Providence Versus Fate - 2020

Dr. Paul Manuel—2021

(Updated from Original)

     One of our aides asked me if I believe in fate (crassly, “luck” or “chance”).  Linda, who is often able to respond more quickly than I, replied, “We believe in providence.” This made me consider how providence (not fate) really does represent our understanding of the events in our life together. Either way, it is not by luck or by chance that we do anything. It is by choice.

    None of the items on the “Gratitude” list (Manuel 2022) is the result of fate, the impersonal meandering of a rudderless universe where some unknown and unknowable Star Wars type force ‘directs’ (a misnomer that implies intention, which is not an option with fate) one’s future. Quite the contrary, each of the items on that list reflects the working of a personal, purposeful, powerful, and praiseworthy deity. The involvement of God is what marks the difference between providence and fate: Fate is godless, undirected and unpredictable; providence is godly, directed and (somewhat) predictable. The notion that “everything happens for a reason” (Albert Schweitzer) is true only in the presence of providence:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. (Eccl 3:1)

Because God has a plan He is fulfilling, there is also a sense in which destiny (intention, inevitability) plays a role in our lives, as He moves all events toward a specific goal: “His eternal purpose” (Eph 3:11).

     Although death is a common experience for all, death is not the last experience for all (exceptions include Enoch and Elijah), and it is imperative to plan ahead now, while it is possible to influence the final outcome:

Death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. (Eccl 7:2)

Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. (Heb 9:27)

As with providence, only God’s involvement gives destiny meaning (i.e., direction toward the future):

In Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)

In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28)

He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will. (Eph 1:5)

Free will plays an important role in conjunction with God’s will at the outset of man’s journey through life (see Manuel 2020). God allows the former to complement the latter, more than that, to advance it. From the beginning of creation God has allowed man to make his own choices, even when those choices contradicted God’s will and were detrimental to man:

The Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, [which he freely did] for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Gen 2:16-17)

That freedom of choice has remained with God’s people through some challenging periods of their history:

Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Josh 24:15)

God is a great respecter of persons. He does not force anyone into His kingdom who will not go voluntarily. Moreover, obeying Him has always been a matter of choice not compulsion. The first (primary) decision before every man is binary: to serve God or not. It is man’s decision to make, not one God makes for man:

If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. (John 7:17)

The second decision before every man is also binary, but it is one God makes for man: to spend eternity with God or not. The man who chooses not to follow God (the first decision), He condemns to perdition. The man who chooses to follow God, He rewards with eternal life:

The [wicked] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

(Matt 25:46)

To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life. (Rom 2:7)

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23)

The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Gal 6:8)

Either way, man’s final destiny is initially his own choice, and that choice determines God’s subsequent decision, about his final placement.

     Providence operates according to a perceivable, even if not immediately obvious, norm. God’s ways are frequently inscrutable and, thus, not necessarily understandable or recognizable ahead of time, but they do follow a pattern and proceed toward the goal He established (sometimes clear later):

The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations. (Ps 33:11)

My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways…. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:8-9)

Providence is often evident only in hindsight and reflection; fate, having no actual direction, is not truly evident at all. (The Star Wars “force” is not a model because, though it may claim to be predictable, it is reproducible only in the realm of fiction.)

 

     Are there things in my life I would do differently if I could do them over? Do I have regrets? Yes, there are, and yes, I do, although surprisingly few, which is also a testimony to the consistency of God’s benevolent hand, albeit not a testimony to the consistency of my attention and obedience to Him. God will apprise me of everything I have done wrong and of all the opportunities to do right I have missed when I stand at last before His bar of justice:

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Cor 5:10)

It will be a “This is your life” review I anticipate with some trepidation as it will bring to light my many shortcomings:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23)

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Cor 5:10)

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. (1 Tim 1:15)

Nevertheless, it is an event Linda and I will meet confident the outcome will be to our ultimate and eternal advantage, despite my many shortcomings, because He will cleanse us “from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Moreover, God will address all our regrets:

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning, or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Rev 21:4)

Consequently, we do not “grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (1 Thess 4:13). Furthermore, we “shall know fully, even as [we are] fully known” (1 Cor 13:12) and, most spectacularly, we will see “His face” (Rev 22:4). It will be a glorious and momentous revelation, especially as “no one [here] may see [Him] and live” (Exod 33:20).

