Jesus told us to pray to the Father in these words: « …..your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. » (Matthew 6:10)
God’s will can be prevented from coming to pass. Is this really Biblical? Paul declares:
« For we wanted to come to you–certainly I, Paul, did, again and again- but Satan stopped us. » (I Thessalonians 2:18)
Another time he declares:
« ….having been kept by the Holy Spirit from… » (Acts 16:6)
When we say that Satan has prevented us, we really mean he has stopped God’s plan–that he has stopped us from entering what God has planned for us. Otherwise we would say that the Holy Spirit or God stopped us.
When we pray, « Your will be done, » we allow his Will in our lives. By praying, the Lord will reveal to us his will, our God given destiny, and how to enter into that destiny.
The widespread idea that everything that happens to us is God’s will is totally unscriptural. It’s a form of fatalistic thinking which causes us to accept the devil’s plan. When we reason in this way, we stop struggling to change the course of things. The aim of this book is to encourage us to think differently, refuse the devil’s plan and STRUGGLE to fulfill God’s destiny for our lives.
Even a born again man has a sense of justice in him. An injustice remains an injustice! It does not become just or righteous because we believe that God is the author of our situation. To attribute it to Him simply because we don’t understand immediately why He allows it is to call him unfair! It’s even a dishonor to His name rather than glorifying it.
It is normal for people of the world, as well as a Christian who has not understood the way the spiritual world works, would think that God has abandoned them. It’s not in them to believe that if God is allowing something he must want it or that God has some strange plan in a sordid affair they are victims of.
We cannot glorify God’s name in their eyes. On the contrary, we are going to confirm to them the apparent injustice of God that Satan wants to establish in their thinking.
We cannot tell someone who has been raped that it was God’s will. In that case, he/she would have reason to hate such a God! We cannot even tell that God has not done anything when He could have done something. For a God who can stop such a foul deed and does not cannot be a responsible God.
There was a story on the television about a 35 year old man whose car was sandwiched between two heavy weights. After eight months in a coma he awoke physically emaciated and blind. His wife spent all her time taking care of him; their life was shattered. If we tell this woman that it was God’s plan, it is normal that she wouldn’t want to serve a God like this. Go tell parents who have lost their child in an accident that it was God’s perfect plan…!
We must understand that if accidents and misfortunes occur, it is because it’s the devil’s will which is primarily carried out here on earth, not God’s!
God asks us to pray that His Will be done but also that his name be GLORIFIED. We cannot glorify God’s Name without re-establishing His goodness and justice in people’s thinking. To do that, it must already be clear to us: God is righteous (just) AND GOOD!
»The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. » (Psalm 145:17)
We must stop trying to find God’s perfect plan in everything that happens because most things that happen on this earth are really sad and unjust. They are anything but God’s Will! In a movie the Christians were going through lots of tragedies and were saying, « Why did God send this? ». It is very common even among born-again Christians to believe and say, « God has done this to us. » or « God sent this catastrophe. » In fact, in the Middle Ages, they believed that God sent the plague.
It is true that God will create a plan from anything that happens, to recoup the best. That does not mean that what is happening is according to God’s plan. We should begin to realize that God will make a plan out of any situation that arises. We cannot pray « your will be done » and then think that just because something happens it is indeed God’s Will. Of course not!
»Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s Will is. » (Ephesians 5:17)
After praying, we are supposed to receive God’s directions to help us enter His Will and do everything possible, with His help, to avoid the traps of the devil who is trying to deter us.
If a car rushes towards us at an intersection, we are going to try and get out of the way, right? We are not going to stand still in middle of the road thinking, « I have prayed that God’s Will be done. It is therefore God’s wish that I be run over! » The Lord answers our prayer by allowing us to see the car in time to do all we can to get out of the way of the car. The car is sent by Satan. In praying AND ACTING, we can change the course of destiny that the adversary has planned for us into the destiny that God has for us–life not death.
GOD DESTINES US FOR LIFE
»Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their wicked ways and live? » (Ezekiel 18:23)
God’s plan for our lives isn’t uniquely for an elite few but for everyone. Paul asserted to Timothy that God:
»…wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. » (I Timothy 2:4)
There word for salvation in Greek and Hebrew has a wide spectrum of meanings. It implies being healed, delivered, restored, etc. One can therefore say that this verse asserts that God wishes all men to be healed, delivered, restored and so on. Everything that we would naturally expect from a good God!
Nevertheless, we must struggle or fight for our destiny; the scriptures speak often of « combat, » »battles against the forces of darkness, » »battles of faith, » etc.
»Fight the good fight of faith. » (I Timothy 6:12)
TO THE INJUSTICE!
Once during a University Bible Study in theUnited Statesa young man went berserk and shot and killed three young people! Was this God’s Will or the Devil’s?
