By the Rev. David Hernes
East Freeborn Church

It is not difficult to get into discussions — and arguments — about God’s will. What does God want? Does God have a plan? And, if so, is there a way to know? These questions quickly lead to discussions about the management of our human family.

I’ll start with the easy part. It is certainly not God’s will that we hurt and kill each other. It is certainly not God’s will that we destroy each other’s property. It is certainly not God’s will that we destroy this planet. It is certainly not God’s will that the wealthy and the powerful live at the expense of the poor and powerless. It is certainly not God’s will that we criticize, judge and condemn each other. It is certainly not God’s will that we will be driven by greed and materialism. It is certainly not God’s will that we seek to be ahead of each other, or above each other. I know that I stated all of those negatively, but sometimes the negative can be a helpful way to see the opposite.

It is certainly in God’s will that we live with joy and peace, happiness and freedom, generosity and kindness, goodwill and acceptance, faith and hope, sympathy and empathy, patience and forgiveness and self-respect and other-respect. That’s not so hard to write, either.

But the going quickly gets sticky when we use the words “God’s plan.” Does God have a plan? For some folks, that rings of God as a puppeteer, and we humans as puppets. That can easily make God the author of pain and suffering, of terrible human tragedies.

It seems easy for me to think that our creator has a will and he has given us humans a will. Life is a dance. We humans dance with our creator, and with each other. There is often a struggle aspect to our dances. Who will lead? Will the dance be more of a battle than a cooperation? Will it be pleasant and enjoyable, or misery and heartache?

Often people who talk about God’s plan talk about it after coming through a life experience where even the garbage of life has served a good purpose. It looks to them as if every detail was a part of the script, a part of the blueprint. Thus, they see God’s plans as good, and every part playing a role.

I don’t think God puts the garbage in there. God uses it. God is the great recycler. One pastor said, “Sometimes I think that God has used my confessed, redeemed sins to help people even more than my book-learning.”

There is a fine nuance of meaning in Romans 8:28. “In all things, God works for good.” Not only in all things, but in all people. That means that God is working for good in you and me and everyone in our lives. Could it be that our dances would go better with God as the leader, and everything yielded to God’s management?