As I have written here over the past several months, there is something I have touched on a couple of times but shied away from actually addressing it in a big way, because it is kind of the opposite of what a lot of people want to (and do) think.
I don't think that everything happens for a reason, and I don't think that every bad thing that happens is in God's plan.
I know, I know. What I do believe, though, is that we are under serious attack by Satan, who is here to kill and destroy, to take from us what we hold the most dear, whether that is by taking something we love from us or by deceiving us about what our lives should be like. Add that to the gift of free will that we've been given, and we have the capacity to make our lives suck pretty badly. I also believe whole heartedly that God weeps with us when terrible things happen, and that he brings beauty from the ashes.
Of course, as usual, my friend Sarah said it better than I could ever say it in a million years.
"I do not see any scriptural evidence that God's perfect will is micromanaging the world. If, for example, God desires that all men come to the knowledge of Himself, then even one person dying without the knowledge of His Son is clearly outside of His will. The fall (sin entering the world) was definitely not part of His perfect plan either. And I do believe that God has a perfect plan. Right now, the middle of that plan is being detoured and rerouted (because, in His omniscience, He chose to let man choose). The end of His plan will be precisely on target, but the part we play in that is left entirely up to us.
As I said starting out, I do not believe that everything happens for a God reason. I believe, rather, that God is sweeping up the unavoidable ashes caused by freewill, the fall, and the rules of natural law. And He (if we will let Him) is molding them into something fantastic...something so beautiful, in fact, that we can only marvel at what God's perfect (pre Genesis 3) would have looked like."
For the rest of her wonderful post, and the news that prompted it, head on over to her blog Kingdom Twindom + 1 . It's worth the read, I promise.
In the meantime, I'll keep doing what I'm doing and hope wholeheartedly that God is molding me and my life into something fantastic.
And let's all hope I'm patient enough to seek his will and wait to see what works he is doing even when what I want to do more than anything is turn to the last page and see what happens.
What do you think? I promise, I won't be upset if you disagree with me! =)