A pastor friend faced a dilemma recently. A young lady in his church had tried to become pregnant many times; people in the church were praying and eventually she was able to become pregnant but miscarried. During this time, my friend learned of a young girl who was seduced by a young boy and became pregnant.
Here we have one person who desperately wants a baby but lost it, while another who is too young and probably shouldn’t have a baby yet has become pregnant. Is that the FAIR Will of God?
Another friend of mine is a good Christian woman who has been waiting for years to marry a Godly man. Her son suffers from a lack of male influence to the point that he has enormous problems in school and requires a special class. He is physically normal, but the doctors say his problem is purely emotional.
This sister is serious; she loves God and is faithful. Why doesn’t God provide a Godly man for her and her son, while lots of people even in the church, treat their spouses poorly?
Many of us reading these lines may be thinking, « we have cases like this in our church » or » I am myself in this situation. » Yet, we don’t dare speak the word injustice for fear of offending God.
Well, we can not only speak the word injustice, but we can shout it out as loudly as possible! God will not be offended because he is not the author of these situations, but the devil.
LET THE DAVIDS STAND UP!
In looking around us, how many people seem confronted with situations that continue and don’t resolve themselves although many of these people love God with all their hearts and only wish to see God’s promises eventually be fulfilled in their lives.
These situations are comparable to periods when the Hebrews buckled under the yoke of their enemies until God raised up men, judges, etc. to set them free.
When the Hebrews were slaves inEgypt, Moses came to find Pharaoh, and Pharaoh immediately increased the burdens of the Israelites. Certain situations make us think of these moments when Goliath advanced every day to defy the Hebrew army and no one dared to move–and EVERYTHING WAS IMMOBILIZED– until David appeared.
The Davids, the judges, the Moses, must stand, liberators of their people, to impose God’s Will here on earth. The establish the law of the Spirit of Life makes us victorious over the law of sin and death.
Jesus said HE HAS GIVEN US the authority over the forces of darkness. To what end? To repel these forces of darkness and their works! To establish the kingdom and the reign of God, for God’s kingdom is peace, joy, and JUSTICE. God’s kingdom repels the darkness.
»But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. » (Matthew 12:28)
There is an iron arm between the devil and us. IT’S UP TO US TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF THINGS and to establish God’s Will be done on this earth!
THEY STRUGGLED FOR THEIR DESTINY
The Bible shows us that all the heroes of faith had to struggle to accomplish their destiny. David was anointed to be the King of Israel, but there were numerous occasions for him to lose sight of this destiny. He had to struggle and persevere to become King.
THE FACT THAT HE HAD A CALL OF GOD ON HIS LIFE DID NOT MEAN THAT THE CALLING WOULD NECESSARILY BE ACCOMPLISHED!
Moses struggled and persevered with Pharaoh for his destiny as LIBERATOR to be accomplished. We are all called to reign and to be a liberator. The devil does his best to ensure that the opposite happens. He fights for us to be his slave. Anyone who enters his God given destiny is going to influence–in the best sense–many people and wreak havoc in the ranks of the enemy.
That is the reason that from our childhood, the devil tries to alter our destiny and divert us from our true calling. He tried to kill Moses. He tried to kill Jesus.
If he knows that we are to become a minister he is going to try to make that impossible, to oppress during our childhood with timidity, various obstacles, fears, etc. He will try to cause us to marry a bad person. We have to make a choice, as Jesus did in the desert, between our destiny and the devil’s own proposition.
For certain people the choice is between God and riches, others between God and their own pride, others between God and women/men, others between God and respectability, between God and a quiet church, etc.
Many people of God HAVE DEVIATED in their calling because they have allowed their heart to become caught in one of the devil’s traps. Saul lost his position as king because of his pride. Balaam from his position of prophet because of his love of money. Solomon from his wisdom because of his love of women. They all saw their destiny dramatically transformed!
God had anointed Samson and destined him to be liberator of his people, but he did not deal with his problem with women. He ended up having his eyes gouged out and became a slave to the Philistines. That was the devil’s destiny for him, not God’s.
The adversary will put in our path opportunities to fail. If we do not fight to RESIST TEMPTATION, in PERSEVERING in our course, in refusing to be DISCOURAGED, etc. Our destiny will not be accomplished, or we will only accomplish a half, quarter or only a tenth of its potential.
Jacob struggled for his destiny even against an angel (Personally, I believe it was an angel of judgment). After this struggle he fully entered into his destiny, receiving the title of « prince of God. »
»Then the man said, Let me go, for it is daybreak. But Jacob replied, « I will not let you go unless you bless me. » (Genesis 32:26)
This shows us the degree of determination with which the Lord waits for us to seize our destiny.
JOSEPH
We can learn many lessons from Joseph; I would like to use his life’s journey to share several things that I think are important to understand in order to make life easier and also to enter into our destiny. We see the revelation of ones destiny revealed in a dream. God talks to all of us, and will in one form or another reveal to us his destiny for our lives. For example, he will give us an ardent desire to go in a certain direction.
