This is a new resource that I have posted as a short book called, “THREE REASONS WHY.” By no means am I trying to imply that I have discovered the reasons why everything happens, but only trying to take a closer look at some spiritual truths and making some general conclusions. WHY has always been the universal question when dealing with the mysteries of the unknown. Many events and occurrences do not make sense to our natural mind because His ways are much higher than our limited understanding. However, there is no limit as to how close we can become to Him and how deep in our understanding we can learn. The Bible says we are trying to see through a dark glass but I also believe as we develop our spiritual intimacy with Him, the more we can discern about how faith works along with knowing His sovereign will. As we seek His face, may the Lord continue to give us His wisdom and revelation.

THREE REASONS WHY

SEEING THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY

“Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect (mature): yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nothing. But we speak the wisdom (truth) of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained (designed) before the world unto “our” glory (benefit)” (I Corinthians 2:6-7).

I have titled this study, “The three reasons – seeing through a glass darkly” but actually, as you will discover later within the content, it could just as well be narrowed down to two reasons. I’m including the third reason because I believe, it must be addressed as a significant part of our subject. Also, I would like to comment on the cover as we see a portrayal of the Shepard boy David, dragging the head of Goliath to which he has just removed from the body with the giant’s own sword. We have all heard the old saying, “some days you are the windshield and some days you are the bug” and this picture allows us to consider the ups and downs of victories and defeats. It’s wonderful that God intervened with a miracle and helped David kill this giant, but we have also witnessed many times in our life that the giant easily won. A question to keep in the back of our mind as we proceed is “why certain things turn out the way they do.”

Let us begin with establishing a foundation and agreeing that God is the Creator of all things and is the total authority over everything. Nothing happens without Him knowing about it and He is directly or indirectly involved with everything that happens in heaven, the universe, the earth and beyond. His attributes include being Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent which means He is Alpha and Omega the all in all. So, as we continue in our journey to discover why things happen, it’s important, to begin with this information. When we accept that everything which happens (past and future) is either caused by Him or allowed by Him, we eliminate the confusion of false theories about the Christian faith.

With being a minister, counselor, and chaplain for many years, I have encountered more than my share of suffering and heartache. I’ve heard so many people, (including myself) ask the age-old question, “why” and along with every other individual who tries to bring comfort and peace to a discouraging situation, I have not been able to give a solid answer. I have stared silently as family members agonized over having lost loved ones in house fires and with tears streaming down their faces, they wonder how God could allow little children to burn to death and families be destroyed. Like you, I’ve known about many tragedies where innocent people have died in natural disasters, accidents, illness, or killed in a senseless act of brutal terrorism and we are left dumbfounded and clueless. It’s true there are times when it’s best to be silent because even if God has allowed us to see a small portion of truth through a glass darkly, that does not mean we are to share them at all times to everyone. However, in the secret place of our prayers and meditation of His Word, there is much truth we can learn about God and the meaning of life. God is absolute truth and the more we can absorb into our spirit the more we will understand His mysteries and the depth of His character. I am presenting this study for this purpose and hope that it will help us expand in our spiritual knowledge and allow us to see the depth, height, and width of His glorious will more clearly.

As the most intelligent creatures on earth, we seldom wander far from the “nest” of our basic instincts. Referring specifically to the human nature of an average healthy mentality, we spend most of our time either making events happen, experiencing the unexpected or observing others as they walk through their events. Unfortunately, we have become somewhat addicted to watching others live while spending less time living life for ourselves, referring to social media and reality shows as examples. It seems the deeper we progress in our technology the more entangled we become in it’s manipulating “spiderweb” strategy to control our time and our mind. Many are deceived by the seemingly innocent act of scratching the belly of a giant pet octopus without realizing all eight arms are behind them with every intention to grab us and absorb their attention. Our entertainment consumption has evolved into a literal form of worship and is being used by the “Prince and power of the air” to distract our focus away from God’s absolute truth.

Satan is referred to as an “angel of light” for the purpose of hypnotizing our thoughts and paralyzing our spirit. This is his job. I occasionally watch a show called, “The big bang theory” and sometimes find it amusing. However, when we stop and consider that the name of this sitcom is in direct opposition of God being the creator of the universe, it seems more like an insult to the Bible. Also, the atmosphere within the program is obviously atheistic and often makes fun of those poor ignorant Christians. This is just one of the many sources of negativity and worldliness that we should not waste our time with. So, why do I do it? That is a very interesting question. Some might say, “well, what are we supposed to do, live in a cave with no contact from the outside world?” I would not go that far, but no one is twisting our arm making us purchase a television or it’s channels. Our time is something we control very much like the food we eat. To a certain extent, we are who we choose to be.

As our society becomes more crippled with anxiety and emotional disorders, one has to wonder why people choose to live as depressed prisoners when the “keys” to happiness and freedom are only a prayer and a Bible away. Proverbs 29:18, rings very true when it uses the word “perish” as describing what happens to individuals who do not receive the Godly wisdom and instruction which has the power to transform and liberate. It’s very important to remember that knowledge is obtained by the determination to learn but spiritual wisdom is divinely given. There is a huge difference between knowing about things and understanding them. This is not to say that obtaining revelation about spiritual mysteries will prevent us from having difficulties and struggles but through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can receive super-natural assistance that can empower us to overcome otherwise impossible obstacles.

Then, of course, there are times when we do become helpless in certain circumstances, left only to bear the pain and be patient from what we cannot control. This is not a popular subject but they do happen and in these times we must exercise our trust in God and believe that His love is guiding us to His destination. The same way that we tell a child no and then watch as they spend ours pouting, the Lord will let us stew in our frustration in order to teach us His lessons. For the most part, we are ignorant spectators of life as events orbit around our senses and we usually fail miserably to “snap out” of our cloudy fantasy long enough to investigate what these events are about and why they happen. The majority assumes that all difficult and confusing areas of thought should be kept in the files of subjects that we cannot understand and thus we need not waste time thinking about it. This lack of comprehension comes naturally from the basic attitude of not caring, which brings us back to the shallowness of human thought in general. Blame is usually put on the shoulders of the curse we have been given and is socially accepted as the ever popular “God’s will theory.” This is the easiest escape to avoid dealing with responsibility and unfortunately is the result of an absence of spiritual understanding and discipline.

What is traditionally labeled and sold as sophisticated logic and practical common sense is hardly more than a general basic data storage of someone else s opinions and traditions.

