Sunday, November 27, 2005
I've been doing a lot of thinking on God's will lately, not so much in the sense that I am fervently persuing it in order to somehow discover what I should be doing at this moment in my life, but more on the side that I am interested in our understanding of God's will. Along with some thoughts, and random conversations with people on this topic (hello driving and discussing this with Anna-marie for about three hours) I am thinking of doing a more indepth study on this topic.
For instance....can a perfect God have a will that includes imperfect people? Does God have an ultimate will, and then the "plan b" so to speak, since man fell into sin, and how can his will be perfect if there is sin in it? Is God's will include man's sin...can it? Can we stray from God's will, or was our straying part of his will? Do we have our own free will, or do we not really even have free will because God's will is ultimate and we are just following what has been predestined? Does that theory make us puppets?
Now, I have views and answers to most of those questions, but I do think that some of those answers and thoughts may be me just spouting off ideas based on my thought pattern. I have found though, that the answers to these questions vary quite drastically with the people you talk to. I have started to wonder if maybe the church has the wrong view of God's will, and we use the entire phrase and mindset in a dangerous way that could be hindering us.
Someone asked me how important it was for us to even worry about this topic. After some thought, I think it is an important subject, mostly because a lot of people are unsure of the answers to those questions, and I think that your thoughts will greatly impact your perceptive on life. Besides, if we are unsure of what God's will is, are we able to effectively live our lives as Christians?
For instance....can a perfect God have a will that includes imperfect people? Does God have an ultimate will, and then the "plan b" so to speak, since man fell into sin, and how can his will be perfect if there is sin in it? Is God's will include man's sin...can it? Can we stray from God's will, or was our straying part of his will? Do we have our own free will, or do we not really even have free will because God's will is ultimate and we are just following what has been predestined? Does that theory make us puppets?
Now, I have views and answers to most of those questions, but I do think that some of those answers and thoughts may be me just spouting off ideas based on my thought pattern. I have found though, that the answers to these questions vary quite drastically with the people you talk to. I have started to wonder if maybe the church has the wrong view of God's will, and we use the entire phrase and mindset in a dangerous way that could be hindering us.
Someone asked me how important it was for us to even worry about this topic. After some thought, I think it is an important subject, mostly because a lot of people are unsure of the answers to those questions, and I think that your thoughts will greatly impact your perceptive on life. Besides, if we are unsure of what God's will is, are we able to effectively live our lives as Christians?