God's Will
but God’s purpose prevails."
Proverbs 19:21 in the Message Paraphrase Version
[This is the 2nd of a mini-series of lessons (within a series)]
It is recommended that you start this reading with the lesson titled "If There's A Will, There's A Plan" and work your way through the list of lessons.
Ready?
Many among us struggle with the idea of God but then we don't do anything to know more about Him. Funny also how some of those who profess they don't believe in God, talk about God or bring up God into their everyday conversations more frequently than those who say they do believe in God. Yes this is a knack on both sides. If you don't believe why keep talking about Him, and if you believe why aren't you talking about God?
If you have been having questions along this same lines, follow these lessons and you might get some clarity.
First off. The God we are talking about is the God of the universe, Creator of all things.
There could be room for evolution in this idea of God, but not to the extreme that God didn't cause the origin of life, life on earth. God made the heavens. God made the earth. God made the plants, the animals and He made humankind.
Everything (the details) in between is open to discussion.
The Jewish Scriptures say God created the earth and everything on it in six days. You can take that as six earth days if you want to. But it can also mean any length of day. Who knows what a day is like for God. Well actually Peter gave us his idea when he said that with God, a day is like a thousand years. Moses wrote something similar in the Book of Psalms.
We are not God, so we really don't know how long is a day for Him. It could be a million years, it could be a billion.
Just that humankind appeared on the sixth day. And on the seventh day (our time now), God rested. Genesis 1:31-Genesis 2:2
God's Will
Many things have been said about God's Will. Scriptures tell us as much. There are several kinds that can be deemed by studying Scriptural writings. Talking about these in one sitting isn't going to be practical or helpful.
What is practical is to say that God created us and He has a will and a plan for us. We can simplify this to be the same as somebody inventing a new product. The inventor came up with all the specifications. Built it. And maybe even wrote a user's manual for it.
End-users utilize this product and may use it in many different ways, even in ways it wasn't meant or designed to be used. Of course some of this product's use will be easily determined, some may not be so. Many things are up to the user, the builder is out of this -- this is where freewill comes in. We buy say a laptop and some of us, use it for business, some for school, some for pleasure, some as a food tray, coaster, paper weight, frisbee, pillow, you get the point.
Sometimes we overuse or misuse it, sometimes it breaks down or something and we may have to bring it back to the manufacturer for support, questions, repairs, maintenance or anything else.
Anyway hopefully that analogy is simple enough, at least for now. God as our Creator, made us for a specific reason and purpose. We may know what it is, or we may not. It does not really matter if we do or not. Now it will matter if we wish to know God's will and God's plan for us.
Parables
Let us take the example of one of the stories that Jesus told His followers. This is the story of the Prodigal (or the Lost) Son.
The story goes like this, there is a father with two sons, the younger one told his father, dad I want my inheritance now.
So his father did, and soon the son left and went to a far away land. There he lived life like there was no tomorrow, spent all his money in wild and carefree living.
Soon the inheritance was gone, including any friends he may have picked up at this time. To survive, he got a job and it was feeding pigs.
He then realize that even their servants do not live like this. He decided to go back home and become a servant of his father.
He was thinking that once he get back he will tell his father his rehearsed line, which goes, father I have sinned and am no longer worthy to be your son, take me in as one of your hired servants. And he set off.
But it didn't happen that way, the father who has been waiting for his son who left home, saw him as he was still a far off. Immediately the father took off running to meet his son on the road, and hugged and kissed him.
The son said his script but his father had one of his servants bring out the best robe, sandals and ring, to dress up his son.
The father then called for a feast, food, music and dancing to celebrate the return of his son.
The elder son who was off working in his father's field got home and he heard the music and the celebrations. When he found out why, he got angry and refused to go in.
When his father found out, he went out and spoke to his elder son. The son then told his father that he slaved for him all these years yet didn't have a celebration like this.
The father responded, all of what is mine is yours. We are celebrating today because your brother who was once dead is now alive, was once lost is now found.
If you get the point of this story, you get what God's will and God's plan is for our lives.
Both of the sons didn't know about their father's will and plans were for them. They lived their lives differently and yet they both didn't know.
The father's will for the younger son is not for him to live life wantonly like that. His will is not for his son to experience that hard life, nowhere to live, nothing to eat, working miserably like that.
The father's will for his elder son is also not to live like he was living his life -- working like a slave, not celebrating and being upset with his father because he was the good son, yet had nothing to show for it.
None of these are God's will for them, but all of these happened for both.
Now God's plan was revealed at the end of the story. We will tackle this on the next lesson.
Let us take the example of one of the stories that Jesus told His followers. This is the story of the Prodigal (or the Lost) Son.
The story goes like this, there is a father with two sons, the younger one told his father, dad I want my inheritance now.
So his father did, and soon the son left and went to a far away land. There he lived life like there was no tomorrow, spent all his money in wild and carefree living.
Soon the inheritance was gone, including any friends he may have picked up at this time. To survive, he got a job and it was feeding pigs.
He then realize that even their servants do not live like this. He decided to go back home and become a servant of his father.
He was thinking that once he get back he will tell his father his rehearsed line, which goes, father I have sinned and am no longer worthy to be your son, take me in as one of your hired servants. And he set off.
But it didn't happen that way, the father who has been waiting for his son who left home, saw him as he was still a far off. Immediately the father took off running to meet his son on the road, and hugged and kissed him.
The son said his script but his father had one of his servants bring out the best robe, sandals and ring, to dress up his son.
The father then called for a feast, food, music and dancing to celebrate the return of his son.
The elder son who was off working in his father's field got home and he heard the music and the celebrations. When he found out why, he got angry and refused to go in.
When his father found out, he went out and spoke to his elder son. The son then told his father that he slaved for him all these years yet didn't have a celebration like this.
The father responded, all of what is mine is yours. We are celebrating today because your brother who was once dead is now alive, was once lost is now found.
If you get the point of this story, you get what God's will and God's plan is for our lives.
Both of the sons didn't know about their father's will and plans were for them. They lived their lives differently and yet they both didn't know.
The father's will for the younger son is not for him to live life wantonly like that. His will is not for his son to experience that hard life, nowhere to live, nothing to eat, working miserably like that.
The father's will for his elder son is also not to live like he was living his life -- working like a slave, not celebrating and being upset with his father because he was the good son, yet had nothing to show for it.
None of these are God's will for them, but all of these happened for both.
Now God's plan was revealed at the end of the story. We will tackle this on the next lesson.
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