Walking in the Valley of the Shadow of Death

Just got off the phone with my bride of 27 years. The doctors told her she has Uterine Fibroids and she needs to see a specialist. This is like taking a punch to the stomach. I know that God is sovereign and He is allowing this to form me into the image of His Son and my savior, Jesus Christ but the news is still hard to take.

While this blog was to hold quotes that I liked, I will now use it to express my personal thoughts and feelings as I walk with my wife along this path. We are not alone because God is walking with us.

Psalms 23 NLT

God, if You are loving, just, and all-powerful, why do You allow good people to suffer?

Evangelist Billy Graham addressed this question in his book Answers to Life's Problems:

We do not know all the reasons why God permits evil. We need to remember, however, that he is not the cause of evil in this world and we should therefore not blame Him for it. Remember that God did not create evil, as some believe. God created the world perfect. Man chose to defy God and go his own way, and it is man's fault that evil entered the world. Even so, God has provided the ultimate triumph of good over evil in Jesus Christ, who on the cross, defeated Satan and those who follow him. Christ is coming back and when He does, all evil will be ended forever and righteousness and justice will prevail.

Have you ever thought about what would happen if God suddenly eliminated all the evil in this world? Not one person would be left, because we are all guilty of sin.

God's Will

This is a work in progress where I hope to get my small mind around the subject of "God's Will". I have seen described three different types of God's will:

1. His decretive will - God decrees things to come to pass according to his supreme sovereignty as the "decretive will of God." This is also sometimes called "God's sovereign efficacious will"; by it God brings to pass whatsoever he wills. When God sovereignly decrees something in this sense, nothing can thwart its coming to pass.

2. His preceptive will - While the decretive will of God cannot be broken, cannot be disobeyed. It will come to pass. On the other hand, there is a will that can be broken: "the preceptive will of God." It can be disobeyed.

3. His will of disposition - what is pleasing and agreeable to God. It expresses something of the attitude of God to his creatures. Some things are "well pleasing in his sight," while other things are said to grieve him. He may allow (but not via moral permission) wicked things to transpire, but he is by no means pleased by them.

This comes from R.C. Sproul's book How Can I Know God's Will?