Does God Micromanage

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I have been told several times, mostly by devotees of New Age & Cosmic Catholicism that God does “not micromanage our lives”.
They have stated that:

[SIGN]God set the Universe in motion & lets it evolve as it will. He has nothing to do with earthquakes & hurricanes…they are part of nature. As far as our own illnesses & heartaches they, again, are part of nature & WE are supposed to handle them, ourselves.[/SIGN]

This has been bothering me because I was taught that, when we pray as we should, God listens & answers those prayers. To me, that is micromanagement of our lives. Now, we may not LIKE His answer, it may not be what we wanted, but He answers in a way that benifits us & all mankind. We may pray for life & His answer may be death to this world & life in the next. We may pray for wisdom & He may give us the virtue of obedience, because that is what we really need.

I also believe that some natural disasters, while not caused by God, are allowed by Him. His purpose for this, I do not know…but I have faith that He has one & that “all things work together for those who love the Lord”.

This theory that God doesn’t micromanage our lives, imo. suggests that prayer is useless. And, I don’t mean prayers like “please stop the rain, I want to go shopping”. I am talking about prayers for strength & good health…always ending with “Not my will, but Yours be done”.

This has been on my mind for some time & I’d really appreciate your (name removed by moderator)ut on this theory.
 
As far as your question , it does not appear that God actively intervenes in the course of human events very often, other than to spiritually fortify us to face our human destiny. He intervenes in the prayer closet of our internal life.
 
lovesMary said:
As far as your question , it does not appear that God actively intervenes in the course of human events very often, other than to spiritually fortify us to face our human destiny. He intervenes in the prayer closet of our internal life.
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What? Are you suggesting that God does not heal people when asked? Does not bring spouses together when asked? Does not grant a baby when asked? Does not provide us with jobs when asked?

He is an active God - involved in the tiny things of our lives because sometimes the tiny thing is the miracle we have been waiting for.

For example - my son has problems with making friends - in my case, the tiniest thing of my son getting an invite to a child’s birthday party is a miracle to me - for I have been praying that my son can make just one friend.

Yes - God can micro manage if He so wishes.

My advice? Stop hanging round those you call New Age and Cosmic Catholics. They do not sound like a clear path to heaven.
 
jrabs-- I meant that God does not perform outward miracles on a regular basis. Most people healed are healed through the help of human hands, not from direct divine intervention. Those types of miracles, while they occur, are relatively rare.

However, God does intervene in our spiritual, interior lives regularly. Do you understand what I’m saying?
 
i’d agree with jrabs. Look at all the microdetails God put into creation. He didn’t just set a bunch of people on a big rock. He created molecules that form water and gases. The way plants take CO2 and make oxygen, animals use oxygen, that the earth is the right distance from the earth to have seasons, weather, a moon, etc. If you look around the room, there are plenty of examples of God’s attention to detail. So it would follow that he would be caring to the smallest details in our lives.

God loves his creation with a love that goes beyond our understanding - so if something, whatever size, matters to us, it matters to Him. His answer may not be what we have in mind, but all of our needs, regardless of size, are met by Him.

Hope this helps.
 
I am about as far removed from all “New Age” philosophies as one can get. However, I concluded on my own, many years ago, that basically this world and all that occurs within is not micromanaged by our Lord. He has established all the laws of nature that impact events in this world (and naturally its’ inhabitants), but, unless he chooses to intervene, which I believe is a rare event, things pretty much happen of thier own accord.

I certainly do not believe He sits upon His heavenly throne and punishes earthly sinners daily by sending hurricances, cancer, etc. to teach them a lesson. Their punishment will come in time at, unless they repent, the Final Judgment!

I do, however, firmly believe that God does hear the paryers of the truly faithful who believe if they pray to him sincerely and often that he will answer their paryers. This may take the form of his direct and miraculous intervention in physical and worldly events. However, as we all know, God does not always answer our prayers in the manner in which we expect!

Hope this helps.

God bless.
 