When the higher thinking development stage of the brain in association with the new born-again spirit is not exercised, we have the lower dimension of instinct thinking as the commander of our intelligence. This carnal mentality is not based on faith but rather controlled by a spirit of arrogance and fear. How can anyone that has studied God’s Word not be compelled to research the statements regarding the “covenant bond” between God and man. Since we are FILLED with His Holy Spirit and have access to His MIND (Philippians 2:5), why it would appear arrogant to believe we can actually “know” who He is and what He wants. We’ve heard all of our life how important it is to know God personally, yet have we ever thought about what we are trying to discover about Him? Humans are not as dumb as they seem. We desire to know what God has to offer but are hesitant to learn about what is expected of us in return. We want every blessing that is available but not interested in the least in becoming a spiritual sacrifice.

The central reason why mankind is now more of a lower dimension thinker than ever is because the links in the superior thinking chain have suffered deterioration, alterations, modifications, and broken intervals. We realize that our original spiritual authority as rulers of this world along with our natural physical strength, perception, and beauty was taken away as a punishment because of a failure to obey God’s instructions. Our superior mental ability also suffered a great loss along with the curse upon the earth, the animals, and the atmosphere. Many believe that Adam and Eve had a higher percentage of activation within their brain which gave them not only a more developed intellect but also special gifts and talents. Instead of functioning as super-human rulers within a flawless utopia, mankind fell and was sentenced to be paupers and laborers within a matrix of chaos and difficulty.

Most of us have heard the terms left brain and right brain but never “both” at the same time which is just one example of how many are convinced modern man is not operating on all eight cylinders. By the way, we read in Isaiah chapter eleven along with other associated references where within the millennial reign, the animals will return to being herbivores and their violent nature will be changed back to being docile. Does this also mean the atmosphere will be restored to an environment of paradise and the human body returned back to its original state of spiritual, mental and physical wholeness? It makes sense that as the curse will be lifted, humans will live and comprehend life like we have never dreamed or imagined. There are only tiny fragments seen around the world with glimpses of our old spiritual authority manifesting in such forms as, psychic phenomena, visions, photographic memory, telepathy, remote viewing, child prodigies, mind control and many other strange abilities that can be seen as shadows of a larger puzzle that was once Adam and Eves everyday existence. For example, for Adam to name and remember every animal and insect in the world proves that without a doubt, he was operating with intelligence far above what we now possess. We notice how the lingering effects of this genius mentality were passed down into several future generations with Noah and three of his son’s having the brain power to visualize and construct a ship the size of the Queen Mary. I am not by any means taking anything away from the miracle power of God helping them build it, but I believe were very smart and they did do the work.

We also acknowledge the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids which by the way cannot be constructed today even with state of the art technology and equipment, (Japan tried in 1978 and gave up). Many believe they were visited and heavily influenced by strangers from another galaxy, (actually were probably helped by demons) but that is another subject. The Babylonians, the city of Atlantis, the Greeks, Mayans and Romans and other civilizations that accomplished impressive wonders of the world were nothing less than truly amazing. However, it seems especially after the resurrection of Christ, human mentality began to decline and has only in the last 100 years has awakened again. We find sections of time such as the dark ages where it seems that higher intelligence crawled back into its shell but, what we need to realize is that while our technology is advancing the everyday average brain may not necessarily be developing the correct way. Why are we experiencing this current lack of higher intelligence and more importantly how can we mentally advance ourselves once again? Just because we can learn how to use a computer, does that really make us smarter? In the levels of intelligence, I can clearly see that what we call “smart” can actually become a distraction to keep us from seeking God’s face. It’s a higher realm of heavenly wisdom that should be the focus of our prayers – not a new cell phone or a new television! Interestingly as we search the indemnification blessings of the New Blood Covenant of Christ, we see that several keys have been “returned” to the fallen race for the purpose of unlocking what is closed and restoring what was lost. As we seek, knock and ask, we have promised that we will find, doors will be opened, and we will receive answers. The most important gifts will always be the redemption of our spirit, having a personal relationship with God, the opportunity to worship, love and serve Him, being filled with His Spirit, an eternal life in heaven, the open bridge between our conscience and God’s throne and all the crowns and rewards that are waiting for us. But wait, there is more. As we continue in our excavation of hidden knowledge, there is an endless treasure of spiritual wisdom for those who have the desire to dig deeper.

“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God: that we might KNOW the things that are freely given to us of God.” (I Corinthians 2: 12) Why has the human race not been aware of these divine keys? Since the civilization had endured four thousand years of living without the indwelling Holy Spirit which could enable a higher dimension of intelligence (they did not fully realize what they had lost), and with New Testament saints experiencing the lack of spiritual revelation after Christ’s atonement (another two thousand years and with a significant percentage captured in the dark ages). And finally, with Satan working very hard to hinder mankind from searching, it is clearer to see why much of our civilization has lived in a survivor mode instead of a conqueror mode. The wonderful news is this divine mental enhancement is waiting within the grasp of those who can generate enough faith through prayer, serious meditation, and sanctification to believe and receive the illumination of spiritual wisdom.

As the superior species of the planet, we also share characteristics with other organisms that learn by repetition, pleasure, pain, and problem solving savvy. When every other creature has run as far as they can intellectually, we as humans are only stretching our legs. We are intended to be intense visionaries, architects of the future, creators of dreams and analyst of the “why” spectrum. So then why have the masses intellectual nakedness become so obviously exposed in the psychological, philosophical and spiritual thinking department? It is very clear – we are not progressing in our quest to reach the mind of Christ. Could it be that certain past civilizations were far more advanced than we are now, yet for different causes had devastating economic, social and educational losses? We can now build rockets to Neptune but are clueless when we look into the mirror and ask questions about miracles or who influences our thoughts, or can human beings become instruments for super-natural intervention? Why are we here? Or why do events happen? I am convinced the search and meditation of God’s wisdom begins with the new spiritual birth and then grows into a higher comprehension of the mysteries of true reality as we focus our energy into God’s Kingdom. “But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. BUT, GOD HAS REVEALED THEM UNTO US BY HIS SPIRIT, for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the DEEP things of God.” (I Corinthians 2: 9-10)

We cannot obtain these higher levels of thinking without the mind of Christ because He is the power of higher thought. As He lives in us, this gift of enlightenment is the direct link from His mind and Spirit to our born again spirit and mind. It seems understandable how these missing pieces of the puzzle could be the most crucial because what we do not perceive could be holding back our greatest advances. Could there not be different levels of intelligence that God has every expectation for us to attain and yet we are being mentally held down by the enemy of our soul to prevent us (the light) from exterminating the darkness? Satan is the ruler of this realm of darkness with a strategy to deceive the blind and the price for being ignorant of God’s absolute truth is to suffer severe physical and spiritual loss. In my years of being involved with ministry, chaplaincy, leading worship and especially writing about human behavior, I’ve been faced with the “why” question many times. I am quick to acknowledge that no one has all the answers as to knows why certain things, however, I believe there is nothing impossible with God including Him revealing His thoughts to us – IF we are diligent in our faith to believe His promise that if we seek we will find. I have yet to discover an event in the lives of any human being that cannot be explained in these views. The door is open to anyone who has the burning desire to know absolute truth to know that God is not trying to play games with us but is willing to share His mind and thoughts to us that we may know which of these laws apply in each unique situation.