Joseph shares his vision instead of keeping it (as Mary in Luke 2:19) in his heart. It is important to understand that we often complicate God’s plan by opening the door to the adversary, and THE PATH OF OUR DESTINY THEN BECOMES MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN HAD ORIGINALLY PLANNED.
I’ll explain: In sharing his vision carelessly, with pride and at the wrong time, Joseph caused anger and jealousy in his family. He was sold by his own brothers soon after. Jacob, his father, thought he had lost his son. Did Joseph path of destiny have to be so hard? Was this God’s will? This plan seems harsh from a good God.
A dear American man of God with a most wonderful testimony told me that when he was a baby his mother wasn’t able to feed him so she temporarily left him with another woman who disappeared with him. Many years later this man learned the truth and began searching for his mother. When he was 35 years old, he found his mother and while talking together they discovered that once many years earlier, in an attempt to find her son, his mother had questioned a young man on the street. Well, this young boy was her son!
In recounting this story, this brother told me, « It’s like for Joseph, finally after all the suffering, entered into God’s plan. » It’s there that I disagree. From what I know of God and his nature, it was God’s plan that the mother and son be reunited at the moment the mother found her young child on the street who quite « by accident was in her path. » But for one reason or another, the angels were unable to bring this plan to fruition.
The Bible is full of stories which turned out badly because the devil succeeded in interfering and prevented the will of God from being done. In God’s grace and by these men’s perseverance who overcame their trials, their destiny was eventually fulfilled, but that does not mean that everything that they did and suffered was originally in God’s plan.
Moses was not destined by God to kill the Egyptian. Abraham was not destined by God to beget Ishmael, to pass his wife as his sister, destined for these slip-ups which brought him many problems and suffering. Jacob was not destined to steal the birthright from his brother.
Job was not destined to suffer as he suffered. If the fear factor had not entered into the equation, the devil would not have been able to to have the right to lead him in quite the opposite direction of his destiny: to illness, poverty, and dejection. Having persevered, he allowed God who can turn everything to our advantage to fulfill his destiny, that is to be rich, in good health and full of joy–despite everything.
By our clumsiness, sometimes, our disbelief other times, pride, immaturity, etc., we find ourselves often delivered into the will of our enemies rather than the Will of God.
« I gave you over to the greed of your enemies… » (Ezekiel 16:27)
The original Hebrew implies rather the idea of « forced permission, » which has given rise to imperfect translations which give the impression that God with pleasure gives us over to the problems.
The fact that God can turn the devil’s plan around, to our own advantage, does not mean that the devil’s plans are God’s plans.
If Joseph had listened to the Spirit, he would have certainly kept his vision to himself or would have only shared it privately and humbly with his parents. In doing this, he would have entered into God’s destiny in a much less painful manner. Imagine that if Mary had blared out to everyone she met that she was carrying before she was even married was the future Messiah. AllIsraelwould have been after her, trying to stone her! That would not have prevented God from sending Jesus, but would have complicated things.
There are struggles, sufferings, and rejections in the Christian life. I don’t deny that. Indeed the Bible says in I Thessalonians 3:3:
»so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. »
We must learn to be ready to listen to the Holy Spirit and learn from those who have lived, those who came before us, which enables us to avoid many detours, sufferings, and much wasted time. These detours have nothing to do with the Will of God, and we must come to adjust ourselves to the normal trials of life which are quite sufficient.
We can avoid the losses of time in the fulfillment of our destiny.
DESTINY AND DESTINY
God has predestined for each one of us, even before we were born, a destiny for our lives. One could say a program for our life, a program for each of our days:
« your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. » (Psalm 139:16)
This plan is far from being fulfilled in most people’s lives, Christians and sinners alike.
The devil wants to derail us from our destiny leading us in a totally opposite destiny. I think there is a principle which applies when we miss our proper destiny, we easily become the opposite of what we were supposed to become. Adam’s destiny on earth was to dominate, and he found himself dominated by sin. Before his fall, Satan’s was called « cherubim protector »; after his fall, one of his names defining what he became is « Abaddon » meaning « the destroyer. » (Ezekiel 28:4 & Revelation 9:11)
If God destines us to be a prophet, the devil will destine us to be a false prophet. If God destines us to be a man of peace, the devil will destine us to be a man of anger. If God destines us to be full of faith, the devil destines us to be full of fear. God has destined us to be something other than withering at all levels!
»I said, You are « gods »; you are all sons of the Most High. But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler. » (Psalm 82:6-7)
Hallelujah! In Christ the curse is lifted! Are we going to choose the destiny that the devil has for us to be fulfilled or that which God has prepared for us? I choose God’s destiny for me!