God is in control.
God has a plan for your life.
God will ensure that everything works out right.
God is in charge, so don’t worry about election results, they will be right.
If it didn’t happen, God must have other plans.
God knows what he’s doing, so what is happening in your life is part of a bigger purpose.
And on, and on it goes. Until we reach sin and then that wasn’t God, it was our choice. Or until we are presented with ‘the gospel’, and we have to make a choice to accept or reject Jesus. That is our choice too (depending on your position on the sliding scale of arminianist to Calvinist!)
I’ve said or thought them myself. They can be good sticking plasters when we are facing unexpected stuff or the harder parts of life. It isn’t right though. It doesn’t work, I don’t think it is the way God works, and I don’t think that it is logical.
We talk about free will and how in order for us to love God and have the relationship with him that he desires, then we must be free to accept or reject him. We know that forced love, a robotic auto response, is not a real love. We take responsibility for our actions. We teach our children to take responsibility for their actions.
But free will is just that. I can choose what I wear in the morning. I can choose who to worship. I can make my own decision about whether or not to spread the juicy gossip or to ‘forget’ a car park honesty box. I can also choose who to vote for, who to source services from, who to employ, and all those decisions that impact not just myself, but other people. I have free will, God has given me free will and lets the result of free will stand.
Like when Israel chose to have a king. It was not God’s plan. God told them that. However, it was what they wanted, what they chose, so they became a monarchy, with all that implied and led to.
I don’t think the results of elections have to be God’s plan.
I don’t think the results of job interviews have to be God’s plan.
God may be ‘in control’ but hasn’t made us puppets on strings.
Stuff happens.
So, what about…those two Bible verses.
You know the ones. The ones we quote to feel good when we aren’t sure it really seems like things will work out the way that seems best for us.
For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer29:11 (NIV UK)
Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Do you fancy 70 years in exile? That was the plan for those this was said to. This verse is where they are being told to settle down, marry, live their lives and pray for those who took them into exile to prosper if they wanted to prosper themselves. It goes on to say that the exiles will learn to pray, to call on God, to seek him with all their hearts, and that’s when, in 70 years’ time those who are left, and their descendants will return.
I actually still find a lot of good comfort in this. It shows us how God’s plans are formed from a totally different perspective to ours. God does have good plans for us, but God’s plan for us is not to have X job, marry Y, give birth to A, B, and C, live under W government, visit Z country…etc. God’s plan is for us to learn to call out to him. God’s plan is for us to seek him, and to find him. The rest is just part of life. God is concerned far more with our relationships with him and with each other than in what car we drive. We don’t need to worry about success, it’s all about relationship.
Or, the other verse…
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28 (KJV)
I’ve heard this verse used, seen it in memes, to say that whatever happens must be good and must be part of the purposes of God. That isn’t what it says though. It actually says that things work together for our good. It doesn’t say that God sends the hard events to teach us a lesson, so learn it quickly if you know what’s good for you. It doesn’t say that God sends bad events in order to then miraculously change our circumstances and bring himself glory, so get praying. It doesn’t say you don’t learn the easy way, so God teaches you the hard way. This verse doesn’t say anything about God directing events to make everything happen according to a plan. It tells us much more about God’s redeeming grace. God doesn’t suddenly sweep aside all the mess and hard things in life, lifting us from the valley whenever the path leads that way. Instead, he performs a bigger miracle. He walks with us through it all and brings us out the other side. This verse reminds us that there is still beauty to find, something to be thankful for, the arms of the everlasting God beneath us.
Do we have free will? Yes, I believe so.
Does God have a good plan for us? Yes, I also believe so.
Is God in control? Depends what you mean by control. I think God has chosen not to control every aspect for us as individuals, which also means not controlling global events. That could be frightening, we like to feel that there is someone on our side in control. However, God hasn’t walked away and left us to face it all ourselves. He is in it with us, all the way.
TL:DR – Yes to free will. No to God the puppeteer. Yes to God’s good plan.