Before we begin, let us understand about worldviews so we can decide which camp we believe expresses our convictions. The understanding of this philosophy will have a direct impact on our destination. We will refer to these two ideas as EAST and WEST.

East believes that God is in total control and is the absolute authority of all things. He Created all things and has the ability to see and know all things past, present and future. He has the power and the desire to intervene, change situations, prevent them or cause them. He has complete power over the devil and nothing can be done from the kingdom of darkness without God’s permission. He has predestined most events but has also given his creation conditional free-will. He is the author of divine election and sovereign selection. One hundred percent victory is secure and in God’s eyes, everything is already finished. He is never surprised or alarmed. He has always been on the throne and will always be the Lord of lords and the King of kings. His words are and never fail. God cannot lie and He cannot be defeated.

West believes the forces of good and evil are fighting in real time or in other words the ultimate victory for heaven and earth is still at stake. These individuals are convinced that good and evil are left to chance and the determination of man’s decisions. In this Deist worldview, God is worried that His people will fail and crumble in defeat under the influence of their own rebellion but nonetheless, He will restrain Himself from becoming involved. Eternal salvation is offered but completely dependent on man’s faith and his free-will choices. Mankind selects his own destiny and plans his own way so that all things happen as a result of humans following and serving good or evil.

So, we see how crucial it is for us to decide our direction or worldview as we proceed with our research. If we believe the East worldview, we can attribute all events as the sovereignty of God making all decisions and ultimately taking all responsibilities associated with every reason. If we choose to embrace the Western view, we are convinced that heaven and earth operate under the law of choice and that God has placed the destiny of the future into the hands of random chance in direct association with man’s free will. In this light, no one knows who will win the battle of Armageddon, the promises of heaven, the power of Satan, or a guarantee the Bible is true. I would hate to live not knowing if there is a life after this one and nervously considering the possibility the future of eternity is hanging in the balance. Nonetheless, as we ponder about these ideas, each conviction will need to be filtered through both camps in order to embrace a deeper enlightenment to the questions and mysteries of our journey. Personally, I want to know the reasons. I understand there are many things God does not want us to know and I’m fine with that. At the same time, I’m also convinced there are many revelations He longs to share with us. “But the natural man does not accept the things of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know or judge them, because they must be spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judges ALL things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST” I Corinthians 2:14-16. May you be blessed as you continue your pursuit of spiritual truth.

REASON NUMBER 1:

DIRECTLY FROM GOD’S HAND – GOD’S SOVEREIGN WILL

May we consider this vital slice of our worldview which acknowledges that God, (the one true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Jehovah Yahweh, the God of the Bible) as the one and only creator and total authority over all things. A person does not need to be a Christian to hear God speak as we remember God spoke to Paul on the Damascus Road and at the time he was an enemy of Jesus. And as a matter of fact, everyone who has ever been born-again was convicted (influenced) by the Holy Spirit as a result of God reaching out His mercy and love to embrace us and save us from ourselves. In a recent interview with George Lucas a famous agnostic, the question was asked, “do you believe there is a God?” to which he replied, how can anyone know? We know that within the star wars story he incorporated his own personal worldview about the presence of some mysterious “force” somewhere in the universe, but I would guess that most people did not relate this as being the God of the Bible. An agnostic does not deny the existence of God like the atheist, but rather believes that one cannot know for certain whether or not they exist. The term agnostic was fittingly coined by the 19th-century British scientist Thomas H. Huxley, who believed that only material phenomena were objects of true reality and tangible knowledge. He made up the word from the prefix “a” meaning “without, not,” as in amoral and attached the noun Gnostic. Gnostic is related to the Greek word gnosis which means knowledge and was used by early Christian writers to explain the higher, esoteric knowledge of spiritual things; hence, gnostic refers to individuals who claim to have such advanced insight. Huxley needed something to identify his place in the intellectual world that could bring him respect in the halls of philosophy, so Huxley coined the term agnostic for himself with its first published use being in 1870. It’s a shame that anyone would spend their life trying to prove that we cannot know God.

One aspect of a direct intervention from God could be explained as a divine inspiration spoken audible or inward (still small voice) from a representative of the Holy Trinity into the conscience of our mind or our regenerated spirit. A more aggressive intervention could include Him a more obvious and direct action of bringing judgment, discipline, chastisement or even death. First, we must recognize these messages as being from God, then we can ask for the interpretation and receive the instruction as a clear understanding of God’s intentions. We might add here that whatever is comprehended from the Holy Spirit, one thing is sure, His influences will never be a contradiction to His written Word. Several vehicles of communication would include literal voices heard from God, The Holy Spirit, angels, animals or humans relaying God’s message, discernment of spirits, signs, meditations, dreams, physical manifestations, mysterious interventions, visions, His written Word and through prayer. We see many examples throughout scripture revealing God intervening in the lives of men and women with unusual but very distinct instructions. The message may not always be according to our natural thinking or our present understanding (rarely is it ever) but the key has been and will always include faithful obedience. May we remember that within our blueprints God is laying the groundwork for something He has plans for whether next week or one hundred years from now and our mission to be attentive and do what He says. These plans may affect thousands of people through many centuries and generations with thoughts and ways too high for our current limited comprehension. Listening and being available are the keys to being usable which leads us to be a reliable and pleasing servant. As a part of the first reason, I will again conclude this small section with a reminder about God’s sovereign decisions. The degree or intensity of God’s influence cannot be measured or presumed. He has the ultimate control as to what anyone can do and what they will do, but in this particular reason, we are specifically referring to influence not force. It’s no doubt a daily occurrence when God desires for each of His followers to do something but unfortunately, they fail to do it. So we could say that influence would be more like asking where forcing would be more like predestination. A Christian will receive the influences from the Holy Spirit in the form of a nudge, an intuition a still small voice or whisper “request” but usually only those who are expecting, anticipating, alert, prepared and waiting for His call will be ready and able to hear Him.

