I consider the Will of God to be something perhaps very distinct from the Desire of God. Yet the two are often equated. People say things like,“It is not God’s will that anyone should suffer,” or “it is not God’s will that I do this or that with my life.” People of faith are often strung up in worries about finding God’s will for every forked road they come upon, for every decision, as if they could live apart from it without even knowing. Yet in the stories that govern the Christian faith, bad decisions, wicked actions, inexplicable suffering and turmoil are often marks of moments that very clearly lead to the fulfillment of God’s will and desire.
In the biblical book of James there is a passage that describes the Wisdom of God.
“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”
– The Bible, James 3:14-18.
The phrase “easy to be entreated” captures my thoughts, as I imagine various circumstances surrounding the act of entreaty. In every circumstance I envision, there is a distinctive power dynamic. The one being entreated always has the authority to carry out that for which the one doing the entreating asks.
Naturally, I think of a king in his petition hall, listening to the requests of humble peasants as they come through one by one. Only the king has the power to carry out what the petitioners earnestly desire.
Then I think, to be someone who is easy to be entreated, one must have a profound store of empathy and mercy. Easy entreatment requires a willingness to yield one’s own perspectives and opinions to those of the one petitioning—to understand their plight, or at least to try to understand it at a deeply intimate level, to the point where their plight becomes apparent enough to act upon in their favor.
I imagine Jesus in Matthew 8 when the leper accosts him, earnestly entreating him for healing. He begs, and in his plea he says, “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus is, of course, like my aforementioned king in that he alone has the power to carry out that which the man asks of him. And with that power he reaches out, touching the man with what I imagine to be a sentiment full of empathy, as he says, “I am willing. Be clean!”
This expression of what Jesus is willing to do for the man, demonstrates that it is his (God’s) will to do so. Just like the king in the petition hall, he hears the leper’s earnest entreaty and wills it to be done. He permits it to be done and then he makes it happen. This then makes me think, could the will of God more accurately be his permission?
If this is so, then perhaps his will does not always line up with his desire. In the case of the leper, I believe that it did, as I don’t believe God desires for people to suffer pain or hardship. I don’t believe he desires for people to act wickedly. But I know at times he permits it. Like in the case of Job, or of David and Bathsheba, or of the rebellious Israelites, or even of Adam and Eve.
In the book of Job, Satan goes before the throne of God, entreating him to make Job suffer. He believes it would prove Job’s faith in God a fair-weather friend. God grants his request, permitting Satan to attack and destroy Job’s health, livelihood, and household. Could this, then, be God’s will for Job? He certainly willed it all to happen to him, because if he didn’t it would never have occurred.
Likewise, when David sees Bathsheba bathing and desires her, perhaps he doesn’t petition God to let him have her, but nonetheless, God permits the adultery to happen, wills it to happen. This is astoundingly clear when I look upon the larger picture of David and Bathsheba’s story. Their union brought Solomon, the wisest king in history, the author of at least two books in the Old Testament, the heir to David’s throne, and the next link in the lineage of Judah that would one day bring the messiah to Israel. This list very clearly demonstrates the desires of God carried out in the lives of his people. But the original acts that made them all happen are clearly not his desires, as they are in direct opposition to his laws. Yet, it was His will that Bathsheba would bear Solomon, and that Solomon would be heir, and that he would carry on the holy lineage. It was his sovereign permission.
Likewise, the Israelites entreated God to give them a king, and he did, he relented to their earnest petitions although it was not his desire for them. Yet, looking back on it presently, it seems very much to have been his will for them, as it was through the avenue of a monarchy that the prophecies regarding the messiah were reported to the people of Israel.
Moreover, God certainly did not desire for Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, yet he permitted them to do so, and through their action centuries of his work and will have been carried out in the lives of all those who came after the first couple.
Is it possible, then, that no one at any time or any place could ever exist or move outside of the will of God? I think it is.