These words are, of course, part of the Lord's Prayer; "Thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven." At times we recite it without a great deal of thought, much like we would recite the Pledge of Allegiance, or perhaps the first few lines of the Gettysburg Address. How many times have you heard someone say, "It was God's Will," or "All things happen for a reason." These seem to be common words of comfort during times of grief. But do you believe these expressions? I can't truthfully say that I do.
Now before you go running off to some midnight vigil to pray for my poor lost soul, please hear me out. What is my theory?
Humans have been sinful by nature since the Garden of Eden. Sin is what separates us from God. We make mistakes. Mistakes are what cause accidents, and carelessness can cause illness ~ even death. The mortality of man is what makes the irregularities and the imperfections of this earth. It isn't God who is destroying it with pollution. We are doing it with our lack of attentiveness to the delicate balance of nature. It isn't God who is waging war between nations. It is our hated and greed.
When God lived as man in Christ for a time on earth, He experienced the pain of sadness. He experienced emotions, as well as physical suffering, so He knows our sorrow, and He knows our pain, and He does NOT take it lightly! He loves us, and He doesn't want to see us sad, or sick, or hurting. Why do you think He designated certain things as "sin"? Was it just to tempt us or to merely give us rules to follow? Of course not. He knows what is going to ultimately hurt us and make us sad, and He just wants to prevent us from being miserable!
So, I refuse to believe for one minute that it would be God's Will that an innocent child be beaten to death for a purpose; I don't believe that an entire family being wiped out in a house fire on Christmas Eve would be "God's Will"; I don't believe that He would choose for someone to run a stop sign which would cause an accident, killing a father of four so that someone would "learn a valuable lesson"; and, I don't believe that a P.O.W. would be held and tortured for three years behind enemy lines because God wanted it so! No, these terrible things are man-made.
I am NOT of course, implying that God does not intervene, because I know that He does. And I am not implying that there is nothing that happens for a reason either, because I know that God has a plan for our lives. But I firmly believe that for every door that is closed, God opens a window, and it is personally up to each one of us whether we are going to handle it positively or whether we are going to handle it negatively.
John Walsh, host of AMERICA'S MOST WANTED, for instance, is a perfect example of what I am talking about. His son, Adam was abducted and murdered some twenty-five years ago. Mr. Walsh could have curled up into a ball, let his anger turn to bitterness and his bitterness into hate until he died; old, miserable and alone. But instead, he took an absolutely horrific situation, and turned it into an organization which has recovered many, many missing children, as well as located many, many fugitives. The lesson to be learned here is this: Don't spend so much time staring back at the door that has been closed that you don't feel the breeze from the window God has opened for you. You may miss a golden opportunity!
So, do all things happen for a purpose? I think perhaps a more accurate phrase would be; "God can create something good from any situation."
We know
that in
all things
God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:2