Allow me to ask a question here at this point. One definition of a “will” (in the sense of a last will and testament) is defined as a desire or request for something to be done after the appeal. We can agree the New Testament is the will of God made spiritually legal through the blood, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the light of this truth, does God have a general will or plea for all of His wheat and a more specific will for each of these individuals? I believe the answer would be yes, but it only opens another door of mystery and curiosity. The next question would involve the idea of “exceptions” to a generally written promise in God’s word. The first thought would be that God’s word cannot fail and there are no favorites or special favors, while at the same time keeping in mind that he will do as he pleases? And, if it seems he is going against his Word then we must draw the conclusion that we do not understand the situation completely. For example, if we agree that God wants a person to be healed and live in divine health, could He also desire that someone else remain in sickness in order to minister to others through unique divine appointments and accomplish a work that a healthy person could not? Is it not true that a battle-tested soldier is more highly respected among other soldiers than a civilian who tries to relate and explain the horrors of combat? Could it be that someone with cancer might be the only person that another cancer patient would listen to? Could that person’s illness be used by God to lead others to salvation? I realize this does not seem fair but are we smart enough to know what fair is? Is this another reason why the Bible declares that His ways are so much higher than ours? The concept of a good God – bad devil, is a part of the fabric of our thinking and we are constantly judging everything based on our opinions about this. Even though countless situations seem to be partial and unjust we must perceive that God is operating in a completely different dimension of time and space. His thoughts are far above our emotional understanding and His reasoning cannot be comprehended by our mortal minds. Can you think of other examples that would not seem fair according to our way of thinking and yet be spiritually effective as a part of God’s plans? I’m sure the friends and relatives of those who lived in the ancient city of Sodom after it was destroyed by God, had mixed feelings about what happened. Or what about when King David and his army would go into a city and God would command that he kill every living thing including babies and animals? Many situations seem cruel and unfair but trying to understand God’s reasons would be like someone trying to explain to us how to perform brain surgery. We know that God’s sovereignty cannot cross the line of His written or spoken general instructions and that it’s impossible for Him to contradict Himself. However, we can look around and see circumstances that seem to be contrary to the strict discipline of His instructions. Could it be that God uses us according to our measure of faith and even though it is not His perfect will, He does what He can with the amount of knowledge and understanding that we have? This is no doubt a powerful revelation to our comprehension of why things happen and should be meditated on as another opportunity to learn and grow in our spiritual development. Since hardly any human is walking in God’s perfect will, we must accept that He is doing all that He can with what we have to offer. Accomplishing these works of grace within our weakness is amazing in the light of Him also not compromising His perfect character and truth in any form.

“For you formed my inward parts; you covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was hidden from you when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed, and in your book, they all were written, the days fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16).

We cannot talk about God being Omnipotent and His eternal sovereignty without acknowledging the Biblical doctrine of predestination. We notice that even Israel is referred to by God as His chosen people so we cannot ignore or avoid there is such a thing as sovereign selection along with unconditional love and grace. Fate is a common word that is used when pondering the mysteries of life but is there truly such a thing? I am glad you asked, and by the way, in my personal opinion, I would say yes. Webster’s New World Dictionary record’s that fate is, “the power to determine destiny.” Does our heavenly Father intervene in certain situations with His power and force situations to change? Absolutely. He is the only one who can. Not only does He step into the situation when He desires but He does not need anyone’s permission. This is the rigid reality that the sovereignty of God is built upon. Basically speaking, God does whatever He wants, whenever He wants but while never contradicting His word or His integrity. Does predestination over-ride our prayers and faith? Yes. When our prayers do not line up with His perfect will, no matter how sincere we are, we are probably praying according to our own thoughts and desires. Praying amiss is using God as a gumball machine and not having a clue about what He desires or caring about what He is thinking. “You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not. You ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you might consume it upon your lusts” James 4:2-3. The passage goes on to talk about whoever is a friend to the world is an enemy to God and once again reminds us to pull away from our selfish carnality and focus on our relationship with Christ and what He has called us to be. As we learn how to worship Him and know Him more intimately, we can sense His will and our prayers can become one with His intentions. This is a crucial aspect of being completely submissive, abiding in His divine reality, and walking in His Spirit.

Why would anyone pray if we thought for a minute that God would not listen or react on our behalf to transform our circumstances? We have seen in the earlier reasons where man, God, and Satan use their influence and general will to cause and persuade events to happen but in this fourth reason we can include the intelligent conclusion that God “creates” or makes things to happen and likewise “prevents” things from happening with force when He deems fit. This last reason would be impossible to explain without separating this tree into several branches. We already see God’s general will and now we must accept and realize that God has a specific will and plan for heaven and earth and that plan will be manifested perfectly with His desire and His prophetic word. This includes a specific will for the direction of each person which is miraculously unique yet does not conflict with what He has written. Everything that God has ever thought, spoken about, and called into existence which is His specific will, shall be manifested without exception, which could be called the sovereignty branch. Now, we must include an important point here before we go on. There are certain desires that God has requested that have not come to pass because man has failed to obey. But these are situations which were not mandatory in God’s specific will. His general will can be found in particular passages of scripture as a suggestion or hope, meaning that He has a desire for us and presented to us as an option if we so “choose”. Again these circumstances would fall under our previous category of influence, not predestination.

Now we have established a general will branch and a specific will branch. If just one event which God said He would definitely do something was prevented by an outside source, there would be a huge hole in the absolute authority of an Almighty God. Are there doors too heavy for Him to open or a task too difficult for Him to achieve? Of course not. His signature and reputation is perfection. Anything He has ever promised He would do, He has done and every jot and tittle of His prophecies will come to pass without exception. This does not mean there are events that He would rather see turn out another way, but because of Him allowing us to have choices, His hopes and intentions occasionally give way to man’s decisions, (an example would be abortion). There is no way God wants to see babies killed, but He allows some of them to die as the wages of sin. You may ask, is there such a thing as luck or chance? I am glad you asked. There are certain events that many people would contribute to chance but if we look through our spiritual microscope we may be surprised at what we find. The philosophical idea of luck and providence may be filled with emotional entertainment, but if we search diligently we will discover there may not be a possibility of chance after all. This is another purpose of our study as we examine how He “causes” events to happen, how He can “prevent” events from happening, along with His power to “not” prevent events from happening.

