Proverbs 16.33
“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
This proverb communicates two things: man has choice, and God is sovereign. This produces the question that Christians have asked from the beginning: What is God’s will and how do I discover it? It is important to understand that God’s will has four aspects: sovereign will, moral will, design will, and permissive will.
1) God’s sovereign will. This is the Lord’s supreme and absolute will. It means that God’s purposes will be accomplished. He will make happen that which he wants to make happen. He is omnipotent, and nothing and no one can prevent God’s sovereign will from happening.
“He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand” (Daniel 4:35).
“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalms 115:3).
“He works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).
2) God’s moral will. This is God’s declared will concerning what we should and should not do. It is sometimes referred to as God’s preceptive will (referring to the “precepts” in Scripture). This expression of God’s will is revealed both in his word and in our conscience, through which God has written his moral law on the hearts of all men.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” (Titus 2.11-12)
Because God has given mankind free will, God’s moral will can be broken. Obeying God’s moral will is a choice … a decision. People can choose to obey or not obey. The Bible is clear, however, that there are blessings for obedience and consequences for disobedience.
3) God’s design will. These are the physical laws the Lord has established to govern the physical world. It includes the laws of gravity, chemistry, biology, mathematics, physics, etc.. God’s design will represents the functional/operational principles for how the field, the forest, and the factory operate. It is our responsibility as agents of the kingdom to understand and master the functional principles of our job. We should study and become skilled at God’s design for our work.
4) God’s permissive will. God permits things to happen that fall outside of his moral will. The Lord does not sanction sin, but he permits it. God has created a world of cause-and-effect, and he has given mankind the ability to choose. We are always free to choose, but we are never free from the consequences of our choices.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s moral will, which had very negative consequences for all mankind. It is God’s desire that all people come to faith in Christ, but he honors free will and allows people to reject Christ.
This is the way God has created the world to function. God is the author of the spiritual laws that govern the spiritual world, and God is the author of the physical laws that govern the physical world. What we do and how we do it matters. If our choices align with God’s laws (physically and spiritually), good things will happen. If our choices do not align with God’s laws, bad things will happen.
The consequences to our choices are not always immediate, but eventually there are always consequences. This is one of God’s principles: you reap what you sow.
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6.7-10)
Yes, God is sovereign. And yes, God has given man the capacity to think, plan, choose, and adjust. Embrace both of these truths. Resist the temptation to emphasize one over the other.