     Those who attempt to navigate life without God are thus without assurance their existence will have enduring significance or legacy. Many people assume they live in a ‘closed system’ and what they see is all there is. Theirs is a myopic view of reality leaving little to the imagination. Their minds are unreceptive to an alternative possibility. Thankfully, God has not allowed man’s narrow-sighted delusion to remain unchallenged but has broken through this façade of self-deception with the truth of His existence, more than that, with the promise of His love:

God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. (1 Cor 2:9)

     God allows man to determine what his status will be at the end: redeemed or condemned. In this life, man has whatever group of friends and family he can assemble around him, companions who are with him temporarily and for only part of his journey, yet who are not with him in the next life (if he and they are not redeemed), eternally and for the duration of his existence then, which is very long. He has one opportunity to decide his final destiny. After that, he will not be able to change his mind. He will have sealed his own fate:

Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us. (Luke 16:26)

The last judgment for the “many” (Matt 7:13; 22:14) will be a solitary affair (“outside [in] the darkness” Matt 25:30), accompanied by others, to be sure, but not necessarily aware of them. In contrast, the last judgment for the “few” (Matt 7:14; 22:14) will be a comforting affair, with the One who “who lives in unapproachable light” (1 Tim 6:16) and with “a great cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1), such as “Abraham” (Matt 8:11, “Moses, and Elijah” (Matt 17:3), along with “those who had been slain because of the word of God” (Rev 6:9).

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     Many fellow students at CBC struggled with the uncertainty of knowing God’s will for their lives, as if it were a mystery He keeps hidden from all but His most devoted followers. It is not:

He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ. (Eph 1:9)

To be sure, there is mystery in life, but it does not concern the afterlife, where one will spend eternity. God has made that clear:

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
(1 John 5:12)

(1 John 5:12)

     The common answer to the question about God’s will is obedience to God’s word. His will is that we keep the general admonitions that appear frequently in scripture:

Keep all My decrees and all My laws and follow them. I am the Lord. (Lev 19:37)

Keep His decrees and commands…so that it may go well with you. (Deut 4:40)

While He intends some decrees for specific classes of people (e.g., kings, priests, farmers, merchants), obeying God’s general laws (e.g., His two greatest commandments) is God’s will for all people in all instances:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matt 22:37-39)

     Knowing God’s will beyond what He has revealed in His word is essentially a function of obedience. By obeying God, a person aligns his thoughts with God’s thoughts, making God’s priorities his priorities, which is not man’s usual order of things (i.e., giving Him first place before our place):

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. (Isa 55:8)

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing, and perfect will. (Rom 12:2)

The more experience a person has obeying God, the more confidence he can have that he grasps God’s will.

     Beyond God’s general admonitions, there may be more than one answer to the question about His will. That is, God’s will is not necessarily as specific, pre-determined, or focused as many people assume, such that He has a unique and detailed plan for every individual in every circumstance that a person must discover if he is to find fulfilment, and failure to uncover this unique plan will doom a person to disappointment and ruin. On the contrary, God may not have a particular inclination necessary for a person to accomplish His will until that person reaches a certain point in life. Any one of several options may meet God’s criteria:

You know His will, and you approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law. (Rom 2:18)

He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ…. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will. (Eph 1:9, 11)

Although Paul calls God’s will a “mystery,” it is one “you know,” that “He made known to us,” and that accords with His “law.” Because God is sovereign, He is able to integrate a number of variables (our choices) into His plan.

     Moreover, even as major a decision as finding a mate may at first be a matter of personal preference rather than God’s specific intention. When I was looking for a potential partner, there were several girls in the church whom I might have pursued. (This was before Christian dating services.) Any one of those girls would have accorded with God’s will for my life, as none of them would have caused me to violate the prohibition against joining with “unbelievers” (2 Cor 6:14). I chose to pursue Linda and, with her agreement, she became God’s will for me and I became God’s will for her, as our wedding vows formalized:

When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said. (Num 30:2)

Perhaps, He gave us both a nudge, knowing she would be the ideal helpmeet for me, because I would not get very far on my own. But the field of potential candidates, at least initially, was open, and He left the task of narrowing it to human consideration.

