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Hypothetical question:

Suppose tomorrow I’m out in a rainstorm, putting the garbage out, and I get struck by lightning.

Q:) Is this God’s will, or a “random event” ?

A:) The storm is brewing up today, temperatures, pressures, winds, etc., i.e., every molecule in the air is moving according to the laws of physics. It appears to be “random” because we do not have anywhere near enough capacity to collect and analyze a good enough snapshot of data, then “roll forward” the data to tomorrow and know that a lightning strike will happen at a certain moment in a certain place. We have limited ability to predict weather using this very technique, but it’s not anywhere near this detailed. Nevertheless, what ever will happen tomorrow at a certain time tomorrow is completely dependent on the entire state of the universe as of now, since the motion of every atom us not indeterminate or what we think of as random, but each state is determined by what the prior state was. Atoms don’t simply materialize out of nowhere or move with no rhyme or reason, clouds don’t form out of nothing. Scary thought, but true. I can only suppose that God, having created heaven and earth, has sovereign control over it, even our thoughts and feelings. If some angry person is going to have road rage tomorrow and he’ll be driving right behind me - God knows this. Obviously all this represents a quantity of information that is unfathomable. The Bible tells us that God is all-powerful, and is the Creator, and is all-knowing. Nowhere in the Bible is it written that God must “wait to see” how things turn out. Nowhere is it written that God has to wait and see what a person does on a certain day in order for God to proceed with his plans after the person makes their decision on that day; God forbid.

The concept of free will is entirely true from our human perspective. Like a passenger on a sinking ship, not knowing the future days and hours, we can only think and act as we see fit; we obviously think using our minds. The ship’s crew simply says the ship is sinking, and gives instructions as to manning the lifeboats. Even if we sit there like a blob in the water and cry, thinking we are doomed - we’ve still made a choice, the choice to do nothing but cry. We have a choice from our point of view. But we do not know what will happen an hour from that point. A shark may arrive in an hour and gobble us up, or a ship may arrive in an hour and rescue us. Either way, we can not change the future - and either way, the ship or the shark is on it’s way, since they don’t simply materialize out of nothing. But certainly God created heaven and earth. If we think for a moment about the magnitude of that concept - they were created according to God’s specification. Formation of the entire planet earth, and setting it in orbit around the Sun, to begin with - that means God has, with an unimaginable power, set everything in motion according to his will. God has revealed himself to us in his Word, the Holy Scriptures, so every man is without excuse; like the passenger on the sinking ship, we certainly could follow instructions and have hope, not knowing if we will live another 10 minutes or another 100 years, but simply manning the lifeboats as instructed will do if we have any sense. Of course, for Christian faith, this is where the Holy Spirit comes in. According to Scripture, since all people are born into sin, our minds, spirits and hearts will reject God; God’s Holy Spirit is what causes the believer to believe.

Q:) Is this against God’s will ? That is to say, did God desire that it not happen, yet God was unable to prevent it ?

A:) Since God is all-powerful, if he wants something to happen, it does. If he does not want something to happen, it does not. We can only surmise from reading God’s Word that everything that happens does not happen contrary to God’s will. Can we discern to what degree God desires something to happen ? Only insofar as Scripture reveals such things, and by no means does Scripture fully detail the mind of God. To the contrary, we are told that we can not fully know the mind of God (see the verses below). Our own life and death is, of course, an important issue to us personally (”What is man, that thou art mindful of him”). However, Scripture refers numerous times to the fact that God does not only control “big” life-and-death events, but that he is ultimately powerful, and, as Creator, completely controls his Creation.

Q:) Is there something I can do to prevent that from happening ?

A:) No, the Bible never says that any human being has the power to change what God has willed, whether he desires this thing to happen or simply permits it to happen. The good king Hezekiah asked God to prolong his life; God granted him 15 more years of life. But we must note that Hezekiah did not force this outcome, but he prayed and wept and asked God to not end his life immediately.

Some references and commentary to support these answers to the hypothetical question...

Job and Ecclesiastes, as well as Psalms and Proverbs are well worth reviewing when studying Providence. Much of the Bible provides doctrine regarding the simple truth of God’s sovereignty and power over us and all of his creation, while also exhorting us to both faith and obedience.

Job Chapter 38

“1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,
10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14 It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
15 And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.
16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.
19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof ?
21 Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?
22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go and say unto thee, Here we are?
36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.”

American culture is one of strong individuality and independence, which are fine attributes in and of themselves. But we must be careful to not take our human American experience and feelings and allow them to make us arrogant and boastful to the point of thinking that we are not ultimately dependent upon God for every breath we take, let alone whether we prosper or starve, are safe or defeated. The ancient Israelites were told to throw away the manna from heaven nightly; this was an acknowledgement that they were indeed relying on God to provide manna the next day. Matthew Chapter 6 records how our Lord Jesus Christ speaks to us, telling us of what God desires from his children, the fact that our technology and understanding are limited where God’s are not, and revealing the magnitude of God’s glory, power and mercy and how he is concerned for all things great and small:

Matthew 6:

“26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Blessings.