthful understanding of God, he or she should know that He is good, otherwise He is not worthy of our praise. If you remain unconvinced, consider Psalm 34:8, 100:5, and 25:8, to name a few. The God of the Bible is good, and worthy of constant, continuous worship.
But how, then, do we consider our trials and calamities? One base to lay down is that He is in control of everything, or sovereign. A good illustration is in Acts 17:25 (I'll focus on the last half), which says "(God) himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." There is a difference here that should be noted between life, the start of a person's time on Earth, and breath, the continuation of that with each inhale and exhale. This means God not only gives someone life, but continues that life himself, and not in a passive manner (Isaiah 42:5 uses the word "gives" in terms of this breath, a very active word). Now think of the implications of the term "all mankind." He not only extends a purposeful life to His children, but to everyone who walks the earth. From you to me to heroes to villains, anyone who is alive is not "left" alive, but He literally keeps them alive. Therefore, God gives life and sustains it purposefully of all who are on the earth. A God this sovereign must have a plan then, if He's to be good.
My personal favorite proof of this plan in the Bible is the story of Joseph (the one with the Technicolor dream coat). As a brief overview, he was beaten within an inch of his life by his own brothers, who then threw him into a well and sold him into slavery. While a slave he was accused of trying to rape his master's wife and, despite being innocent, imprisoned. Eventually he was brought out of prison to interpret Pharaoh's dreams, with God's power, and because of the interpretations, a famine was foretold and the country could prepare, even to the point of helping others. We see in Genesis 50, Joseph's brothers apologizing to him, and his response is one that may shock us. "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (v 20) Joseph was not allowed to go through these trials and calamities for no reason, nor was the saving of people's lives a passive after thought. God meant it, in His good and perfect will (Romans 12:2).
Note, this is not an accurate reenactment.
We do not usually have the privilege of seeing this plan from the vantage point of a recounting of events in the Bible, nor do we usually see it while we're in the midst of our trials and calamities. But we trust that He is good, and that He is in control. We have faith in our God's goodness in times of happiness and times of sorrow because He is sovereign and for those who love Him all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). Thus, He is worthy of praise all the time.
If you never knew the meaning of my blog's name, it is derived from Luke 19, when the Pharisees criticize Jesus for letting his disciples shout in praise. "He answered, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.'" (Luke 19:40) Christ followers should keep in mind that God is good all the time, and always worth of praise. Don't let the stones speak: fill the air with praise so they don't need to.
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