Two Sides of God's Will

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

Believers may often fail to realize that God has more than one type of will. This may be the cause of people erroneously blaming God for all the bad things that happen in their lives. Bible commentators list many categories under God's will: sovereign, perceptive, preferential, directive, discerned, permissive, etc. But to simplify matters, let's look at the two most common ones -- His sovereign will and His permissive will.

And I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11).

Because God is sovereign, the things He decrees will always happen. We can count on them, The Bible explains His sovereign will. His permissive will includes what He wants to happen but doesn't force. When people go against what He wants, things can get messy. The bad things here come about because we live in a fallen, sinful world where God has given us the freedom to choose good or evil. He didn't want us to just be puppets under His complete control with no choice but to love and obey Him. When people choose to do evil, innocent people may be hurt. However, according to God's sovereign will, we can be assured that justice will come and evildoers who don't repent and accept Christ into their lives will be punished in the end.

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:17).

Those people who say God's will is always done are only partially correct. His sovereign will is always done, and His will shall be established forever after time as we know it ceases to exist and into eternity. However, the people on earth now do not always choose to do His will, and that can cause hurt, chaos, tragedy, and other bad things to happen. But staying close to him can dilute the effects of such things on His people.

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