God has a plan for every life, unique as we are each unique. This plan, to which we are "predestined", involves
the wills of God and the individual, acting upon the same life. God's will is well defined for us, but the big question is; What
will the individual decide to do?
The obvious objective of the christian life is to learn God's will and follow it. The more precise we are in this undertaking,
the greater blessing and happiness we experience. It shouldn't require extensive mental gymnastics to figure out why this is
so. The ultimate fullfilment of a created entity is to serve the purpose for which it was created. Take a lamp, for example,
it is designed to plug into the wall, from whence it receives an electrical current, and when the switch is turned on, to
emit light into a surrounding area.
Forgive me if this strikes you as being an over-simplification, but we can learn a great deal form this analogy. First off,
If the lamp isn't plugged in, it can't fullfill its' purpose. Just so, the christian who is not "plugged in" to our source
of power is not performing the mission they were sent here for. Our power is The Word of God, and our conduit is The Holy
Spirit.
Secondly; If an entity is not performing its' intended purpose, it is useless. A lamp that can't light is little more than a
decoration, if that. Carrying this analogy one step further, if the lamp has a soul with volition it is not happy, and can
not find contentment in a world where it just takes up space. There is no substantial meaning to life, no destiny.
In creating us God built in certain features which require the compatible power source, and if we fail to plug in we fail
in His plan for us. Nothing can be more frustrating and painful to a person than to exist in a limbo, an alien environment,
where they possess no strong sense of destiny or purpose. Such a person will merely live out their days and die without
completing their personal destiny. Even though they cannot lose their salvation, they will lose the special blessings which
God has laid up for us in eternity.
The will of God exsists in 5 separate categories;
Viewpoint - What does God want me to think?
Geographical - Where does God want me to be?
Directive - What does God want me to do?
Permissive - God allows us to malfunction to some extent.
Overruling - God intercedes to protect us.
The viewpoint will; of God can be summed up in one word; Doctrine! The content of his Word is designed to be the
power which moves us through life, directs our paths, and gives us a sense of direction and fullfuillment. One of the very
first titles of God the Son in the Bible is "logos" in the greek, which means simply "Word". Jesus Christ in eternity past
was The Word. Please note the compatibility between the role of God the Son as the visible manifestation of God, and the
relationship between the invisible thought and it's agent of revelation, or communication; Word. Thus, the written canon of
scriptures are "The Mind of Christ". The thinking of God reduced to a palitable format for our sakes.
"For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." (1Cor:2:16)
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one." (1John:5:7)
The geographical will; God's plan includes a location. He has a particular reason for you being where you are, or
moving you somewhere else. We aren't privvy to all the mysteries of God's plan, and this is one of those areas where we
must simply trust Him. He may have you stationed in a flat, cold part of the U.S., as we are on the plains of Nebraska, or
perhaps you will be fortunate in the location He chooses for you, like Hawaii or Paris. But wherever you are God is
accomplishing something through you. You may not even be aware of it. On this subject we must consider the overall plan
of God for the human race, and how He intends for history to play out. You may be in a city, or near a military base,
that He wants to bless. Your mere presence, once you have The Mind of Christ, is a blessing to all around you.
The directive will of God is that aspect of His relationship with us which deals with His mandates and intentions.
We benefit from the directive will when we are in fellowship with Him by the Filling of the Spirit. This is the minute-by-minute
guidance in our lives. Many, many times you will avoid problems by adhering to the tenets of His Word. Remember that God
conceived of the Word, and charted a course for our lives, in eternity past. His omniscience made Him aware of circumstances
which are yet future to us, and He guides us around many quagmires that we would have otherwise fallen into.
The permissive will; God sometimes allows us to have our way, even when it is leading to suffering. All of us are
bullheaded and we sometimes ignore God's directive will in favor of our own schemes. Paul comitted such a gaffe when he
went to Jerusalem instead of going to Rome, where God had instructed him to go. The result was Paul's brush with death, for
the christains of Jerusalem of that time were following the law of Moses, instead of the Law of Grace, which is the basis
for our modus operandi in the Church Age. Christ fulllfilled the Law of Moses, thereby rendering it obsolete, and installed
in it's place the New Covenant.