God answering our prayers, which he always does, is not micromanaging our lives. When he answers our prayers, that answer often is other than what we asked for. He answers in a way that is best for our salvation. Not necessarily to fulfill our wants, which are fleeting. Does he do that at times? Probably so, but his care for us, is our eternal disposition. He wants us to be with him. Thank heavens for that.
Prayers & blessings
deacon Ed b
 
I think both sides of the coin are necessary. Weather is a fact of nature, but nature is a fact of God. This does not mean necessarily that God wills every storm or cloud into existence individually (since He has set the universe in motion according to rules and laws), but it also does not mean God does not intervene whenever He sees fit. Thus, it is not in vain to pray for rain in times of drought.
 
japhy said:
I think both sides of the coin are necessary. Weather is a fact of nature, but nature is a fact of God. This does not mean necessarily that God wills every storm or cloud into existence individually (since He has set the universe in motion according to rules and laws), but it also does not mean God does not intervene whenever He sees fit. Thus, it is not in vain to pray for rain in times of drought.
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Agreed. None of us are capable of understanding the mind of God. The finite cannot understand the infinite. As is best and wisely said in the Divine Mercy way of life, “My Jesus, I trust in you.”
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B
 
Spera_in_Deo said:
I am about as far removed from all “New Age” philosophies as one can get. However, I concluded on my own, many years ago, that basically this world and all that occurs within is not micromanaged by our Lord. He has established all the laws of nature that impact events in this world (and naturally its’ inhabitants), but, unless he chooses to intervene, which I believe is a rare event, things pretty much happen of thier own accord.

I certainly do not believe He sits upon His heavenly throne and punishes earthly sinners daily by sending hurricances, cancer, etc. to teach them a lesson. Their punishment will come in time at, unless they repent, the Final Judgment!

I do, however, firmly believe that God does hear the paryers of the truly faithful who believe if they pray to him sincerely and often that he will answer their paryers. This may take the form of his direct and miraculous intervention in physical and worldly events. However, as we all know, God does not always answer our prayers in the manner in which we expect!

Hope this helps.

God bless.
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Sorry, the Gospel itself says that that not a sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing about it - more importantly that He CARES both about the sparrows and more so about each us.

God sounds very much like a micromanager to me. Agreed He may not always intervene in ways that we perceive as miraculous, but we could not even take our next breath, any of us, without His being there to sustain and support our lives.

It’s there in the Psalms - ‘You send forth Your Spirit and they are created … You take back Your Spirit and they die’. So our very existence depends on God constantly and directly sustaining our life.
 
LilyM said:
Sorry, the Gospel itself says that that not a sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing about it - more importantly that He CARES both about the sparrows and more so about each us.
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His knowledge of something does not imply His hand in it; otherwise, everything that happens is God’s will and we should all end up in heaven because we’re all just doing God’s will.
 
Concerning the gods, there are those who deny the very existence of the godhead; others say that it exists, but neither bestirs itself nor has any forethought for anything. A third party attribute to it existence and forethought, but only for great and heavenly matters, not for anything that is on earth. A fourth party admit things on earth as well as in heaven, but only in general, and not with respect to each individual. A fifth, of whom were Ulysses and Socrates, are those that cry:
“I move not without Thy knowledge!”
–Epictetus​
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Surely someone who has done even a cursory read through the Psalms realizes that we Christians and Jews are solidly in the fifth party. I have no idea in what sense the Pater Noster can even be understood by anyone not in the same group.

This is what the Pope meant, I think, when he said that he believes that the most serious crises in the Church have at their roots a deficiency in profound and personal relationships with Jesus Christ.

And, by the way, “micromanagement” implies an inappropriate interference by a manager in the day-to-day discharge of duties by those he or she supervises. God gave us free will. If that doesn’t prove that God is not a control freak, I don’t know what does. So no, God does not “micromanage.”

That Providence allows evil in the world does not show that God does not care or has ceased to operate. It shows only that the divine wisdom has decreed that allowing the possibility for evil to exist is necessary for bringing about the greatest good. It was not necessary for evil to come into existence for the greatest good to come about, mind you, but the possiblity must have been open, if the greatest good ordained by God was to be realized.
 
japhy said:
His knowledge of something does not imply His hand in it; otherwise, everything that happens is God’s will and we should all end up in heaven because we’re all just doing God’s will.
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Hence Our Lord also said God CARES about the sparrows, not just that He knows about them! And the rest of what I said - our very existence is impossible without His spirit actively sustaining us, sounds like He has His hand in it all all right :doh2:

And everything that happens is indeed God’s PERMISSIVE will - that’s consistent with Catholic teaching. Nothing could happen without God’s at least permitting it, even if He doesn’t desire it to happen or desires the opposite to happen.

