Does God's will for you change?

[dee_burk]

So, this question has really been bugging me.

Fact: God knows every decision you will make before you are born.

Do you think God bases his will for you based on what he knows of you or do you think based on your decisions he adapts his will to your current situation?

For instance: I was not raised Catholic but converted late in life. Decisions I made before conversion affect me now (ex. the person I married), so when I pray that I will know and be obedient to God’s will, what if God’s will 30 years ago would not have been to marry this person, but I am married to this person, therefore i cant think he would will that i get a divorce because of the sacrament of marriage, therefore does would his will change based on my current situation?

 

[wmw]

“God’s will” has some very imprecise and varied meanings attached to it.
For instance it is God will’s that all men be saved, yet some go to hell. Then there are statements that God’s will always prevails and all history follows his commands.

I don’t think God ever needs a plan B. He knows what is, throughout all time, but we need many chances. God calls us to Himself many times knowing we will respond however we choose to respond. If we eventually respond to accept and love Him and our neighbors in return of His love and grace then persevere in this to the end then He knew it and it was always His unchanging plan. He didn’t have to change anything from what we might have done because He knew that would never happen.

He is fully able to have made a different history and future had anyone of us made other choices, but never has to make any such change.

I’ve been think of this in terms of Adam and Eve. Did they absolutely have to be in Eden? I’m thinking Eden is a figurative place for us to imagine a place without original sin. Because after being banished from Eden there is sin and the animals are changed it seems history would have to change to account for dinosaurs and other carnivores and death and extinction. This is contrary to a God that has made all things according to a single plan; so, I conclude that the place of Eden is a plot device for the figurative part of the story. Therefore, God never speaks again of Eden other than no one can go there; rather after the resurrection and general judgement Revelations introduces a new heaven and earth.

 

[Buck_Crosswhite]

So, this question has really been bugging me.

Fact: God knows every decision you will make before you are born.

Do you think God bases his will for you based on what he knows of you or do you think based on your decisions he adapts his will to your current situation?

For instance: I was not raised Catholic but converted late in life. Decisions I made before conversion affect me now (ex. the person I married), so when I pray that I will know and be obedient to God’s will, what if God’s will 30 years ago would not have been to marry this person, but I am married to this person, therefore i cant think he would will that i get a divorce because of the sacrament of marriage, therefore does would his will change based on my current situation?

God’s will for you is the same as it is for every other person. Obey the Church laws and conduct your life in such a manner that it will lead to your salvation. Make the best of your marriage and teach your wife and children how to save their souls.

 

[Simca]

So, this question has really been bugging me.

Fact: God knows every decision you will make before you are born.

Do you think God bases his will for you based on what he knows of you or do you think based on your decisions he adapts his will to your current situation?

For instance: I was not raised Catholic but converted late in life. Decisions I made before conversion affect me now (ex. the person I married), so when I pray that I will know and be obedient to God’s will, what if God’s will 30 years ago would not have been to marry this person, but I am married to this person, therefore i cant think he would will that i get a divorce because of the sacrament of marriage, therefore does would his will change based on my current situation?

Hi dee burk,

I think your question is complicated, but as to your 2nd paragraph, I think both are true.
I think God is very respectful of our desires and our decisions. Very often, in my heart, I feel that, many times, God leaves many decisions to us, but promises to bless our decisions - especially those decisions we have consulted him about.

As to your marital example, it reminded me of the discussion in I Corinthians chapter 7. Paul says that the Lord’s wishes are, that each person should remain in the circumstances he finds himself after he becomes a believer in Christ. It says that if a man or woman was married, then becomes a believer, he/she should not seek a divorce or a separation.

I think that God foreknows us and all the decisions we will ever make. He allows for these decisions, probably even guides those decisions before we even know him or give our lives to him. He has our whole lives in his hands, has allowed for all circumstances, and as long as we are trying to live with him as our Lord and God, he will bless us in all that we do.

Hope this has helped.

 

[Bob_Crowley]

So, this question has really been bugging me.

Fact: God knows every decision you will make before you are born.

Do you think God bases his will for you based on what he knows of you or do you think based on your decisions he adapts his will to your current situation?