"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (1John:1:17)
"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Rom:6:14)
"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Rom;10:4)
The "end of the law to righteousness" refers to the advent of "The Law of Grace", abrogating, or replacing, the "Law of Moses".
The most significant feature of this transition is the liberation of the believer from the salvery of sin. Unique to this
Church Age, we have the filling of The Holy Spirit and a device, which we term "rebound", that restores Him to our souls when
we drive Him out by sin.
Never before, in Old Testement times nor the coming Millenium, is the Spirit so given to men. Freedom from sin is a volitional
matter, contingent upon the believer, which makes it possible for us to escape the irresistable lure of the old sin nature,
a flaw in every cell of our bodies, and the cause of spiritual death.
No human power of will can prevail against the temptations of the osn, combined with the allure of the cosmic system. Only the
divine system which links together the Word, The Spirit and His Righteousness, can enable our resistence. This then is what is
refered to in Romans 10:4, above.
Believers who adhere to a system of taboos are legalistic and, if necessary, violent, to have their way. Paul had become
anathema to the Jerusalem church because he was teaching the doctrine of grace, that we are not saved by works, nor do we
aquire blessings in eternity by works. The Jerusalem church was yet steeped in the Mosaic Law, and rejected Paul's message
as heretical. Their hatred was ignited when he defied God and made a sacrifice in the temple, though this allegedly honored
them, and thousands of them tried to literally tear him to pieces. He was stoned and died for 5 minutes.
God permitted these terrible things to happen to Paul for many reasons, but the primary one was to get him back on track.
An even more famous case of permissive will is Jonah. Here was a man who hated Assyrians with every ounce of his being.
Chances are, he probably lost family members to their depredations, for they were very active in the field of military
conquest in those times. Assyrians, in their day, were the most feared of all predatory peoples, like Commanches. They were
exceedingly cruel and had the most advanced martial technology of that age.
After they conquered a city they would single out the governing class and enjoy a sport unique to Assyrians. The bravest
men in battle would each get a prisoner. They tied them to the ground, spread-eagled, and commenced to skin them alive.
The man who kept his prisoner alive until all the skin was gone, and finished first, won the day. This race, by the way,
vanished from history as a result of their persecution of the Jews. They no longer exsist. Today the country of Iran lies
where the ancient people of Assyria lived.
So it's easy to see how a Jew like Jonah could hate the Assyrians so passionately. But there was a great swell of positive
volition in Jonah's day among them, and God tapped him to carry the gospel to them...a missionary. Well, Jonah bowed his
neck and refused. He caught the first boat going in the opposite direction from Assyria. As a result, the boat almost sank,
but knowing the reason for their plight Jonah voluntarily flung himself overboard. To this day, a man who endangers a vessel
at sea is known as a "jonah".
We can assume that Jonah, seeing that God was punishing him for his flagrant disobedience, figured it was better that he
died in the heaving ocean than to live among the people he despised. But God wasn't going to sink the boat at all, He
knew what Jonah would do under those circumstances (Jonah must have been a brave and honorable man), so he brought on a
storm so his prophet would jump ship!
A great fish swallowed old Jonah, a misinterpretation of the autograph says it was a whale, but it was some manner of huge
fish. Eventually, it spit him up on the shoreline near the Assyrian capitol of Ashur. What follows is a fascinating story,
for Jonah still wouldn't go among the people. Instead he retreated to a hill above the city and sat and sulked. For days
and weeks he sulked, until he would have starved to death, but God had birds carry him food and drop it near him, so he
survived his second attempt at suicide.
