There is a view in the Protestant world that stretches, in my view, the sovereignty of God beyond its biblical limitations. This view says that God is not just in control of everything but that He controls everything. The prior view acknowledges that everything on earth happens under God’s watchful eye, although not necessarily with God’s approval. The latter view believes everything happens by God’s approval.
This view is warped, it seems to me, because it then makes God morally responsible for the evil that is perpetrated by man, like rape and murder. If God is not responsible for the incidences of rape and murder (and other “lesser” acts of evil), then God does not control every behavior that happens here on earth.
A similar point to be made, one I’ve heard even Christians say, is that God does things to teach us a lesson and that God takes our lives when He sees it appropriate. I agree strongly that God might be teaching us a lesson and it is possible that God might take someone’s life. But I strongly disagree with the idea that is expressed frequently by Christians influenced by that false idea of God’s sovereignty – “Everything happens for a reason.” Where is the Scripture for that view?
God does not always cause or allow events to happen to us to “teach us a lesson.” If an evil man rapes a little girl, did God allow that to happen to teach that little girl a lesson? Did He allow it to happen to teach her parents a lesson? I do not find that type of teaching in the Bible. God does allow evil in the world but He does not necessarily control every event for a specific purpose. “Time and chance overtake them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11).
What God does require of us, whether we experience good or evil in this life, is to love Him supremely and serve our fellow man sacrificially (Matthew 22:37-39). He wants us to trust Him to work all things together for our good (Romans 8:28). We should not necessarily look for a “lesson” to be learned from every experience. Rather, we need to trust God that He will bring things together for our good.
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Nor does God actively take the life of someone because it was their “time.” Frequently, at the funeral of a child, you might hear someone say, “God wanted a rose for His garden so He plucked ‘so-and-so.’” I simply do not believe that is biblical. I do not find in the Scriptures where God has a certain time appointed for the death of any individual. Can God take someone’s life? Yes. Can God prolong someone’s life on earth for some reason? Yes. Does He do it in every situation? There is no Scriptural support for that.
It is appointed unto man to die (Hebrews 9:27) but the Scriptures do not say God has an appointed time for each individual man to die. To suggest that God actively took someone’s life can leave people, especially children, bitter toward God for taking their loved one. Why give that person a reason to doubt the love of God when Scriptures do not require it?
It is far better to admit we don’t know how and why God does what He does (Isaiah 55:11) and then simply point out we have to trust God to always do the right thing (1 John 4:8).
–Paul Holland
