Understanding Divine Will

Let’s talk about the sovereign will of God.

On the individual level, we’ve discussed this at length. God decides who will be spiritually born and initiates a sense of calling and conviction to suit His whims. His children are chosen before the Creation of the world, and at some point in their lives, they discover this election. God doesn’t talk much about what the deal is with other folks who aren’t chosen, and we are fools to imagine we could understand it.

But God also works His sovereign will on humanity at large. He steers the fortunes of kings and nations to suit His whims. We’ve already discussed how we should never expect to see a single human government take revelation seriously, so all of them will be herded like cattle, having no clue what’s really going on.

His children are permitted to understand His divine moral character and intuit what sort of things are likely to happen under various conditions. On top of this, God also works in some of His children by letting them see things more specifically. Thus, we have prophets who will warn about certain unpleasant consequences. The prophet’s gift is an extension of a general moral understanding of God. You won’t understand your prophetic gift if you don’t already have a good grasp of God’s moral perspective.

God’s dealings with His children individually sets them in the context of wider events. For example, it makes a huge difference if you are seeking shalom in some kind of covenant community, as opposed to just following some human traditions regarding Christian faith. The latter puts you much closer to God’s herding activity. The former puts you in a position to hear more about His actual plans for you and your faith community.

In general, a prophet should understand that God’s will is not like iron. Rather, God often sets forth a range of consequences and waits to see what key figures will choose. With His own children, there’s a lot more conviction at work, and they would struggle to ignore His preferences. But for the dumb cattle, it’s more a matter of long-term plans that we could never possibly understand. He grants to His children only glimpses of certain portions of His plans, and most of that has to do with His will for them, so it’s only what is pertinent.

When it comes to wrath, you should get the idea that certain parts of His wrath are locked in, while other elements are floating. It has to do with His wisdom and righteousness revealing His divine glory within the context. His glory will be seen, but on some issues, He waits to see how certain key figures, through whom He chooses to work, are going to react to what He holds out before them. In the long run, it makes no difference, but in the moment, God wants to maximize the potential for slapping people upside the head with His glory, so that when they stand before Him on that Last Judgment Day, they’ll have no excuse.

So, for example, my convictions tell me that I should expect to live a lot longer than I would really like. That gives me confidence to face things without fear of dying, though I could still get hurt a lot, as we saw with my shattered knee cap four years ago. I’m still convinced that was God’s determined will no matter what I did, and that it was for someone else’s benefit, but they refused to embrace the opportunity. Now, that knee was God’s property in the first place, so He can do what He wants with it. If nothing good came from it that I can see, that’s not my problem. My faith says I should work through it.

On a wider level, my convictions tell me that the US will experience an apocalypse in some places. I think it’s safe to say Portland, OR is an example of that (I’ve been there; the place has always been a left-wing hell hole). But the whole US will not go down the tubes that way. In fact, a handful of individual state governments will not tolerate that kind of thing, and are already prepared to react with overwhelming force. Still, what we see in Portland — a highly organized and well-trained red communist revolt — is going to spread some. The tactics rather loudly reported there have been reported much more quietly in other places. It’s already happening.

If my state were heading for an apocalypse, I’d be praying fervently for a substantial motor home, and be ready to accept something smaller if necessary, in order to preserve this ministry. But I am convinced that isn’t in the cards for Oklahoma, and that I should not anticipate moving. There might be some disruption to my Net access, and the other blog is already at some risk of being shut down. Still, I’m about as prepared as can be for keeping myself accessible to you.

I have no way of knowing what God plans to do in other places where you folks live; He’s not telling me anything that doesn’t pertain to me. You’ll have to pray and seek your own sense of conviction. But for me living here, I have a burden to plan on eventually doing some touring within the state (the bike, the camera, etc.) and promoting it as a good place to live while the USA comes apart.

That doesn’t keep me from praying for all of you in the places where you live. I sincerely hope that things work out well for you. I pray that you get a firm sense of conviction about where you should be and what you should do there for His glory. Some of you will no doubt feel called to stay right there in the middle of an apocalypse. Whatever the case may be, feel free to tell me about it so I can pray more specifically for you.

At any rate, I’ll continue sharing whatever my prophetic gift tells me. In my heart, it all feels a lot closer than it does to my mind. There is only so much you can do to prepare, because God isn’t revealing much about a range of certain things not yet decided.