God’s Will and Your Worst Nightmare
“Nicklaus Reed Ward, 22, of Fayetteville, Georgia, passed away March 4, 2013 at Savannah Memorial Medical Center as a result of injuries he sustained when he was struck by a car while walking in Statesboro, Georgia on February 8th.”
As a parent, nothing compares. No pain even comes close. Just listening to the story…the phone call, the I.C.U., the prayer, the ventilator, the neurosurgeon, the waiting, the stark reality and then the ‘wake’ and memorial service.
“It wasn’t an accident, it was a mistake.” Someone made a mistake and a son is no longer here. Square this up with God’s will.
God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. He knows everything, He has power over everything, and He is everywhere. Nothing is hidden from Him. If it happened, it was God’s will. His sovereign will. Agathon said “Even God can’t change the past.” He was right.
God is also good. All good. He sent His only son into a fallen world to redeem it and us. He wouldn’t have done that if He wasn’t good, loving, and merciful. He could have left us to our sin, evil ways, and death. Over time…over the long run….we will see and understand how God used this pain and loss for good and for His glory.
But that’s then. What about now?
Peace can only be found in the merger of our will into God’s will. It’s a little like turning onto the ‘on-ramp’ to the expressway. We can’t see where His will is going, but it’s going. All we know is we’ve been thrust onto this ramp that’s taking us into His will… whether we like it or not. There is no going back.
As we move down the ramp, we see His will is going in a certain direction. We can slam on the brakes. Or run amuck trying to cross the median. We can fight…resist…crash into everyone and everything around us, hurting ourselves and others. We can wear ourselves out, becoming angry experts in the ‘blame game.’ We can grow bitter and sick, scratching and clawing and cursing and thrashing around.
Or we can breathe, gently submit, and merge our will with His. We can choose to flow into it instead of fighting it. If we can gradually accelerate and get up to the same speed He’s moving, we can merge our will safely into His. We won’t know where He’s taking us. We’re missing someone who was always in the car with us. But we’re moving forward, trusting our Heavenly Father’s love for us. Trusting that He will redeem all of this somehow…someday. And knowing that someday we’ll understand why such painful things had to be endured.
The ‘expressway’ of God’s will has already taken this mom and dad to the bedside of a young lady who lies in a coma similar to their son. They’ve prayed with her family and shared their faith in God’s goodness and love. He’s already leveraging their experience to help others.
I once sat with Bob Buford, the author of Halftime. He and I are the same age. We both have sons named Ross. His son made a mistake that cost him his life at age 25. Bob says “Regi, there’s one big difference between you and me. I’m looking forward to heaven a lot more than you are, ‘cause I’ve got a lot of catching up to do with my son.” Bob’s faith in God got him through. And gives him hope for the future.
Bad things happen to good people, even God’s people. When they do, our faith is all we have. But when you’ve been through your worst nightmare and found God is all you have, from there you may find He’s all you need.
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Responses (7)
Very timely post, Mr. Campbell.
As I visited with some members of our Life Group last night, one young lady made a comment about God’s disappointment in our decisions/mistakes. I’ve struggled with this statement as I find it difficult to believe an all-knowing God can be disappointed.
What are your thoughts on God’s disappointment of His children if our actions are in His will?
God hates sin…we know that. “Hate” is an emotional word, so we know God has emotion and passion. So any decision we make out of pride, arrogance, selfishness, meanness or revenge…I think it’s safe to say He’s disappointed with. He’s not disappointed IN us…He’s disappointed FOR us. Because we missed out on an experience of faith and intimacy with our loving Father by tuning Him out of our decision. Where sin isn’t involved…where we make a well-meaning decision that goes wrong, He’s the perfect, gentle, understanding Father who awaits our embrace to salve our wounds and encourage us to get back in the fight. His love and acceptance is NEVER contingent on our performance. That’s what His grace provides. Unconditional love and undeserved blessing.
Regi,
Perhaps the best explanation of how PEACE comes from our will merging with that of our Lord that I have ever heard. Wonderful mind picture using the Expressway of God’s will to visualize our choices. Perhaps this will help me to do better in my own life as I look to merge my will with His perfect plan.
He has risen my friend,
Jim
Thanks for that Jim. This is a tough one, but truth is truth.
Regi,
I have trouble with the statement “If it happened, it was God’s will.”
I like your statement later in the post that says “Trusting that He will redeem all of this somehow…someday”
Romans 8:28 all things work for the good of those who believe in Christ Jesus and are called according to His purpose.
God is in the redemption business. I am living proof.
This is a semantics deal. His sovereign will encompasses everything that happens. That’s why I believe ‘if it happened, it was within His will’. He could have stopped it. Nothing sneaks by Him. His MORAL will, which is completely disclosed in the Bible, that’s another thing. A lot of what happened in the past was not within His moral will. That’s called sin, which He hates. But He loves us SO MUCH, He gives us the opportunity to choose…even choose sin. Our free will is the most expensive thing He ever gave us. It required God to tolerate the existence of evil and all it’s tentacles. When Lucifer rebelled against God’s authority and God let him, it was on. And it’s been ‘on’ ever since.
Regi….thanks…difficult subject for sure…In the last 10 years my wife and I have had two children die….they just beat us home…this Friday will be year 4 for Kristin’s promotion….Easter gives us the peace & understanding that we will be with our kids again…but until then ONLY God can give us the strength to live on.
“One day we will meet beside the river and our Lord will dry every tear.For now, we must live in the JOY of that promise and recall that for every generation life is hard, but God is faithful.” B.Thoene