For instance: I was not raised Catholic but converted late in life. Decisions I made before conversion affect me now (ex. the person I married), so when I pray that I will know and be obedient to God’s will, what if God’s will 30 years ago would not have been to marry this person, but I am married to this person, therefore i cant think he would will that i get a divorce because of the sacrament of marriage, therefore does would his will change based on my current situation?

God works with you where you are. The past is a closed book, and can’t be changed. What you can do, and I stress the word “you” here, is to work with God from hereon in.

St. Peter denied Christ three times, and Christ predicted he would, before the cock crowed three times. Hence God knew Peter’s decision before Peter had carried it out, and told him in no uncertain terms. No doubt this impinged on Peter’s mind in much the same way as your past decisions do now.

But God was still prepared to work with Peter despite his failure. The same analogy applies to St. Paul, and his involvement in the stoning of Phillip when he was still known as Saul. But God was still prepared to work with him, and in a very big way. Again St. Paul would never have been fully able to come to grips with his past behaviour, but pressed on nonetheless.

You’re in good company, so stop worrying about it.

 

[fhansen]

God works with you where you are. The past is a closed book, and can’t be changed. What you can do, and I stress the word “you” here, is to work with God from hereon in.

St. Peter denied Christ three times, and Christ predicted he would, before the cock crowed three times. Hence God knew Peter’s decision before Peter had carried it out, and told him in no uncertain terms. No doubt this impinged on Peter’s mind in much the same way as your past decisions do now.

But God was still prepared to work with Peter despite his failure. The same analogy applies to St. Paul, and his involvement in the stoning of Phillip when he was still known as Saul. But God was still prepared to work with him, and in a very big way. Again St. Paul would never have been fully able to come to grips with his past behaviour, but pressed on nonetheless.

You’re in good company, so stop worrying about it.

Yes, God takes us from where we are-and even then, we’re never in the perfected state, we never quite “arrive”, as if , from then on, all our choices will be perfect. Jesus “died for us while we’re yet sinners”; God’s always in the business of working with corrupted material to one degree or anoither.

 

[dee_burk]

Very good answers from everyone, thanks. Not to worry, the example i gave was just that, an example.

 

[Bob_Crowley]

…The same analogy applies to St. Paul, and his involvement in the stoning of Phillip when he was still known as Saul. But God was still prepared to work with him, and in a very big way. Again St. Paul would never have been fully able to come to grips with his past behaviour, but pressed on nonetheless…

QUOTE]

I thought I’d better correct a blooper in my post above. It was St. Stephen who was stoned, not Phillip. Phillip was the bloke who couldn’t keep his feet in one place, meeting the Ethiopian somewhere on the road to Gaza, and then reappearing in Azotus.

My apologies. I thought there was something amiss, but I was too lazy to check.

 

[polytropos]

So, this question has really been bugging me.

Fact: God knows every decision you will make before you are born.

Do you think God bases his will for you based on what he knows of you or do you think based on your decisions he adapts his will to your current situation?

Theologians distinguish between God’s antecedent and consequent will. Whatever happens happens in accord with God’s consequent will. God’s antecedent will is more of a “logical entity” we can talk about, though it is not actually a part of God. So God antecedently wills that no one sins, but God consequently wills that those who choose to sin act in accordance with their free will.

God doesn’t change his consequent will (which is his “real” will), but we could kind of talk about God “changing” (in a metaphorical sense) his will since his antecedent and consequent wills do not always match up. The case of sin is one example. Another example might be that more people are probably called to religious life or the priesthood than actually answer the call. God eternally wills that they make the decisions they do, though if they in fact chose to answer his call and enter the priesthood, then his actual will would be more in accord with his antecedent will.

 

[fhansen]

Theologians distinguish between God’s antecedent and consequent will. Whatever happens happens in accord with God’s consequent will. God’s antecedent will is more of a “logical entity” we can talk about, though it is not actually a part of God. So God antecedently wills that no one sins, but God consequently wills that those who choose to sin act in accordance with their free will.

God doesn’t change his consequent will (which is his “real” will), but we could kind of talk about God “changing” (in a metaphorical sense) his will since his antecedent and consequent wills do not always match up. The case of sin is one example. Another example might be that more people are probably called to religious life or the priesthood than actually answer the call. God eternally wills that they make the decisions they do, though if they in fact chose to answer his call and enter the priesthood, then his actual will would be more in accord with his antecedent will.

