Does everything happen according to God's will?

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Please post your comments. I personally disagree with the statement that “everything happens according to God’s will” for Jesus urges us to pray, “…thy will be done.”

If God’s will is always done, then this statement “thy will be done” would be redundant.
 
No, everything does NOT happen according to God’s Will, or else rape and murder would be at the behest of God. NO, NO, NO!!!

However, God will often allow sinful things to happen in order that a greater Good can happen. Jesus’ Crucifixion is one example.

The stoning of Stephen in Acts 7 is another. Notice, after Stephen was stoned, the other Hellenistic deacons fled throughout Israel (and I think Samaria) and began to profess the Gospel of Christ. Hence, Christianity spread because of the death of a great martyr.
 
Regarding “Thy will be done…”

Here’s how I understand it… I’m not sure if I’m right, but this is how I understand it:

God doesn’t need our prayers. He doesn’t even need us. But we need to pray to Him, and He loves us to speak with Him.

God doesn’t need our praise. But we need to praise Him.

God doesn’t need for us to ask for what we need. He already knows what we need. But He loves for us to come to Him as children come to a loving father asking for what they want or need.

Everything that comes from the hand of God is for our benefit, and so the Lord’s Prayer is for us, because we need to speak with our God.
We praise Him…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name!

How we pray that the whole world would come to praise You, that Jesus, Your Son, will return, and every nation worship Him and proclaim Him King…
Thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

We come as Your children, grateful for Your daily loving care, for feeding us with earthly food, and most especially for the heavenly Bread, the Body of Your Son…
Give us this day our daily bread,

Help us every day to forgive each other for we stand so in need of Your forgivnesss…
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

Please don’t allow us to be tested more than we can endure…
And lead us not into temptation

And save us from all of the devil’s deception…
But deliver us from evil.

Amen.
I’m certain that there are countless commentaries written on the Lord’s Prayer by theologians, Doctors of the Church, and great Saints, which so far surpass my thoughts that I can’t even imagine, but this is how I can understand the prayer, and I hope to have been of some help.
 
GemmaRose said:
God doesn’t need our prayers. He doesn’t even need us. But we need to pray to Him, and He loves us to speak with Him.

God doesn’t need our praise. But we need to praise Him.
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I was sitting in daily Mass one day and right before the Eucharistic Prayer (immediately before the Sanctus, or Holy Holy Holy), I heard the priest say, “Father, we know that even the desire to praise You and give thanks to You is yet another gift from You…”, and I don’t think I heard another word of the Mass until we stood for the Our Father (yes, I think I was still zoned out during the consecration, sigh). I simply dwelt on that phrase, “even the desire to praise You and give thanks to You is yet another gift from You”. That is an awesome and humbling thought, in my opinion!!!
 
Yes, everything happens according to God’s will. We ask to accept His will.
 
iaskquestions said:
Please post your comments. .
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Does everything happen according to God’s will?
No, Holy Scripture tells us that God wishes us all to come to eternal salvation. “He is not willing that even one should perish.” We also know that sin is against God’s will, but we do sin.
 
iaskquestions said:
Please post your comments. I personally disagree with the statement that “everything happens according to God’s will” for Jesus urges us to pray, “…thy will be done.”

If God’s will is always done, then this statement “thy will be done” would be redundant.
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He has an ordaining will and a permitting will.

This kind of explains it:

Is God’s Will Always Done?
 
trustinyou said:
I like the way Mother Angelica puts it…theres God’s permiting will,and Gods divine will…
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Exactly! It is His Will to give us Free Will, even if that allows us to do what He doesn’t Will.

Did that make even the remotest sense?
 
iaskquestions said:
So, in a way, his will is always done! 👍 :newidea: :tiphat:
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Well, would you say it’s God’s will that a child is aborted? A woman raped? A family killed? That a person goes to hell?

Although God permits that these evils can happen, He certainly doesn’t Will it (at least, I HOPE He doesn’t!).
 
NotWorthy said:
Well, would you say it’s God’s will that a child is aborted? A woman raped? A family killed? That a person goes to hell?

Although God permits that these evils can happen, He certainly doesn’t Will it (at least, I HOPE He doesn’t!).
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God’s Will is that we have free will. Because we have free will, sin and crime and atrocities happen; so in some mysterioius way, everything is incorporated into God’s Will… and God can somehow bring good even out of the worst of situations.
 
In the diary of Saint Faustyna Jesus says something like “every creature, knowing it or not, always fullfills my will”
 
GemmaRose said:
God’s Will is that we have free will. Because we have free will, sin and crime and atrocities happen; so in some mysterioius way, everything is incorporated into God’s Will… and God can somehow bring good even out of the worst of situations.
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But, I think we need to understand that:
a) It was not God’s Will that these atrocities happened.
but,
b) These atrocities can be turned around to fulfill God’s Will if we follow Christ’s teachings.

For instance, there is a saint who was raped as a 14 year old (I can’t remember her name). She told her rapist that she forgave him before she died. The rapist repented and later turned his life around and became a priest. (I certainly hope I told this story accurately). I recall hearing that the rapist was even at the Mass was she was beatified.

Although the rape was certainly not according to God’s Will, He was able to use it to further His Will.
 
This is a matter of semantics.
Since God permits acts of freewill that arise from His will for us to co-participate in His creation and for us to learn how to conform our wills to His (even though we often fail) and because God wills for a greater good to come out of our will to sin then yes, all things happen according to God’s will. That does not mean God wills sin or the consequences of sin but it does mean He will to use sin as an instrument by which to manifest His will, correct us to conform to His will and attain a greater good and final objective. This is the Divine Plan and Divine Providence.

James
 
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