There is a dangerous heresy that has made its way into the church and into the rooms of recovery. It may not seem like a big deal or all that bad. It's used to try to give hope and inspire people to trust that God is in control. But what it does all too often is beat the wounded and crush the hopeless, driving them from the refuge that is found in God. The idea is that nothing happens outside of God's will and everything happens according to God's plan, so no matter what is going on in and around us, it is God's plan and we are right we are supposed to be. The message behind it is to trust God and accept everything, even suffering, as God's plan and what is best for us.
We're in the second week of Lent, and those of us who observe it have been thinking, studying and mediating on the horrendous suffering of Christ on our behalf. Jesus went through the horrors and pain of being betrayed by friends, deserted by everyone, falsely arrested, lied about, condemned when He had done no wrong, paraded in public, had a mob cry for His death, was beaten nearly to death, and, finally, executed slowly and painfully with criminals as the crowds jeered. That was horrible suffering, and it was indeed the will of the Father and in the plan of God.
It is also true that we will suffer. All of us. If you are alive, there will be suffering in your life. As I shared in the message from January 19 of this year, Suffer Well, our suffering can have purpose, and that purpose can give us the joy we need to be able to not only endure it but use it for the glory of God, to strengthen our relationship with Him and to help others. God can and will make our adversity and suffering purposeful, and He will work out everything, even the horrible, to our eventual good if we love Him. That's a blessing from our loving God, who doesn't allow us to go through the hell and misery of this life alone and for nothing. He is sovereign, the Lord of all creation, but creation has fallen. And just because He will not allow us to go through something without using it for His and our benefit, doesn't mean it was His will, nor does it mean it was His plan. His sovereignty is not diminished by that truth.
There are two reasons things happen outside of God's plan and will. Number one is the obvious truth that He has given human beings free will. Just because He knows exactly what we will do and how we will react, doesn't mean He willed it or caused it. If I see someone drop a glass out a second story window, I know it will break. If I can react quickly enough, I can grab a broom before the break occurs. But that doesn't have anything to do with cause or plan. God is outside time. He is not limited by linear thinking or timing. So just because He knew I would reject Him, turn away, and eventually go to prison doesn't mean that was His original desire and plan for me. Though He did use it for my good, to save my life and begin drawing me back to Him. If I can not do anything outside of God's will, then my choices are not my own and the idea of surrender is a farce.
The second truth is that there is such a thing as evil, real, true evil that is in total opposition to the love of God. I'm not talking about Satan. There is such a thing as evil that corrupted Lucifer, that caused Adam and Eve to fall for the deception, that is at work in the curse and has thrived on misery, destruction and death. There is not one of us that has not been effected or tainted by it. God did not create evil, and evil was never His plan. It is the enemy, the opposite of His goodness and grace and love. God, being God, has the advantage of using evil against itself, and working things in such a way that evil is defeated. When I say use evil against itself, I am not saying God does evil. I am saying that by knowing what evil will do, how evil will react, why evil does what it does, and what evil will cause, He can use that knowledge. Knowing, God could place Jesus where evil could influence men who did not love God as they should to, thinking they were being victorious, crucify Jesus. Evil could and would and did cause Satan to believe that He would win by getting rid of the Messiah and thwarting God's plan. So evil did what it did and brought about its own defeat.
There are evils that happen, and there are results of the curse, and and there is pain and suffering that is caused by the free will of people acting contrary to the will of God to love Him and love others. It was never God's will that I hurt the people I hurt. I do not believe that it was God's will that caused someone to allow fear to make them take back their word to me in a situation that caused me need and hurt, although God has healed the hurt and met the needs. God may have meant for me to be a minister all along, but the path to the pulpit going through prison is a result of my action and my choices, not His plan or will. It didn't have to be that way.
Telling someone who just got the crap kicked out of them that God did it is not, in my opinion, a very good way to inspire trust in their Daddy, nor is it true. If God is currently, actively controlling everything, then there is no free will and God works evil in the world. And that means if you walk up to me and hit me, then, since you are nothing more than a puppet, it's God, the puppet master, that struck me. And that's bogus. That is not a loving God. That is not truth.
God allows suffering so that we can see the effects of sin and see our need for a savior. So we can see the destruction and death that occurs when we are outside the covering refuge of Him. There is a law of cause and effect that is in place. If you go outside when it's raining without an umbrella, you will get wet. But allowing me to feel pain and have a fever so that I know I am ill and in need of treatment isn't the same as making me sick.
The wounded can know that God can heal and restore and use their wounding purposefully. God is loving and faithful and worthy of our trust. He will not allow the enemy to defeat us, because the battle is already won. Jesus defeated death, sin, Satan and even evil, once and for all on the cross. But just because there's no way the enemy can win the war doesn't mean it's quit fighting, doesn't mean it won't make advances. We can trust God, because He loves us. He is not an abusive Father. He is not the one making us hurt, kicking us while we are down and trying to kill us. I am not saying that He never disciplines us, but please don't believe the lie that God is the one hurting you so that He can help you, putting you in hell so He can save you from it and look great and kind and play the hero. That would be Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy, and it's a sickness, a sign of the curse, and yes, evil.
It is God's will that we turn to Him in times of distress and pain. It is God's plan that He turn even the evil that happens in our life into something that shows that evil can be and will be beaten because of His great love for us. It is His desire to heal, restore and free us, because He does love us. We can run to Him for comfort and safety. And eventually every knee will bow to the Sovereign Lord, willing or not, and evil will be no more. But that time is not now, and that evil in your life?....God didn't put it there, and He didn't cause it. And that unloving thing you did? You can't blame that on God's plan and will, and the fact that He can use it for good does not excuse your sin. And that unloving act someone did to you? Same thing. Not His will. Not His plan.
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