It’s not inconsistent with our having free will to go to heaven or hell - since God wills us to have Free Will, no? Therefore everything that results from the use of that free will is in fact God’s permissive will, although we are still responsible for our use of it.
 
I’m currently in a course on the subject of grace in St. Thomas Aquinas and I think the Angelic Doctor’s view shows exceedingly well how involved God is in our lives. St. Thomas draws upon an Aristotelian concept of premotion to assert that, since God is the source of our being and the prime mover, we can’t do anything without first receiving that motion from Him. This points us to the fact that God did not merely create the universe and set it free but is necessarily and minutely involved at every moment. When it comes to grace, we see this involvement even more strongly, as every single meritorious act requires that God have first moved our will by a special grace to choose the good. Every single good thing you’ve ever done has been “micromanaged” by God!
 
lovesMary said:
What is " New Age & Cosmic Catholicism "?
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Thanks so much for your interest in my question. I hope that I can explain what New Age is. One thing first…I think that the New Age movement is very dangerous & I will have nothing to do with it.

It’s a mixture of eastern mysticism & pagan ideas, with a bit of “tree worship” included. It’s seems to have been particularly interesting to women & orders of nuns were especially hurt by this movement.

When I think of these New Age Catholics that I mentioned in my original post, I think of enneagrams, the drug-induced “meditation” & detachment practiced by Thomas Merton, the book the Unicorn in the Sanctuary by Randy England, horoscopes, Goddess worship, Wicca & **most of all **radical feminism. It can be extreme or subtle, but it is never good. Maybe this will help explain it:

catholicconcerns.com/New-Age.html
 
jrabs said:
What? Are you suggesting that God does not heal people when asked? Does not bring spouses together when asked? Does not grant a baby when asked? Does not provide us with jobs when asked?
He is an active God - involved in the tiny things of our lives because sometimes the tiny thing is the miracle we have been waiting for.
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als10062008 said:
i’d agree with jrabs. Look at all the microdetails God put into creation. He didn’t just set a bunch of people on a big rock. He created molecules that form water and gases. The way plants take CO2 and make oxygen, animals use oxygen, that the earth is the right distance from the earth to have seasons, weather, a moon, etc. If you look around the room, there are plenty of examples of God’s attention to detail. So it would follow that he would be caring to the smallest details in our lives.

God loves his creation with a love that goes beyond our understanding - so if something, whatever size, matters to us, it matters to Him. His answer may not be what we have in mind, but all of our needs, regardless of size, are met by Him.

Hope this helps.
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Oh yes, it does help. You’re right, His universe is very detailed & the human being??? Why we have 27 bones and 37muscles in just one hand …each one of us is a very complicated miracle.

Thanks so much for your (name removed by moderator)ut
 
Andreas_Hofer said:
I’m currently in a course on the subject of grace in St. Thomas Aquinas and I think the Angelic Doctor’s view shows exceedingly well how involved God is in our lives. St. Thomas draws upon an Aristotelian concept of premotion to assert that, since God is the source of our being and the prime mover, we can’t do anything

without first receiving that motion from Him. **This points us to the fact that God did not merely create the universe and set it free but is necessarily and minutely involved at every moment. When it comes to grace, we see this involvement even more strongly, as every single meritorious act requires that God have first moved our will by a special grace to choose the good. Every single good thing you’ve ever done has been “micromanaged” by God!/**QUOTE]

EXCELLENT…JUST EXCELLENT. Thank you for helping me to remember our wonderful St. Thomas Aquinas & his teaching that it is God Who actually enables us to breathe in & out. I’ve heard it said that should God forget us…we would lose our life immeditately because it is His very knowledge of EACH of us individually that gives us life.

Thanks so much to every one of you who stopped by & gave such faith-filled (name removed by moderator)ut. I got home tonight much later than I expected, but will reply more tomorrow. 👍
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No, God does not micromanage our lives. That’s what free will is all about. However, there are a number of people who post on this forum who seem to think that the church ought to micromanage our lives on God’s behalf.

Matthew
 
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