These pillars of truth have a huge impact on the philosophy of chance. For example, when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, could God have prevented them from hitting their intended target? Certainly! He is God and nothing hinders Him from intervening. Allow me to ask, since He made the decision to not stop this tragedy, does this make Him responsible? Directly no, but indirectly I think we could agree that because of His ability to control everything and for His own reasons, He did allow it to happen. For what reason, we have no idea the same way we are perplexed when a child runs out in front of a car and they are instantly killed. To believe He could not prevent it would certainly damage and lessen His reputation of being infinitely powerful and in total control. Without a doubt, this would give us a sickening feeling of dread and fear that His promises are not true and our future is hopeless. If we perceive Him as constantly struggling against the forces of darkness and not having total superior power over the realm of evil, again, we would definitely be worried whether His kingdom would prevail in the future battle for complete control of all eternity. We must know with all of our heart that He is aware of everything that will happen before it happens and that He can either stop it or let it manifest and in this illumination of thought it’s vital we agree there is no such thing as pure chance. Even if He stands away from a particular situation and allows it to take its own course, He still makes a direct impact on the outcome by choosing not to intervene. If a meteor falls on my head out of the clear blue sky, it may be considered a one in a billion chance accident but we must still admit that God watched it and allowed it to happen. Why He allowed it to happen has everything to do with His plans and decisions which He could possibly explain to us but most likely we will never know in this life.

God knew when Hitler was conceived what kind of life he would live but the Lord allowed him to be born, grow up and live to be one of the cruelest and ruthless dictators the world has ever known. Of course, we ponder the questions about “why” things happen (which is the reason for this study), but the libraries of examples are only more evidence of our shallow understanding. Every second of the day and night God is stepping into circumstances and is shaping this earthly realm to His satisfaction. He listens to every heartbeat of every person and knows every thought, word, and deed. He prevents what He does not want to happen and allows what He wants to see come to pass. Our mission in life is not to argue or fight against His plan but rather to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice cooperating with the direction He has made for us to go. Another example is how God chooses to physically heal some but does not heal others. Some would say this has to do with a lack of faith within the individual, (and this is true in some cases) but when Jesus spoke for Lazarus to come out of the grave, it seems that Christ was the only one who was expressing faith. The only thing that kept every dead person who was buried in hearing distance from being raised from the dead was the fact that Jesus specifically called Lazarus by name. He knew of the desires and prayers of friends and family but did they really believe He could do this miracle?

In His ministry He responded to those who came to Him and asked Him for help, but does He do the same thing today? Hebrews 13:8 declares, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” but why do some people receive their miracle and others do not? What about when God does answer a prayer but not in the way we had hoped? It’s without a doubt that sometimes God says no. We’ve heard about the importance of asking, believing and obedience but will these always guarantee a miracle? It’s true that God hears and answers prayers, but does He only respond to prayers from His children? Does He not respond to prayers from those who are not His except when it is pertaining to salvation? It appears He does not have an obligation to communicate with those who are not born again because they are not spiritually associated with Him. They are still connected to their father the devil and exist in the realm of spiritual darkness. Let us go another step in this area and say that God is also not obligated to answer the prayers of those who are in disobedience to His will. Psalm 66:18 says, “If I choose to harbor sin in my heart, the Lord will NOT hear me.” This clearly explains that He only responds to those who have a pure and clean heart and this condition would fall under the consequences of being backslidden and living in rebellion. Only those who are sacrificially walking in His Spirit can enjoy the fullness and contentment of His glory. This is our inspiration and motivation to know Him and loves Him with ALL of our heart.

Here is another difficult question; does our faith override God’s will? Is it possible to have faith concerning a serious problem and never receive the miracle we have begged for? Will He change His mind about a certain request if we keep pleading and praying? We can see specific verses that promise if we have faith we will obtain what we are seeking, but how do we explain what happened when we do not receive it? We have mentioned how God does whatever He wants but does this apply to everything? Does the Bible give general promises that only apply in specific situations? We are reminded of the story in Matthew chapter 15 about a woman that is crying out to Jesus to do something about her daughter who is possessed by a demon. He ignores her and even explains that He is only focused on those who are from Israel. She is very persistent in her faith and finally is rewarded with the miracle she was asking for. We also read another story in Isaiah chapter 38 where the Lord sent him to deliver a message to Hezekiah who was very sick, to arrange his affairs because he was going to die. Hezekiah prayed and cried out to God and the Lord changed His plans and added 15 more years to his life. These are two examples of how our faith can change God’s intentions but we must keep in mind that every situation is unique and He may not always change His mind. In times of facing a major crisis and we did not receive our miracle, we can conclude that either we did not have enough faith or God made the decision to remain with His original decision. I believe many times a serious problem requires more than just a casual prayer. In Mark chapter 9, we notice the disciples trying to cast out a demon and were unable to have the power and authority to do so. The father brings his son to Jesus and begs for help. Jesus said that if he could believe, all things are possible and instantly He cast out the evil spirit and the boy was healed. Later, the disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to do the same thing and He told them this particular spiritual warfare could only be victorious by prayer AND fasting. Again, I believe this is a spiritual revelation for us to understand that desperate times call for drastic measures but still does not guarantee that uncle John will grow a new leg.

It cannot be true that He accepts faith across town but not across the street because He respects everyone equally. Acts 10:34-35 promises, “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation, he that fears Him and works righteousness, is accepted with Him.” Let us also include the question of whether the devil must receive permission from God every time He wants to attack people or does he have an open season to do whatever he wants whenever with whomever. I believe in the blood-covenant protection and angelic bodyguards but does this mean we are untouchable to all demonic forces and warfare? My point is that if Satan has to ask God permission for everything, and this can overcome our spiritual hedge, then God’s sovereignty would become the ultimate reason for everything that happens. Even if God does not have to give permission for us to be victimized, we can agree that He knows everything that will happen before it happens and that He could prevent it if He wanted to.

