God has a will of His own. He is sovereign. God has the right to do and say whatever He pleases. He does as He sees fit – whether we agree with that, or not, and He is just and righteous either way. He does what He does after the counsel of His own will. The apostle Paul noted this …
Ephesians 1:11
“In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of Him who accomplishes all things according to His counsel and His will, …”
The psalmist recognised this, to …
Psalm 115:3
“Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”
God’s prerogative to accomplish His objectives after the counsel of His own will, often offends not just the intellect of the unbeliever, but the mind of the believer, too. It rankles with us that this is how our holy God is. It rankles because, deep down, it is really about me wanting my will accomplished, because, well, my will is far more important than God’s will is – and that idea comes straight up out of my selfish flesh. In fact, this is at the core of Adam’s sin – “I want what I want, and God will have to wait.” Now, we don’t like to admit this, but God’s sovereignty bugs us at times because our agendas are so much more important. Well, actually, they’re not. It’s just that we have no idea how perfect God’s will really is – we just think, in our soulishness, that we know better.
Think of it this way. If it were not for God’s holy sovereignty driven by His love for us, Jesus may not have come at all. If it were left to a committee of angels to decide, would the darling of heaven have come for us? Sinners who had turned their backs on God? I wonder!
I am so glad that in His holy sovereignty, God chose to give up His son, Jesus the Christ, as an atoning sacrifice for our sin. See, we’re happy for that act of God’s sovereign will, aren’t we?
But not all the time are we happy with God exercising His sovereignty.
Why is it that some people are healed when we pray for them, and some are not? Is God just being arbitrary? Unfair? Is it our lack of faith? (Lack of faith may be a possibility, yes, but I don’t think that this is all that common). Lack of faith really means not praying at all because we don’t believe God can do it – that’s lack of faith. No, all we need is a mustard seed of faith to move a mountain. We can pray with powerful faith and yet, sometimes, God chooses not to heal. That’s not lack of faith. And so, here we are, back with God’s sovereign will again … God can give, or withhold, faith and be just either way. We cannot make God do anything; He has a will of His own. He is sovereign. The only prayers God answers is what conforms to His will (1 John 5:14) - twisting His arm doesn’t change what He wills. Make no mistake, God can heal anyone. That is not the issue. God reserves the right to determine when He manifests His glory through healing, and how He does that – that is the issue.
We must allow God to have His pleasure in all things even though we ourselves may be disappointed at His decision at the time. (And that doesn’t mean we should stop praying for and healing the sick, either). We need to humbly accept this truth about Him – and learn what pleases Him, and what is in accord with His sovereign will. The apostle Paul gives us a terrific insight on this – once again, in Romans 12:1-2, especially verse 2!
Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.
There it is in verse 2b, “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. THEN you will be able to test (i.e. “know for sure”) what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” This is the issue. When we have fully surrendered ourselves as a living sacrifice (and it is only a sacrifice when we have taken our controlling hands off it), we begin to understand, and deeply appreciate the sovereignty of God which is no arbitrary thing, but a beautiful, holy, amazing and delightful thing.
And we are offended by His sovereign will exercise, less and less.
1 John 2:17 (NIV)
“The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
Selah!
You are loved most dearly.
Ps Milton