The God Who Never Says, "OOPS!"

The God who never says, "OOPS!" has, to the modern mind, become an unknown God. People seem to think of him as a grand-fatherly figure who bumbles and fumbles his way along, often pausing to listen to the advice we give him in prayer and altering his plans to suit the will of the majority. The prevalent opinion seems to be if we can find enough people to gang up on God in prayer, we can convince him to do what we desire. At best, people seem to believe God foresees what will occur though he remains powerless to do anything about it. What is truly disturbing is that a large number who would call themselves evangelical Christians have bought into a pagan heresy called dualism. They believe there are two equal and opposite forces in the universe who are engaged in an eternal struggle over good and evil. Whenever an event occurs they deem "good," the will believe God had something to do with it. Whenever events occurs that fail to meet their standard of "good," they boldly declare, probably in a misguided effort to defend God, that he had nothing to do with these tragedies. Either they are the work of Satan or the unfortunate result of "bad luck."

In reality, there are only so many ways we can try to understand the presence of wickedness and tragedy in the universe and God’s level of involvement with them. First, we could believe such occurrences took God completely by surprise, but in doing so we would deny God’s omniscience. Second, we could believe God knew these events would occur but was powerless to prevent them, but this would deny his omnipotence. Third, we could believe God determined to coerce his creatures to act in ways that would violate his revealed will, but this would deny his holiness. Finally, we could believe he, as the great architect of the universe, has preplanned everything that occurs and is now governing his universe in accordance with that master plan. It is for this last view alone we can find support in the Scriptures. If God is not sovereign and his control is not all-encompassing; if he ever has to say, "oops!" about anything that occurs in human history, he is not God at all. The apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesian church, put it this way, "In Him[Christ] also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Eph 1:11). The New International Version translates this verse as follows, "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will."

Not long ago I heard a pastor proclaim "sometimes God is even involved in our adversities." Although that is perhaps better than declaring that he has nothing to do with such events, it still falls short of the biblical teaching that God is providentially involved in the most minute occurrences of the most ordinary life. Amos asks the question, "If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it" (Amos 3:6)? Jesus said, "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will" (Matt. 10:29). The prophet, Nahum declares, "The LORD has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet" (Nahum 1:3). The great hymn-writer, Isaac Watts, wrote,

There's not a sparrow or a worm,
But's found in His decrees;
He raises monarchs to their thrones
And sinks them as He please.

Telling people God has nothing to do with sickness, tragedy and death is the most cruel message we can deliver. If that were the case, all these occurrences would be either in the hands of a wicked devil or a blind and cruel fate and God would be nothing but a helpless observer who stands with egg on his face saying, "Oops! I never intended that to happen."

Concerning God’s Decree, the framers of the Philadelphia Confession of Faith wrote:

God hath decreed in himself from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin, nor hath fellowship with any therein, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established, in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree.

If we are to understand and react properly to the truth that God governs all his creatures and all their actions in accordance with his eternal plan, there are several biblical propositions we must take into account.

1. God’s master plan encompasses even the most wicked acts perpetrated by the vilest of men and devils.

There are two prominent biblical examples that leap to mind when we contemplate this principle. The first concerns the wicked act of Joseph’s brothers in selling him into slavery. Years had passed since they had committed this act of treachery, and, in God’s providence, Joseph had risen to a place of prominence in the Egyptian government. Since there was a famine in the land of Canaan, his brothers came to Egypt seeking food. The problem was, Joseph was in charge of the stuff. If they were going to get any food, they would have to deal with him. After a long series of events, Joseph revealed himself to them. They must have been afraid when they considered their act of betrayal in the light of his position of authority. After they had begged his forgiveness and prostrated themselves before him as his servants, Joseph encouraged them to stop being afraid. He could do so because he understood God had intended the entire sordid affair, encompassing the wickedness of their actions, to bring about his sovereign purpose. Though his brothers had intended to send him far from the place he should have been, Joseph understood that, in God’s sovereign plan, he was precisely where God wanted him. This is what Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." Did this mean his brothers were any less at fault because God had been in control of the entire matter from the very beginning? Of course not! They were still to be blamed since they acted according to their depraved natures to do exactly what they wanted to do.

The second biblical example concerns the crucifixion of Christ itself. Is it possible to imagine an abominable act of greater magnitude than the vile conspiracy that resulted in Jesus’ crucifixion? Wicked sinners treated him whom the writer of Hebrews described as "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. . . ." as the vilest of criminals. He was rushed through a mock trial that was conducted contrary to legal standards, but despite the best efforts of his accusers, his judges found no fault in him at all. Was there ever a greater miscarriage of justice? Was ever an evil plot so manifestly hatched in the infernal pit?