Finally, probably bored out of his skull, Jonah decided to go into Ashur and confront his hated enemy. But instead of
practicing the recommended methods for witnessing, he would charge up and down the streets of the city, bellowing like
a madman, "You're all going to hell! The whole damn lot of you!". He actually began to enjoy himself, yelling about what
a wretched people they were, and the certainty that they would burn in hellfire forever. The images his own words conjured
no doubt brought him the first pleasure he had known in some time. Once again, the Lord had a surprise in store for this
most stubborn of all Jews, for He knew what Jonah did not, that the Assyrians would respond to Jonah's harsh words and
accept Christ (Jehovah then) as their savior by the thousands.
Nothing is said in the Bible concerning Jonah's fate in Ashur, but extra-biblical writtings and legend tell us that Jonah
became the most respected of all men in Assyria. For that brief period in their history the Assyrians enjoyed the greatest
prosperity of any people of their time, and Ashur became a center of trade and commerce for every nation in the middle east.
So great was his infuence that a huge statue of Jonah was erected in the center of the city.
We can assume that old Jonah had a change of heart, as is common for men of The Word when people respond to their ministry.
He apparently came to love the people of Ashur and dwelled in their midst until the end of his days. This, to me, is one
of the best stories in history, and I wonder why an enterprising producer hasn't made a movie out of it?
The overruling will of God provides for the protection of the believer, even when he is out of fellowship and wandering
far from God's path. He sometimes actually reaches into time and blunts an attack, or defuses a dangerous situation, in order to
assure that the beleiver is not destroyed. Paul in Jerusaslem, metioned above, was attacked by thousands of people that wanted
him dead, but he walked away with a few bruises. This is the overruling will of God, where He intercedes to rescue a person
from danger or injury.
Many times God has delivered His client nation; In the time of Israel, particularly during the reign of David, and more
recently, He as sustained this United States of America.
One such ocurrance of overruling will took place during the war which gave birth to this republic.
8,000 of George Washington's men had deserted and gone over to the British, where they could get food and clothing. The
Army of the Potomac was starving and freezing to death at a place known to us as Valley Forge. Washington's back was against
the wall. He had to act swiftly while his remaining men mad strength enough to march and fight.
He chose Christmas Eve (I'll have to insert the date later) to ferry his bedraggled troops across the Delaware River and
assemble them on the opposite shore. He divided them into two equal units, 1,000 men each, and began an approach to Trenton,
where the British garrison had partied late into the night.
His army was beyond suffering, as the bloody road into Trenton bore mute testemony. Their bare feet, now frozen, began to bleed.
hey had not eaten in days, and only melted snow had kept them from dying of thirst. The enemy they were attacking was vastly
greater in number, with superior training and better weaponry. In short, to say the tattered Americans were the underdogs
was a gross understatement. The British regarded them with haughty distain.
But they had not learned their enemy well enough, for the upstart Americans were valiant souls to a man, silent in their
agony, sacrificing all for the sublime gift of freedom!
Early on Christmas morning they attacked, and the rest is history. Washington's genius saved the day, and the steadfast
courage of his starving men, those who refused to die meekly... shines from the pages of history.
The Battle of Trenton changed the complexion of the entire war, and led to the victory of America.
On yet another ocassion, almost the enitre British Army, and many Amricans, were trapped, with their backs to the
sea, at a place called Dunkirk. The Germans were advancing for the kill, led by a tactical genius, the man who
popularized the term "Blitz krieg", General Guderian, Hiltler's choice to command the killing blow to the
British. Guderian rolled toward Dunkirk with hundreds of Panzers, unitl suddenly, for no apparent reason,
Hitler called a halt to the advance.
To this day no man knows why Hitler commited this gravest of errors, for in the time they had left the allies musutered
a flotilla of fishing boats, pleasure craft, and small merchant vessels. In those precious hours the boats navigated
the trecherous English Channel time and again until every man was removed from danger.
Such are the events which mark the visitation of God's overruling will in the playing out of Human history, and we can
thnk Him vehemently for those deliverances.