Not Apart From the Will of God

Matthew 29:10 (NIV-1984) Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

When someone passes away, especially when it is sudden and unexpected, well meaning people will say something about it being God's will. I do not believe that in the way it is presented, or the way I think the person means it.

Let me sum up my beliefs on this subject: God's will. There are two distinct parts of this concept to me. 1) One part of God's will is what God wants and wills to happen. It is God's will - wish, if you will - that we come to Him to worship, for healing, for complete surrender. 2) The other part has to do with what God allows to happen, as in the case of Job. Satan went to God to ask permission to mess with Job's life. It was not God's will (wish) that Satan do this but it was within what God allowed to happen.

To elaborate: God does not wish that a person suffer with cancer or some debilitating condition, or be abused as a child, or be molested or raped. God wants us to treat each other as we'd like to be treated, with respect, honesty, caring, etc. However, because God allows us free will, He allows these catastrophes to occur - this is what I call, within God's will. He allows that rapist to rape her. He doesn't want her to be raped, or wish that she would be but he allows the free will of the rapist to proceed so the rape occurs. Then, God uses that awful event to bring about good - at some point in time. Now I can't say what that good is but it could be that the victim turns to God when she had no relationship before and didn't seem to want one. The rapist might feel guilt over the rape because of the victim's well-established relationship with God and turn to God for relief from the sinful nature.

We can't possibly know all the ways that God uses tragedy. We can't possibly imagine all the ways that His good comes about as a result. However, we can be sure that God is in charge and from looking at the life of Jesus Christ, we can understand that He wants what is best for each of us. Make no mistake on this. God is completely in charge. He can allow, or prevent whatever He likes for the purposes only He can know fully.

So rest assured that "Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father." When the shock subsides, look for peace knowing that God is in charge and has the situation completely within His abilities to use it for good.
Amen

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