The beginning of true spiritual wisdom is to learn and worship with reverential fear the God who knows every thought. This means that if we are His followers we respect and honor His decisions and judgments. Who are we to question His decisions? This is why it is so crucially important to pray and seek for a higher intelligence because the closer we come to His thoughts the more we can understand Him and the more we will know how to live. This is the key to knowing Him more intimately. The meaning of life is contained in the idea of loving God with all your heart and mind and personally knowing Him to a level of hearing His voice, feeling His presence and being filled with His spirit. God does predestine certain individuals and events to happen but not necessarily everything and everybody. Was not Jesus predestined to come and die for mankind, and likewise John the Baptist to go before Him? Predestination is like a train that cannot be stopped and the destination is the glory to God. I believe that murders and crime are the results of people who chose to obey an evil influence and for some reason God decided not to prevent it. I am sure that many tragedies have been prevented in the invisible realm that no one has ever realized. How many times on the way to work has steering wheels miraculously been guided away from sure death? How many holocaust have been avoided? How many wars have never been fought or natural disasters been avoided? How many people have been supernaturally healed from injury and disease?

Those who listen and obey God’s will are the ticket-holding passengers called Christians but they are not the only ones who can be influenced with the big picture of life. Predestination is not manipulation but rather God “making” things happen. We can say with confidence that many events that happen are the result of fate (God’s will) that was decided from the beginning of time. For example, Jesus coming to die on the cross and heaven being the final resting place for the saints). So, let’s review for a minute. We learned that man has a free will to choose his thoughts and make his own decisions. Mans actions come from ideas that have either been created in his own brain or have been spoken to him through outside spiritual influences. This places man in the seat of responsibility for what he believes and the type of person he is. We just finished trying to comprehend the many aspects of predetermined destiny where God Himself is the author. We realize that many events leave us with vague explanations that shake the foundations of our faith but also become valuable educational lessons that can teach us to trust in what we cannot see. We know that our decision to pray can literally change events but at the same time, we also must respect God’s final Word because He knows what is best for everyone. Even when events seem to be lucky and considered purely chance, God is at work behind the scenes making sure that every detail is taken care of according to His plan. Some may say that everything happens just as God, “wants it”, but actually within the parameters of spiritual reality, there is no doubt many things that occur that He did NOT want to happen. Of course, we know that nothing is ever a surprise to God. We cannot surprise or shock Him as His foreknowledge allows Him to have total awareness of every situation before it happens and yet it seems that God has “hope.” In fact, I believe He has more hope in us than we have in ourselves. There is not a question that many times (daily) He’s disappointed with our decisions. Have you ever thought He wanted you to witness to someone and you blew it? It’s amazing to think that He knew us before we were born, he saw everything we would do and yet He still loved us and wanted to save us. He sent His only Son to die for us so that we could live with Him forever and He will always forgive us for our failures and mistakes when we ask Him.

Having a general understanding why things happen may be found in these three reasons but the real mystery is WHY He makes certain decisions within these reasons. We went on a short expedition to search and came away realizing that basically everything comes down to God either causing events to happen or that He allows things to happen. We no longer have to throw our hands up in the air and say we do not have a clue why things happen because we’ve been given the illumination of divine wisdom and spiritual enlightenment. This does not mean we are to be arrogant in our understanding because honestly, it’s more like we are humbled by realizing just how much we do not know. We will probably never comprehend the exact details about what God is doing or why, but we can narrow it down to certain spiritual principals and laws that are based on His character that governs heaven and earth. Together we can search for absolute truth and help those who seek answers to the mysteries of the highest realm. Using this anointed wisdom through counseling and teaching is to minister freedom and compassion that can bring true peace and a more clear vision in the glass (window) that is cloudy and dark.

The search for the reasons why things happen is as old as the garden of Eden, however, the more we learn about God and the closer we grow in our personal relationship with Him, the more understanding we can receive into our spiritual conscience. We are light-holders and vehicles of God’s presence trying to communicate His unlimited message called the hope of glory. As messengers, let us pray fervently and seek diligently for His higher ways and higher thoughts so that we might know Him more intimately than we ever thought possible. To truly know Him in the power of His resurrection is to know His purposes and reasons associated with His perfect will. Since we have His mind and His spirit within us, it’s perfectly acceptable to realize that we also have the capability and potential to know His will. To be filled with His Spirit is to love Him with such enthusiastic intensity and to have a sincere desire to know everything He wants to do. This, in turn, will enable us to see others as He sees them and help us reflect His image of His love and mercy that endures forever. This is not the meaning of life?

REASON NUMBER 2:

DIRECTLY FROM SATAN’S HAND – LIMITED AUTHORITY

As we mentioned at the beginning, God either causes or allows everything to happen. Events that happen by chance can also be included with God being able to prevent them if He so chooses. Whether Satanic attack, man’s choices or random accidents, God can stop any of them at any time because He has all power and authority. Since the beginning of time, people have believed (and still do) in the powers of good and evil, spiritual light and darkness. Sadly, the modern world is growing more aggressive against God and is becoming militant toward those who proclaim the Bible as divine truth. For those who embrace a Biblical perspective, it is generally believed that Satan is the representative of darkness and evil so we must establish him as the central figure in this reason number two. As God has the opportunity to speak and influence mankind, Satan has also been given the contingency to communicate. This would include using anything that can grab our attention and tempt us into demonic possession as well as oppression, panic, fear, unbelief, sins of commission and omission, depression, hate, pride, vengeance, destruction, lust, lascivious and all the other evil enticements and attractions. Satan is allowed to persuade us with the audible and internal ability to speak (he does not know our thoughts but watches carefully and has a detailed record of our behavior patterns). In these particular circumstances, we must note that most of the time Satan does not actually commit the crime but rather “inspires” humans to do it for him. The old saying, “the devil made me do it” is not really true because he cannot “make” anyone do anything. His focus is to deceive mankind from the reality of truth, which is that we are accountable for our words and deeds.