Is this true? Cannot God will that we don’t sin while willing that we’re free to sin nonetheless, without conflict? It seems that conflict would arise only if He wanted us not to sin, and wanted us to sin, all at once.

 

[dee_burk]

Theologians distinguish between God’s antecedent and consequent will. Whatever happens happens in accord with God’s consequent will. God’s antecedent will is more of a “logical entity” we can talk about, though it is not actually a part of God. So God antecedently wills that no one sins, but God consequently wills that those who choose to sin act in accordance with their free will.

God doesn’t change his consequent will (which is his “real” will), but we could kind of talk about God “changing” (in a metaphorical sense) his will since his antecedent and consequent wills do not always match up. The case of sin is one example. Another example might be that more people are probably called to religious life or the priesthood than actually answer the call. God eternally wills that they make the decisions they do, though if they in fact chose to answer his call and enter the priesthood, then his actual will would be more in accord with his antecedent will.

yeah, this is kinda where my question was going. like, if you pray to know and do God’s will and lets say it is to be a priest…but you instead get married. then later in life you pray to know and do God’s will but wait, now you cant be a priest cause you are married, therefore can you ever please God again? Will there be another way you can do God’s will unless it is now different than before, i mean it wouldnt be to be a priest again due to the little wifee and 6 kids you now have…

 

[friardchips]

If you have consecrated your life to God in a different way other than what you think God was actually calling you to then your vocation is now to love God with your spouse.

However, if one has a real vocation, it could be that one isn’t living it because he hasn’t been called to it and that one imagined that one’s vocation was a different one to the life one is now living. I don’t think this though because I believe that there are not as many people living lives as religious or priests in the West as many as there should be!

Men and women are sent back in the world rather than encouraged to pursue.

So does God’s will change? No. His will is for your eternal salvation. Does His way change for His will to be realized? Only if we give up or do something drastic to alter our intended path - so marriage the path will change, or for people who do not know God - then life-altering things. Basically, really drastic things. But in most cases, He won’t stop trying to guide you to the correct path that will help best serve Him and His Church and your own soul - but only if the horizon or the original canvas has not disappeared thanks to our own wills!

 

[friardchips]

…so,

• if you are married but think you should have been a religious, you are still following God’s will but along pathway B which is still great
• if you are a religious when in actual fact God wanted you to get married then the same applies!

However, discernment is something that should be taken very seriously and certainly in terms of considering religious life, in its various forms.

 

[Michael19682]

So, this question has really been bugging me.

Fact: God knows every decision you will make before you are born.

Do you think God bases his will for you based on what he knows of you or do you think based on your decisions he adapts his will to your current situation?

For instance: I was not raised Catholic but converted late in life. Decisions I made before conversion affect me now (ex. the person I married), so when I pray that I will know and be obedient to God’s will, what if God’s will 30 years ago would not have been to marry this person, but I am married to this person, therefore i cant think he would will that i get a divorce because of the sacrament of marriage, therefore does would his will change based on my current situation?

Is it possible that a lot of what I think is a “question of discerning God’s will for me” is really a contrivance of dancing with my own ego and self importance. Consider Isiah 1:11ff

 

[friardchips]

"dee burk:

Fact: God knows every decision you will make before you are born.

Do you think God bases his will for you based on what he knows…

Your first sentence answers your own question in the second sentence! If God always knew everything you are to do, then it can’t be a question of ‘what He knows’ because He knows everything! So it is truer to say that His will for you is realized in steps and stages through the things you are saying, doing and praying - His perfect will for you is realized through your zig-zaggy imperfect ways. The more you discern, pray and act, the better aligned your will is with His.

Is it possible that a lot of what I think is a “question of discerning God’s will for me” is really a contrivance of dancing with my own ego and self importance. Consider Isiah 1:11ff

As a famous quote goes: ‘God draws straight with crooked lines.’ If you were to look at the back of a tapestry the threads would be everywhere, crazy lines here and there, but when you turn it around and look at the front, you can see the threads make up a picture of your life and what God has helped you achieve towards God’s kingdom and your own soul.