Yet, biblical writers inform us that even this despicable act of cruelty and injustice that in many points contradicted the revealed will of God was in total accord with God’s eternal decree. Jesus, speaking in reference to Judas’ impending act of treachery, acknowledged it was in agreement with God’s decree. This is what he said, "But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" (Luke 22:21-22). The word translated, "determined," means decreed or appointed.

Peter, preaching at the first Pentecost feast after the resurrection, said, "Him [Jesus], being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death" (Acts 2:23). This idea is echoed in the prayer of Peter, John, and their companions when they heard about he threats of the Council against those who preached in Jesus’ name. This was their prayer, "For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done" (Acts 4:27-28).

2. That God controls all persons and events according to his plan, does not mean he is the direct cause of everything that occurs.

At times, God uses second causes, even the wickedness of evil men and devils to accomplish his eternal plan. Still, we are biblically justified in seeing God’s hand even in the evil acts of these wicked men. Think of all the calamitous events that occurred in Job’s life. It was Satan who had been "going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it"(Job 1:7), ostensibly seeking someone to test. At God’s suggestion, Satan set about to destroy Job’s faith. He used the Sabeans, the Chaldeans, fire from heaven, a great wind, and boils to cause Job to lose his integrity. Though all these catastrophes were clearly under God’s control according to his plan, all were not his direct acts. Satan, the Sabeans and the Chaldeans all acted freely and fulfilled their own desires in all they did. Still, Job rightly saw God’s hand in all that had happened. Having heard the news that he had lost his family and virtually all his earthly possessions, Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21). Then, in response to his wife’s suggestion that he curse God and die because of all that had occurred (Job 2:9), he replied, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity" (Job 2:10)? Implied in his statement is that adversity comes from the same hand that has given the good things.

3. God holds us responsible for all our actions. He will judge us for our violations of his will revealed in Scripture even though those actions are in keeping with his eternal decree.

In response to his teaching on the sovereignty of God in dispensing his grace, the apostle Paul posed an objection he supposed someone might raise. He wrote, "You will say to me then,’Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will’" (Romans 9:19)? These words point up the problem raised by the revelation that God fulfills his sovereign decree in all that occurs. It should be clear when he asks, ". . . .who has resisted his will?" he is referring to God’s decreed will, not his will declared in Scripture. Every human being has resisted God’s will revealed in Scripture, but Paul’s point is that God holds us responsible for our actions even when we fulfill his decreed will in doing so. The apostle gives no answer in this context to this supposed objection except to remind anyone who might bring up such an objection of God’s absolute right to do what he will with his own.

Perhaps the best answer we can give to the question is this. God is able to hold us responsible for our actions, though they are perfectly in accord with his decreed will, because in all our actions, we act freely in accord with the dictates of our own wills. It would be erroneous to state that sinners possess "free will" since the will is subject to the nature that governs it. Still, we act freely in the choices we make. Ours are the actions of free agents; we do not do what we are outwardly constrained to do, but what we are inwardly compelled to do by the power of sinful nature.

It is our responsibility to live life looking forward in accordance with his will revealed in Scripture. We can only know an event was pre-planned after it has occurred. The Puritan writer, Thomas Watson, quaintly expressed this truth when he described sovereign providence as the Christian’s diary not his Bible. We must never seek to govern our lives in terms of what God has decreed, since that decree is secret to us until it occurs. We must govern our actions by what God has declared in his Word.

Think of God’s message to his prophet, Habakkuk, in response to his prayers, "For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation which marches through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs (Hab 1:6). Still, in chapter two of that book, God announces he will bring judgment on all evildoers.

Someone once asked Charles Spurgeon how he could reconcile God’s sovereignty with human responsibility. He replied, "Friends need no reconciliation." These two truths are usually set side by side in the Bible. In the same passage in which Jesus informed his disciples that the events surrounding his crucifixion had been decreed by God (Luke 22:21-22), he pronounced woe on his betrayer. In pursuing the delight and design of his own will, Judas unwittingly fulfilled God’s decreed will.

4. Since God is in control of all his creatures and all their actions, he is able to cause all things to work together for good to those who love him, to those who are the called ones according to his purpose.

If catastrophic events were outside of God’s control, he would be unable to cause all things to work together for the good of his people. Knowing that God is in control of even the most tragic circumstances should be a great cause of consolation to those who love and trust him.
Though I can’t recall the speakers name, I can recall hearing him tell about his father’s bedtime stories. He said though his father’s tales were often horrifying beyond imagination, he was never frightened by them. He knew they were his father’s stories, and he would always make them turn out all right. We need to remember that human history is our Father’s story, and however painful and heartrending our experiences may have been, he will ultimately make everything turn out for our good and for his everlasting glory.

God moves in a mysterious way,

His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessing on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

William Cowper 1772

Don’t judge the Lord by feeble sense or by blind unbelief that denies his sovereign involvement in the affairs of your life, but trust him for his grace. Rest on the sovereign providence of him who never has to say, "Oops, I never intended that!"