Some examples of the devil’s avenues of influence would include the entertainment industry, pictures, music, books, voices, and thoughts stirring up lust, violence and fueling our imaginations with carnal ideas and hellish visions. School shootings and terrorism have sadly become a regular occurrence and most of the time there is no reason whatsoever. Is Satan required to go to God and ask for permission to influence someone to kill innocent people? Or does he already have the green-light to influence anyone he chooses? Whatever the case, I’m sure there are many instances where God does stop mass murder, but evidently, there are other times when He watches the devastation unfold. Why? We do not know other than the wages of sin is death. Satan uses every form of technology to control our mind and new devices are being created every day. I recently watched a program that revealed not only the development of a virtual reality machine but also lifelike robots that are being sold faster than they can be manufactured. To what degree has God given Satan the ability to attack humans? We can see that pornography has grown as an addiction of the mind and soul but now is morphing into a literal obsession of the human experience. When people have their own robot to give them pleasure, where does this leave the future of humanity? A deeper form of intervention could include, sickness, disease, poverty, natural disasters, murder, and all types of destruction and death. He is the master at instigating confusion then watching in delight as his seeds of contamination grow into the fruits of wickedness and destruction. How can we prove that Satan can do all of this? His liberty to influence humans is not limited to verbal contact only but on a deeper more intense level he also has a more violent option to bring serious damage, injury or disease as we saw in the story of Job. Remember, Satan approached God and declared that if Job was faced with serious tragedy, he would turn away from His faith in God. The Lord said this was not true, but to prove Job’s love to the Almighty, Satan was given the green light to do whatever he wanted against Job, his family, and his servants. How can we say this was a one-time event? In the New Testament it is mentioned in John 10:10, that he has a specific agenda to kill, steal and destroy, and unfortunately for humans, Satan is not obligated to abide with any rules except for those which God intervenes. This was not a parable but rather was an actual event and we cannot ignore this phenomenon in the focus of the big picture of reasons why things happen. Moreover, neither can we always understand the plans or intentions of God as He may at certain times use the kingdom of darkness to accomplish His objectives.

Most Christians would agree that demonic possession can only occur with unbelievers. It would seem logical that a demon even though influencing the mind, would NOT be allowed to take control of the spirit because that is where God abides. The temple of the Holy Spirit might be a flesh and blood body but the born-again spirit is incorruptible and has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. The lack of spiritual deliverance in the mainstream religious thinking has all but nullified the danger of evil warfare and literal demonic attacks on the believer. Most church leaders are afraid of this area because they have no desire or experience in dealing with the dark side. In fact, the spiritual mysteries has proved to be too deep for the casual church member and now we realize the churches are so lifeless because a cold religious attitude has avoided the Holy Spirit altogether. Several false teachings have been presented to prevent fear and worry and have instead brought a condition of weakness and ignorance. The Armenian view about once saved always saved may be a true doctrine of eternal security but it has also been used as a way to ignore such critical responsibilities such as diligence, prophecy, discipline, fasting, discernment, deliverance, baptism in the Holy Spirit, laying on of hands, healing, miracles and supernatural manifestations. The religious church is weak and uneducated because of their lack of Biblical understanding and refusal to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, it is a sad truth that many who believe they are saved may not be. The masses are suffering and perishing because of the lack of crucial life-changing knowledge. It could be said that demonic influence has taught these false securities from the pulpit for the purpose of blinding, deceiving and claiming victory over God’s children.

We also must include in our views that many people have experienced many things at the hands of the kingdom of darkness just so that God could bring a more spectacular victory in the end. Satanic attacks are real and we must never forget that killing, stealing and destroying is the mission of the devil. Sometimes it is caused by an open door of unrepentant sin and sometimes because God allows it to happen for His own perfect reasons in his own perfect time. Thus we can see that maybe it was not God’s “perfect will” for those to be defeated by the enemy but He salvaged what He could in order that some good could be produced. In Job’s particular case it was a test which God knew would result in triumph for man and glory for God because He is omnipotent. Once more allow me to conclude the first phase of this influence reason does not include force but only mental manipulation. The second phase could include a direct attack of physical, mental or spiritual opposition and warfare that is literal but does not force how we respond to these circumstances. Many times the hardships and trials are the ways and means to establish and promote spiritual victory which increases faith within God’s family. We have the greatest example of spiritual opposition when Christ was sent to this earth to accomplish His mission and the ultimate picture of triumph when He faced and conquered every challenge.

REASON NUMBER 3

MANKIND’S FREEWILL – PERMISSIVE YET CONDITIONAL

Let us begin with this philosophical/theological doctrine in our collection of reasons and present this statement; man is not a pre-programmed robot. The purpose of including natural events, random occurrences and human free-will in reason number three is because these are legitimate places where things happen. There is not always an intentional agenda or a demon behind every bush. There are times when accidents happen as something strange and unexpected and really no one is to blame. The devil was not trying to kill us and God was not trying to teach us a lesson, the branch just randomly fell out of the tree and crushed our skull. Sometimes we slip on the ice and break our back because like Humpty Dumpty, humans and gravity are a dangerous combination. Should we have been more careful? Yes, which also leads us to our next conclusion that many times what happens to us is self-inflicted. We eat bad and have heart attacks. We smoke and get cancer. We text while driving and have a fatal wreck or we choose to swim where the sharks are and they eat our leg. The list goes on and on. However, as we mentioned in the beginning, we can still technically include this in the reason number one under the sovereignty umbrella because God knew it was going to happen and could have prevented it if He wanted to. Who is to blame? Even though we know something is dangerous, if we go ahead and do it, this is a chance we are willing to take and must be accountable for our decision. Job is an example that humans are not puppets on God’s string. Job had the choice to turn away from God or continue to embrace Him. There are certain actions or thoughts which humans can do that are not connected to any influence other than their own ability to imagine and act out their thoughts. One of the most interesting events occur in this true story that opens up an important issue when trying to understand what goes on in the spirit realm and that is how God’s servant is supernaturally protected and Satan is seen having to ask permission to bring harm. This scenario gives us tremendous insight from a theological and philosophical worldview pertaining to why and how things happen.

Freewill includes human error as well as being obedient. Much of life is based on conditions and the consequences of personal responsibility, individual reaction to brain responses/mental decisions, personal choices, carnality, deviant human behavior including self-deception, rebellion, and violence. This also pertains to the listening and obeying in our conscience to satanic control and likewise yielding our devotion to God for the purpose of surrendering our will to His. Personality types can contain many different kinds of behavior but everyone has the free will to be “changed” along with personal desire and perseverance. This accountability is directly linked to judgment on the earth and after death as part of the reaping and sowing principal. These sins within the DNA can also be transferred into the bloodline of future generations as a curse BUT they can also be broken through the power of prayer, the same way blessings of inheritances can be passed down through the family lineage. We see that each person has a certain amount of control with their destiny which would include doing nothing (which would be the reason for many problems), to training one’s self to a very high level of expertise (which could also result in many different explanations of manifestations).

