God's influence of events

[CradleJourney]

(Please forgive me and move this if it is in the wrong forum - thank you!)

In various threads on these forums and in a few discussions and debates recently, I have become aware of what are apparently two beliefs (ways of thinking) about how God normally interacts with us through events.

I say normally, because I fully believe in miracles and that God, being God, could do anything He wants

The first view I’ve noticed is that God causes good, or more usually bad, things to happen - tornadoes, car accidents, heart attacks, near misses, lottery wins, etc. - and that in doing so, He is trying to tell those involved something (aka send them a message, a punishment, a reward).

Ex.
(There is a car accident - God sent your car sailing out of control and into a lawn gnome as a final warning to you to repent or die. Or conversely, you would have certainly died in the car accident if you weren’t such a holy person, whom God saved.)

The second view (which I personally have believed) is that, with rare exceptions, all the good and bad things happen because of individuals acting on free will along with the physical laws that govern our universe. No matter whether the event was good or bad, God can use it to speak to us, to give us new opportunities to seek Him, praise Him, and/or ask Him for mercy. What I believe is meant by God can work all things to good

Ex.
(The car accident occured because you made the decision to try texting while driving. The speed of the vehicle, the decision by the city to place a wide breakdown lane on that road, and a property owner’s decision to plant a flower bed rather than an oak tree resulted in a non-fatal crash. As you think about your near-miss, the Holy Spirit takes the opportunity to show you what could have been, and calls you to repent and turn back to God - or to remember to praise and thank Him for the gifts He’s given you.)

I do also hold a supporting belief that prayer and angels can also influence how an event occurs, and as I mentioned before, God can certainly perform any miracle He desires.

Ex.
(The property owner had been debating between an oak tree and a flower bed, but decided to go ahead with the flower bed based on some small prompt - his guardian angel’s (name removed by moderator)ut perhaps - that it would be the better pick.)

But I was wondering how other Catholics view this and if there is an official teaching that would apply?

 

[Prodigal_Son]

Something you haven’t mentioned, which might be relevant, is that Christ is not the king of this world, so we shouldn’t expect the laws of this world to be maximally beneficent. Mind you, God still allows all that happens here, but the world is beholden to powers and principalities that are spiritually evil.

 

[CradleJourney]

Something you haven’t mentioned, which might be relevant, is that Christ is not the king of this world, so we shouldn’t expect the laws of this world to be maximally beneficent. Mind you, God still allows all that happens here, but the world is beholden to powers and principalities that are spiritually evil.

Thank you for mentioning that - hadn’t considered that point. It is definitely something for me to consider.

So would my question really be whether spiritual powers (good or evil) actively cause events, attempt to sway us spiritually by taking advantage of the events, or subtly cause events by their influence though not direct action?

 

[Prodigal_Son]

Thank you for mentioning that - hadn’t considered that point. It is definitely something for me to consider.

So would my question really be whether spiritual powers (good or evil) actively cause events, attempt to sway us spiritually by taking advantage of the events, or subtly cause events by their influence though not direct action?

All of the above, I would think. Surely God is not trying to send us a message through every one of their actions, nor through everything that happens to us. God respects the free will, not only of men, but of angels. If real suffering is not caused by man’s sin, then it is in some way caused by the sin of those sinful powers to which man is vulnerable.