Does God have our lives planned out? There is certainly indication in the Scriptures that He does. "Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them" (Psalm 139:16, NASB).
I found great comfort in this when my first wife went to be with the Lord. She made her life better with exercise and eating right, but she did not change the length of her life. She lived all the days that God ordained for her, and she completed the work He called her to do.
I don't believe this makes God a puppet master. Instead, it makes Him a loving Father who knows what is best for each of His children. In the same context, the next verse says. "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:17, NASB). Some might say that this makes God responsible for our sin. That idea is based on human logic rather than the Word of God, which very clearly says, “…God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13, NASB).
There are many things in the Scriptures that don't make sense to my human mind. I just accept them by faith and trust that God knows what He is doing. Someday I will understand.
I am a "Calvinist" (for lack of a better term) who believes that God's sovereign will works in harmony with human responsibility (not "free will"). Do I understand that? Absolutely not, but I submit my lack of understanding to His wisdom.
I can take a glimpse at this truth by considering a very imperfect illustration of a fly that gets in the car. No matter what that fly may do, no matter how much it may disturb the driver or be annoying, when the car gets to its destination, the fly is there too. The outcome was predetermined, and the fly did according to its will, but in the end, only the will of the driver mattered.
Our natural rebellion may cause catastrophes in our lives, but in the end, we will arrive safely in our heavenly home because of the loving will of our heavenly Father.
I believe that our perception is not always the same as reality. God is very likely more in control of things than we tend to think. He used the enemies ofIsrael
He expects us to act wisely, but our lack of wisdom does not destroy His plan. We cannot just sit back and wait for Him to do the work, but the reality is that God gets to be God, and His will is going to be done. That's why we are on safe ground to pray, "Thy will be done."
I found great comfort in this when my first wife went to be with the Lord. She made her life better with exercise and eating right, but she did not change the length of her life. She lived all the days that God ordained for her, and she completed the work He called her to do.
I don't believe this makes God a puppet master. Instead, it makes Him a loving Father who knows what is best for each of His children. In the same context, the next verse says. "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:17, NASB). Some might say that this makes God responsible for our sin. That idea is based on human logic rather than the Word of God, which very clearly says, “…God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13, NASB).
There are many things in the Scriptures that don't make sense to my human mind. I just accept them by faith and trust that God knows what He is doing. Someday I will understand.
I am a "Calvinist" (for lack of a better term) who believes that God's sovereign will works in harmony with human responsibility (not "free will"). Do I understand that? Absolutely not, but I submit my lack of understanding to His wisdom.
I can take a glimpse at this truth by considering a very imperfect illustration of a fly that gets in the car. No matter what that fly may do, no matter how much it may disturb the driver or be annoying, when the car gets to its destination, the fly is there too. The outcome was predetermined, and the fly did according to its will, but in the end, only the will of the driver mattered.
Our natural rebellion may cause catastrophes in our lives, but in the end, we will arrive safely in our heavenly home because of the loving will of our heavenly Father.
I believe that our perception is not always the same as reality. God is very likely more in control of things than we tend to think. He used the enemies of
He expects us to act wisely, but our lack of wisdom does not destroy His plan. We cannot just sit back and wait for Him to do the work, but the reality is that God gets to be God, and His will is going to be done. That's why we are on safe ground to pray, "Thy will be done."
Whoa! You're a CALVINIST?
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna tell some people you know. They're not gonna like that.
I'll just say, "It's all Ralph's fault." (Even though it isn't.)
ReplyDelete