So, self-ego? Some of it, yes and some of it, no. This is why one needs to pray and what discernment is about- distinguishing God’s will amongst our own loose ends. Look for Him in the gentle breeze not the storm - one thread at a time.

 

[rinnie]

So, this question has really been bugging me.

Fact: God knows every decision you will make before you are born.

Do you think God bases his will for you based on what he knows of you or do you think based on your decisions he adapts his will to your current situation?

For instance: I was not raised Catholic but converted late in life. Decisions I made before conversion affect me now (ex. the person I married), so when I pray that I will know and be obedient to God’s will, what if God’s will 30 years ago would not have been to marry this person, but I am married to this person, therefore i cant think he would will that i get a divorce because of the sacrament of marriage, therefore does would his will change based on my current situation?

Gods will is for you to use your free will to obey him. I believe when we choose our mate it is our will not saying that God does not agree with our will or disagree with our will.

I do believe God knows the choices we will make before we make them, but our choices are our choices.

THe will of God is for us all to Love him and obey his commands.

I do believe if we pray and ask him for guidance before we marry, he can lead us someway with the right decisions. And I do believe he knows who we will marry and if its the right choice. But again he gives us that right to choose our will when it comes to our mate.

 

[rinnie]

Is this true? Cannot God will that we don’t sin while willing that we’re free to sin nonetheless, without conflict? It seems that conflict would arise only if He wanted us not to sin, and wanted us to sin, all at once.

No, if God gives you free will, he cannot force his will upon you. Although its his will that we do not sin, by no means makes it his will taking over your free will.

Anotherwards he does not impose his will upon us, over our own free will.

Like we want our kids to be good and want them to be faithful to God, It is our will, but our will, like the will of God, does not take away their free will to decide.

 

[Simca]

yeah, this is kinda where my question was going. like, if you pray to know and do God’s will and lets say it is to be a priest…but you instead get married. then later in life you pray to know and do God’s will but wait, now you cant be a priest cause you are married, therefore can you ever please God again? Will there be another way you can do God’s will unless it is now different than before, i mean it wouldnt be to be a priest again due to the little wifee and 6 kids you now have…

I’m might get some disagreement about this, but…

I really, really think, that if it was God’s plan for a man to become a priest, that God would not have allowed him to meet and fall in love and marry. It just wouldn’t have happened.

Take St. Paul for example: He was definitely on the wrong path, and God had other plans for him: to the point where Jesus actually appeared to him and stopped him from proceeding any further along his current path. (Even though he still could have refused because of his free will.)

There have been a couple of things in my own life, where I have internally heard from the Lord, and he told me to not take the path I was thinking about pursuing. Another time He spoke to both my husband and me separately and told us to turn our resignation in to a group we were volunteering with. We knew it was the Lord–because it happened simultaneously and separately–my husband said to me, ‘there’s something I have to tell you’. And I said, ‘I already know’. (We had not previously been thinking about or discussing doing this, and it came as a surprise to both of us.)

These things make me feel, that if God has a particular plan for you, he will let you know.

 

[friardchips]

Simca - do you think this only applies to priests, or do you think this is the case with all people and all vocations - that God will make sure all vocations happen no matter what?

 

[Simca]

Simca - do you think this only applies to priests, or do you think this is the case with all people and all vocations - that God will make sure all vocations happen no matter what?

I think that if God is really calling a person to do something, He will make it plain to them, and He will really convict them with His Spirit. No matter what their calling is - whether it’s to be a Priest, a Lector, a Eucharistic Minister, a missionary–God will touch a person’s heart and spirit, and they will know. It’s still up to the person, but they will know. If the person decides not to follow their calling, God will respect that, and if they’ve given their lives to Him, He will never leave them, and will make another path for them, but they will remain in his care and in his love.

It seems to me, that as far as a career goes, many people expect God to tell them what their career path is to be… should I become a clerk, a journalist, a doctor…etc., In this respect, I don’t know if God does this. I think a person should follow their hearts and understand what gifts and talents they have, and ask God to use them and bless them, and especially use them to bring others unto himself. That’s God’s ultimate plan–to use us to bring others into his kingdom.