God's Will

Why do people automatically assume that God's will will be done? Not just His big plan for the world will, but His will for every minute detail of every person’s life. After much ado about receiving my visa to be a missionary in Vanuatu, I had someone write to me in an email saying something to the effect of "I'm so glad you were able to get your visa; I knew it was God's will for you to be there." That comment pre-supposed that if I hadn't gotten my visa, it would be because it was God's will for me to not be a missionary in Vanuatu. That sparked my thoughts deeper into this topic: Is God's will always done? I submit to you that it is not.
1. God is not willing that any should perish. If God's will always was done, not a single person would be in hell. God's will is that all come to repentance. Not all have come to repentance; therefore, His will is not done.
2. God has a specific will for every Christian. The vast majority choose not to do His will; therefore, His will is not done.
3. It is not God's will for anyone to sin, yet people do sin; therefore, His will is not done.
4. If it is not God's will for anyone to sin, any consequences of sin are not His will; therefore, His will is not done.

I do not presume that because something negative happens, it is God's will. It most certainly is God's will for the people of Vanuatu to have access to Him through His Word. If I were not granted a visa to Vanuatu, it would not be because it is not His will for me to be here. It would be because His will is for me to be here, but something hindered His will from getting accomplished. This country is a stronghold of Satan, and I am convinced that if I had not gotten my visa, it would be because of Satan's working.

Now please do not misunderstand. I am not stating that God is not omnipotent or that He does not care to intervene. Neither are the case. However, for there to be such a thing as good, there has to exist an opposite. No one could be good if there was no choice to be made that resisted evil. If God were to have His will accomplished in every case, there would be no free will of man. If there were no free will of man, God would not receive glory by men choosing to obey Him. That would defeat the entire purpose for which we were created: to glorify Him.

Consequently, each of us must change our behaviour in two ways. First, we must undertake to pray more fervently; Jesus prayed for God's will to be done, and we should too. Prayer makes an incredible difference in the outcome of events. Second, we must obey God. When God's will is not done, most of the time, it is because people don't do it. Very few of these instances occur because of the Devil or demons. If we Christians would simply obey God and pray for His will to be done, how much of this world could we change?