Then He made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying “It is a ghost!” and they cried out for fear. But immediately He spoke to them, saying, “Take heart, it is I’ have no fear.”
Matthew 14: 22-27
Today’s topic is one of the more difficult ones both to write about and understand—the permissive will of God. We know that God can do anything. His power is not limited. We know that God acts in intentional ways. For instance, God intentionally gives people certain talents and abilities. Not everyone is called to be a doctor, but some people are. Not everyone is called to be a teacher, but some people are. Everyone is called by God to help spread the Gospel but each will do it in a different way. These are examples of the intentional will of God. These are examples of specific things that God intends. We will each be accountable to God for what we did with the opportunities He intentionally provided us with. Speaking personally, I know that God intended for me to be a priest. For a long time, I wrestled with answering this call. Among the things I considered was “How will God judge me if I know I have this call and don’t follow it?” I wondered if God would consider me as the man who had the one talent in Matthew 25:14-30 who buried it in the ground and didn’t do anything with it. The intentional will of God isn’t always easy to discern, but it is certainly easier than the permissive will of God. Because the intentional will of God is easier to discern, there is certainly more accountability before the awesome judgment seat of Christ for not following his intentional will.
Now we move to the permissive will of God. This is always a tricky subject. If we know that God can do anything, then we know that He can change the course of a hurricane, or soften the heart of someone that is angry with us, or heal someone who is sick, or cause the car accident not to happen. So, why doesn’t He? Every time God changes what should be a “natural” course of events, that would be a miracle. For instance, if I hit someone, I could go to jail. If I go to hit someone and God stops my hand, not only is that a “miracle” for the person who didn’t get hit, is also has taken away my free will to hit them. I am free to swing my arms as far as they will go from my body and that leaves open the possibility that I might hit someone with them. If every time I go to do something bad, if God stops me, then He has taken away my free will. I no longer have freedom to choose to do something wrong, which means that He would be all-controlling and I would essentially be a slave to His will.
Part of the consequence of living in a fallen world is that bad things happen to good people, even to the best of people. Good people get killed in car accidents every day. Good people are victims of disasters of nature—hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc. Good people get sick. What if God blotted out all disasters of nature, accidents and sickness? He could. In thinking this through, one might use the comparison to a teacher or professor giving everyone in the class an A and having no standards for a good grade. If there were no consequences to anything, there would be no need for faith. If everything had a good outcome, there would be no need for faith, because faith is what is needed when the outcome is not good. That doesn’t mean that God necessarily tests our faith by allowing bad things to happen to us. The consequences of living in a fallen world test that faith, almost every day. There are certain things that happen to us that are the direct result of our own bad decisions. There are certain things that happen to us that are the direct result of the bad decisions of others. Disasters of nature affect each of us, saint or sinner, in the same way. And there are negative consequences of the human condition—living in a world with polluted water, polluted air and polluted gene pools, among other things—that will ultimately lead to the demise of each of us, no matter how careful we are.
There have been many instances in my ministry where bad things have happened that are unexplainable—for instance, a child dies and I wonder, “why did God allow that child to be born in the first place?” Or “why couldn’t God have healed an innocent baby? It wouldn’t change the outcome for the whole world, but it would have for that family?” Yes, I am confronted with and wrestle with these issues all the time. I have a list I’m keeping in the hopes that I can ask God one day.
In the Scripture reading used with today’s message, we see Jesus leave the disciples, even going so far as to “make them get into the boat,” (Matthew 14:22) while He went away by Himself to pray. He knew what was going to happen. He knew there was going to be a storm and yet He sent the disciples out into the storm anyway. Was it to make a point? Or test their faith? We know that this circumstance led to Peter walking on the water to meet Jesus. We know that this tested Peter’s faith, and also gave the disciples faith in Jesus when they saw Him walking on the water. Something good came from something that was scary. Why did Jesus choose to do this, to have the story play out like this? Again, perhaps a question we won’t know. As we mentioned earlier, if all the questions are answered, then there is no need for faith. Faith is showing up even when the questions are not answered.
There are certain questions for which we will never get answers. We know that God makes miracles in certain instances but allows tragedies in others. Why is He selective? We don’t know. Faith is showing up even when we don’t know or understand. But definition that is what faith is. The permissive will of God is perhaps the greatest challenge to faith.
Lord, You know everything. You know my future, my future successes, even my future failures. I do not know these things, but You know them. Help me every day of my future, whether You call me intentionally to success or even permit failure. Help me to have faith, even when questions come up in life for which there are no answers. Help me to always understand Your intentional will and accept Your permissive will. Amen.
Faith is showing up even when the questions are not answered. Keep showing up.
