{"id":205,"date":"2021-02-10T17:31:51","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T17:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/?p=205"},"modified":"2025-08-26T22:29:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T22:29:12","slug":"on-the-will-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/?p=205","title":{"rendered":"On the Will of God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I consider the Will<\/em> of God to be something perhaps very distinct from the Desire<\/em> of God. Yet the two are often equated. People say things like,\u201cIt is not God\u2019s will that anyone should suffer,\u201d <\/em>or \u201cit is not God\u2019s will that I do this or that with my life.\u201d<\/em> People of faith are often strung up in worries about finding God\u2019s 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\u2019s will and desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the biblical book of James<\/em> there is a passage that describes the Wisdom of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n– The Bible, James 3:14-18.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The phrase \u201ceasy to be entreated\u201d 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 which the one doing the entreating asks.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I think, to be someone who is easy to be entreated<\/em>, one must have a profound store of empathy and mercy. Easy entreatment requires a willingness to yield one\u2019s own perspectives and opinions to those of the one petitioning\u2014to 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.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I imagine Jesus in Matthew 8 when the leper accosts him, earnestly entreating him for healing. He begs, and in his plea he says, \u201cLord if you are willing<\/em>, you can make me clean.\u201d 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, \u201cI am willing<\/em>. Be clean!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This expression of what Jesus is willing<\/em> to do for the man, demonstrates that it is his (God\u2019s) will<\/em> to do so. Just like the king in the petition hall, he hears the leper\u2019s earnest entreaty and wills<\/em> it to be done. He permits<\/em> it to be done and then he makes it happen. This then makes me think, could the will<\/em> of God more accurately be his permission<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this is so, then perhaps his will<\/em> does not always line up with his desire<\/em>. In the case of the leper, I believe that it did, as I don\u2019t believe God desires<\/em> for people to suffer pain or hardship. I don\u2019t believe he desires<\/em> for people to act wickedly. But I know at times he permits<\/em> it. Like in the case of Job, or of David and Bathsheba, or of the rebellious Israelites, or even of Adam and Eve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the book of Job<\/em>, Satan goes before the throne of God, entreating<\/em> him to make Job suffer. He believes it would prove Job\u2019s faith in God a fair-weather friend. God grants his request, permitting<\/em> Satan to attack and destroy Job\u2019s health, livelihood, and household. Could this, then, be God\u2019s will<\/em> for Job? He certainly willed<\/em> it all to happen to him, because if he didn\u2019t it would never have occurred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, when David sees Bathsheba bathing and desires her, perhaps he doesn\u2019t petition God to let him have her, but nonetheless, God permits<\/em> the adultery to happen, wills<\/em> it to happen. This is astoundingly clear when I look upon the larger picture of David and Bathsheba\u2019s 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\u2019s 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<\/em> 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<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, God certainly did not desire for Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, yet he permitted<\/em> 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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,\u201cIt is not God\u2019s will that anyone should suffer,\u201d or \u201cit is not God\u2019s will that I do this or that with my life.\u201d People of faith are often…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=205"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":950,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions\/950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}