"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will."
-Ephesians 1:11
I'll just touch on the first half of the verse very quickly. We were chosen. Oh, so what about the people who weren't chosen? I wholeheartedly believe that everyone is chosen by God. That isn't the part that needs to be questioned. The only part that leaves room for question is whether or not we choose Him.
The second half of this verse is the one that God really spoke to me through. We've heard plenty of times the question: "How can God let bad things happen?" I've asked the question myself. "Well it was just God's will. You have to accept it as it is." Thats ridiculous.
I have never seen a verse that says, "Everything that happens is God's will." Was it God's will that Adam and Eve sinned? If everything that happens is God's will, then we don't really have free choice. If everything that happens is God's will, then sin is God's will. I find that pretty hard to accept.
This verse doesn't say that God works out everything to his will, it says "...who works out everything in conformity with the PURPOSE of his will..."
Well what is the purpose of his will? The purpose of God's will is relationship. So what about when Adam and Eve sinned? Did God work everything in conformity with the purpose of His will there? Absolutely. The purpose of His will is relationship. If God had stepped in and stopped them from sinning, that takes away their choice. You take away choice and freedom in a relationship, you take away the relationship. God doesn't want a relationship with us if he forces us to love him. That isn't relationship that is abuse of power, and forced love isn't really love.
So, is bad stuff that happens God's will? I don't know what is God's will or what isn't God's will. I do know that God is ALWAYS good. Something one of our speakers said on my DTS was "We have to stop judging our God based on our circumstances, and instead judge our circumstances based on our God." That is something that radically redefines how we look at life.
So why do we blame God when bad things happen? We don't have a good understanding of who God really is. When we begin to grasp who God really is, we can begin to trust Him. And when we trust Him, we stop trying to pin all of our problems on Him, and we begin falling madly in love with Him.
