We have all heard it, and many of us have even said it. There are tragedies all around us both big and small. (I suppose what makes a tragedy big or small depends on whom it affects.) There are floods that that destroy property and life. There are mistakes people make that causes untold hardship on those involved. There are people who are simply "mean" who set out to make it hard on other people. And inevitably, when something bad happens, someone is going to be heard say, "It must have been God’s will" or "It must be part of God’s plan." Sometimes someone will say, "God’s plan just hasn’t unfolded yet."

Are these things that happen part of God’s plan? Does God orchestrate the events in our lives to the degree that these statements imply? Does this mean that God has predestined us to suffer though these things? We need to be very careful that we don’t "blame" God for evil things in our lives. James reminds us, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed" (James 1:13-14). God is not responsible for the bad (or evil) things that happen to us.

God does know all: past, present and future. Exodus 3:14, "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." By this, God signified that HE IS past, present and future. Isaiah 63:16 says, "Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting."

However, "foreknowledge" does not necessarily mean "causation." In other words, simply because God knows something is going to happen in the future, does not mean that He caused it to happen. Numerous prophecies and fulfillment in the Old and New Testaments testify to the fact that God knows everything that is going to happen before it happens. However, God does not cause everything that happens. For instance, we are given the choice to follow and do God’s will. But it is up to us to choose. When we choose to do evil, it is not God who has made us do it (James 1:13-14), it is our own option. An excellent example which we understand is this: every now and then a person is in the right (or wrong) place to witness, without being involved, a car wreck, a plan crash or something of that nature. He sees it about to happen and knows, with almost (if not absolute) certainty, that it going to happen. Did he cause it to happen? Absolutely not. Simply because he knew that it was about to happen does not mean that he caused it to happen.

Does God make plans for an individual, or does he plan out the individual’s life ahead of time? This idea is born in the Calvinistic doctrine of Predestination. No, God does not plan our lives ahead of time. He has given instructions and made provisions for His children. Paul said in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." This simply teaches that God’s children are those who "walk in" "good works." It does not mean that God has "chosen" certain individuals to "walk in them" and others who will not. It is true that God blesses certain people more or differently. Jesus said, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). The Bible teaches with certainty God’s providential care. It is written, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). Then Paul said of his own life, "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;…For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:12,19).

But there is every indication that God will "use" what he knows about an individual and the decisions that he is likely to make, to the furtherance of the Gospel today. Jesus was sent into the world to die for our sins (John 3:16). But, who was it who was going to commit the awful act of betraying our Lord into the hands of those who would ultimately crucify Him? Did God create a special person for this? Or, did He simply use what he knew about Judas? After Jesus had explained to the twelve that one of them was going to betray Him, he said, "The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! Good were it for that man if he had never been born" (Mark 14:21). Judas had a choice. He could have chosen not to be the one, but he didn’t. He could have even chosen after the incident not take his own life, but rather repent and ask for forgiveness, but he didn’t. If Judas had not been the one, someone else would have done it. And Christ would have known beforehand who it was going to be.

What is God’s will and desire? "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:17).