My dear readers,

Answers to Remaining Questions from Calvary Pandan Church Camp 2025 (6)

Question: In a situation, does everything need to go smoothly for it to be God’s will? What if there are some disagreements and challenges along the way? Does it mean it is not God’s will?

Answer: God’s will is based on God’s sovereignty and the domain of His sovereignty. If anything can happen that is outside of God’s will, then God is no longer sovereign.

God’s domain is heaven and earth. He created the heaven and earth. Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. God’s sovereignty is over heaven and earth; no place is outside of His sovereign control.

All good and evil things happen based on God’s sovereign control. God does not have absolute control only over the good. If that is true, and God cannot control the evil that happens in believers’ lives, Christians would be in serious trouble. Then what God says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”, is a lie.

To control evil does not mean that you are the evil worker committing that evil. The worst and most powerful evil on earth is the devil. God describes him as “the god of this world.” He has blinded the minds of unbelievers on earth, but not the believers. 2 Corinthians 4:3-5: “³But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: ⁴In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. ⁵For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.” [Emphasis added]

The god of this world is NOT the God of the earth. The word “world” refers to “ages”. It refers to the systems of man throughout the ages. The devil can control the world’s economies, the medical world, the military, entertainment (all games and sporting events, movies) and global politics. God also allows him to control nature. He controlled the great wind to destroy the house that killed the ten children of Job. Job 1:18-19: “¹⁸While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: ¹⁹And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”

The only thing that the devil has partial control over is religion because the church has not been raptured. God used the church to replace the national witness that was “Israel” in Old Testament times. [NOTE: Israel in the OT prevented the devil from absolute control over nations because Israel was a holy nation of God.] When Rapture takes place, all believers, i.e. the sheep, will meet Jesus Christ in the air in glory, and He will usher them to heaven. The only ones left behind in the local churches will be unbelievers, i.e. the goats. When that happens, the devil will take total control of the church. But the One who has sovereign control over everything that happens on His earth, throughout the ages, is the Almighty God, the God of heaven and earth.

The devil is still a creature created by God. The devil became the devil when he wanted to be God. God cast him out of heaven onto the earth. Isaiah 14:12-14: “¹²How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! ¹³For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”“Satan” means “an adversary”. He places stumbling blocks in believers’ pathways as they try to obey God, such as trials, seductive things, people and all things carnal that appeal to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. “Devil” means “a slanderer”. He attacks the name and character of God’s servants and slanders the Name of Christ. False preachers, false teachers, false pastors, gossipers, liars, slanderers, deceivers and tricksters are all children and servants of the devil. The devil is the father of lies.

Evil people will try to harm God's children in their wrath. But God assures them in Psalm 76:10: “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.” Whatever residual wrath these evil ones plan, that will not be good for God’s children, God will not let it come to pass. He will restrain them with His almighty hand! A good example is Job’s trials. In Job 1 and 2, the devil had to ask God for permission to touch Job. God revealed a very assuring truth to His beloved children – if or when His children experience an adversity (including loss of loved ones, wealth, or health), they must remember that their loving Heavenly Father permits it so as to draw them closer to Him, and they must never doubt His love. That is why Romans 8:28 is a truthful teaching and an experiential reality in every believer’s life. The devil is NOT God as if he is equal in power with God. He was a good archangel created by God before he sinned. Believers, do not forget this truth from God. The devil has to ask God for permission before he can touch any of God’s children.

Disagreement and challenges in life are part and parcel of interaction with believers and unbelievers alike, including persecution from evil people. Believers and unbelievers face persecution in life, but for different reasons. Unbelievers suffer for what they have done wrong; when they do right, it is not for Christ’s sake. They might have jealous colleagues who slander them because of money matters or office politics. However, God’s children suffer for wrongdoing and doing right for Christ’s sake. When they suffer for wrongdoing, they must bear the consequences. But when they suffer for Christ’s sake, including teaching the truth of God’s Word and standing on Christian principles and for Christ, they must count it an honour that God has counted them worthy to suffer for Christ. They should always respond in kindness and love.

The teaching from Christ in His Sermon on the Mount gives clear teaching on how to respond when persecuted for Christ. Matthew 5:39-47: “³⁹But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. ⁴¹And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. ⁴²Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. ⁴³Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. ⁴⁴But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; ⁴⁵That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? ⁴⁷And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?” By this godly and loving response, the evil ones will see Christ. God may save them from their sins by seeing Christ and the gospel shared, just as God saved the Apostle Paul who persecuted Christians. Believers are instruments in God’s almighty hand to save sinners and be a blessing to God's children.

When believers fellowship, they can get hurt. Staying away from Christian fellowship to avoid hurting others and getting hurt is a sin. Hebrews 10:24-25: “²⁴And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: ²⁵Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” When they are hurt, they forgive. When they hurt others, they repent and apologise. Is this not what Christian living means? They turn doctrines into obedience, i.e. theory into reality.

God’s will has many aspects. Some of these aspects of God’s will include what God desires for His children which is His desiderative will. When God punishes sinful men, His punitive will is applied. When God chastises His children, it is His chastitive will. God gives us decrees to know His will which is His decretive will. There are more aspects of God’s will in the Bible. All humanity’s actions fall into God’s will all the time. The question is which aspect or aspects of God’s will. For example, if children are obedient and honour their parents, they will live within God’s desiderative will. But they will experience God’s chastitive will if they are naughty in school.

Therefore, no “bad” times exist in a believer’s life. If any event impacts God’s children that is bad for them and does not help them to be more Christ-like, then God will be charged with dereliction of duty as a Father. God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-seeing. He saved us from sin, death and hell and made us His beloved children. He let His beloved children remain on earth to do His will and witness for Christ. How can He not protect us under all circumstances? He sees and knows all things, all at the same time. He can never be caught off guard and will never allow something “bad” to happen to His children, even before they are born again. He watches over them even when they did not know Him. Is that not what God’s promise means when the Bible says that all believers have been “chosen before the foundation of the world” (cf. Eph 1:4a)?

When God chastises His child, it is good for him to repent, stop sinning and return to God in Christ. Chastisement is God’s way of redirecting His child back to the narrow path of holiness.

If it is to strengthen his faith and to help him trust God deeper, like He did to Job, then the adversities are also good to help him grow in grace and in the knowledge of God. The believer will experience the sincerity of his own faith and trust in Christ in times of plenty and want. He will know that he is truly born again.