Mankind was created with a strong intelligence to make excellent mental decisions based on the clear influence of the Holy Spirit, but he also has the choice to be as foolish as he chooses and experience the consequences of his decisions. A perfect example of free will is the gracious (grace) opportunity to draw as close to God as we can. The problem is that people only desire a small amount of God. On the flip side, some people can commit hideous acts of evil until God finally say’s that is enough. A simple way of seeing this freedom to do whatever we want is to realize that our actions are the result of the completion of several mental phases including the idea or imagination section of our brain, (I think I can do it). The second phase comes from our desires and emotions, (I would really like to do it) and the third comes from our will which confirms, (I will do it).

Let us not forget that while mankind is impressive with his determination, the spiritual fact is that the liberty of man’s conscience is not completely independent or untouchable to God’s higher will. This means that God’s sovereignty carries the ultimate authority of the creator and cannot be dictated or controlled by the lesser power of the creation. If someone was planning to blow up a building and God did not want them to, He could easily cause them to choke on a ham sandwich and die the day before. I would not even suggest that God cannot intervene when He desires to unless it conflicts with the spiritual principals of His own word. As one example of God having His way in spite of man’s rebellion, we remember when God told Pharaoh to let His people go, this was not a general request but a specific demand. I believe that God’s desire would have been fulfilled even if He had to annihilate the entire Egyptian civilization. God is God and He will accomplish His will. It is true that sometimes we see that God makes a general request and when dis-obeyed the consequences result in punishment and the “request” is not completed such as Adam and Eves failure. There are other times when God will force an issue, including judgment and will “not allow” His original desire to go unfulfilled.

Without writing an entire book about free will, let me make a point concerning prayer. In Ephesians 6 and verse 18, we see a very important yet constantly overlooked passage. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” A list of synonyms connected to supplication is, appeal, petition, entreaty, beg, earnest, humble, beseech, implore, request and plea. These words are not intended to describe a lukewarm, selfish, lazy, religious prayer but rather a serious, sincere, focused time with God that is spoken with assurance and confidence. The armor of God listed in this section is clearly meant to be the soldier’s defense and offense for battle. First, we must realize there is a spiritual war going on and it is just as deadly as any natural war that has ever been fought. Secondly, we need to know our responsibilities and assignments on the front lines. By the way, there is no comfortable relaxing place in God’s Army. If we are not on the front lines, we have fallen into lukewarmness. If we claim to be a remnant warrior then we must learn the wisdom of the Kingdom of light and be trained in the battle strategies of spiritual warfare.

Going back to verse 16, faith is listed as the highest and most important piece of the armor but the connection between faith and prayer cannot be separated. I have heard it said that God can only accomplish in the earth according to the prayers of the saints. If God’s people do not intercede in the spirit for His will to be done, then protection and blessing loses its power to operate. The Bible emphasizes (commands) how the freewill responsibility of the saints is to pray without ceasing so that light can overcome darkness. Do you agree the prayers of parents can keep their children safe? Do you also believe that not praying for your children can leave them unprotected and vulnerable to Satanic attacks and demonic influences? The prayers of the saints can establish morality and blessings within a nation and likewise as we have witnessed, the lack of prayers has nearly caused the downfall of our country. Prayer can produce any miracle, heal the sick and raise the dead, as there is nothing impossible with God. Prayer can be a testimony of purity and obedience in the Christians life and bring awareness and conviction in others. Where there is no supplication or petitions of prayer, the devil has an opening to bring destruction and death. Our enemy is always on the lookout for religious hypocrisy and spiritual disobedience as they are like sharks that smell blood. The dark-side knows what God’s Word is all about and how His spiritual principals function. Blessings and curses are conditional manifestations that are connected to the thoughts and actions of people.

“But if you will not listen yo me, and will not do all these commandments; and if you will despise my statutes, or if you abhor (reject) my judgments so that you will not do all my commandments, but that you break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning fever, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when none pursue you. And if you will not yet for all this obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins” (Leviticus 26:14-18). Could it be that many tragedies happen because there was no hedge of protection over that person? Can entire nations fall into judgment because the people neglect God and His law? Isn’t it true that God and his angels do not intervene when there have been no prayer petitions made because God is moved by faith and obedience? What about Jonah delivering God’s message for Nineveh to pray and they did which canceled God’s planned judgment to destroy them? Could it be that in these last days, our world descended into total destruction because the saints failed to intercede and live obediently? Could prayer have changed the world? I believe it did, but only within the parameters of His plans.

IN CONCLUSION

We can say we have learned a few things but honestly, we probably still have more questions than answers. We may basically know that either God made something happen, allowed Satan to destroy or did not step in and prevent an accident, mistake or a natural occurrence, but we still do not know WHY these were His decisions. We have seen the Lord heal certain individuals and yet not heal others. Was it a matter of levels of faith or was it God choosing to heal some and not others. We have seen natural disasters ruin peoples homes and take lives while others were spared. Again, was it spiritual favor or was it luck? We realize that in many situations, we do not pray and have faith to overcome the powers of darkness and thus experience the devastating losses we could have saved. If it was God’s will to remove that person from the earth, then may we hear His voice and know this was the reason. If we failed to pray and have faith for other problems, then let us understand what we did wrong and strive to learn how to do it correctly.

The Bible declares in passages such as Job 36:12, Proverbs 5:23, Proverbs 12:21 and Hosea 4:6, that God’s people perish from the lack of knowledge. What type of knowledge? I believe it’s related to the spiritual knowledge we have been studying about in this lesson. It’s true, this may be a reason we do not receive our miracles but instead of being depressed because of our weakness, may we press more diligently toward the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. I have often thought about the lottery and wondered if God would allow someone to win as a direct answer to their prayer. I certainly believe He could do it if He wanted to, but He could also send money in a thousand other ways. If God wants to bless you and make you a millionaire, He owns everything in the world and could certainly do it with the snap of His fingers. So, is the reason you are not financially wealthy a result of Him not wanting you to be – or a lack of you believing you can be? Yes, there is no doubt He knows who will win and I would say most of the time the winners have never prayed about it at all. Whether or not He orchestrates these cash prizes, the devil gives it to people so they can destroy many lives, or if it’s just completely a game of random chance, this is the million dollar question – pun intended. God can make it happen or He can prevent it from happening. The question is not whether God wants to be involved with us or if He can change things and do whatever He wants. The reality is that our righteousness is filthy and no one is innocent. Sin came upon the world through our sin and we are living with the consequences of a fallen world. Let us not place all of our attention on this life, but as we keep our eyes on Jesus, the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. “But Jesus looked at them and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God, ALL things are possible” Matthew 19:26.