     God may also leave to us the decision about which career path to take, able to work whatever we choose into the fabric of His purpose. That is what I understood to be His answer when I posed the question in prayer whether or not I should go to college. “You choose,” He seemed to say, satisfied that I was sufficiently devoted to Him and would submit to Him in whatever I decided.

     As long as we commit to keeping His general admonitions, He makes what remains become His will for us, and whatever more specific guidance we need He provides along the way. Meanwhile, obedience to what we already know is paramount.

     The most challenging areas of uncertainty about God’s will are often ones that involve more than a single person, as in marriage. Those decisions frequently showcase either individual integrity, the resolute commitment to keeping one’s own word (“for better or for worse”), or intractability, the stubborn insistence on having one’s own way (e.g., by claiming “irreconcilable differences”).

     To eliminate this uncertainty, God reduces the number of people in charge for most situations, thereby limiting the number of decisions one must make:

        Wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Eph 5:24)

        Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. (Eph 6:1)

Slaves, obey your earthly masters. (Eph 6:5)

Submit yourselves…to every authority instituted among men. (1 Pet 2:13)

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     Through a major role decision, God put the husband in charge in a marriage because of Eve’s part in the Fall:

The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. (Eph 5:23)

Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived. (1 Tim 2:14)

Despit allowing herself to be deceived by Satan, Eve’s culpability does not absolve Adam of responsibility. In fact, he shows an all-too willingness to disobey God with his easy acquiescence to her suggestion. Eve is just the first to step out of line.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food…she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband…and he ate it. (Gen 3:6)

God makes Eve’s primary role in the Fall the reason for women’s secondary role in the marriage:

Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived. (1 Tim 2:14)

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. (Col 3:18)

God intends the husband to be head of the household, which becomes a patriarchal versus a matriarchal institution.

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     Nevertheless, a marriage relationship is often egalitarian, with both husband and wife charting its course together. The greatest difficulty in determining God’s will arises when we fail to make His general admonitions paramount, including love for one’s mate.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…. Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (Eph 5:25, 28)

The wife must respect [not love?] her husband. (Eph 5:33)

        Cf. A reciprocal relationship;

                    I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. (Song 6:3 KJV)

After those matters occupy their proper place, other matters fall in line.

 

     I am very grateful that disunity has not been a problem for Linda and me, although our abiding equanimity may often be because of her willingness to defer to me, a willingness that makes me love her all the more:

Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this…life that God has given you under the sun. (Eccl 9:9)

Each one of you…must love his wife as he loves himself. (Eph 5:33)

A husband is responsible for his wife, and the direction he takes, for good or ill, generally affects the direction she takes, especially as she follows his lead. I pray that whatever good my decisions realize is also good for Linda.

     What God has enabled me to accomplish—physically (9^th degree), academically (Ph.D.), professionally (ordination), and maritally (Linda!)—is truly gratifying. He has given me “the desire[s] of [my] heart” (Ps 21:2) and more. At this point, my most important and ongoing task is, as it has always been, remaining faithful to Him:

I desire to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart. (Ps 40:8)

Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. (Ps 73:25)

In the end, I hope to have emulated the example of Ezra, who “devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees” (7:10).

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     In the Lord, “a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Prov 18:24), man has a companion who will remain with him always, “to the very end of the age” (Matt 28:20), even when he crosses the final ‘barrier’ (another misnomer, because it implies a division that is more apparent than real; it is rather like a low ‘threshold’ or a ‘speed bump’), which is simply a transition from this life to the next life, separating the physical world (hRΩzAh MDlOoDh) and the ethereal world (aD;bAh MDlOoDh). It is a change we anticipate eagerly.

     Obedience now, in the present, determines whether our lives have any enduring significance or legacy later, in the future. To that end, it is important we run “the race [He has] marked out for us” (Heb 12:1), living in compliance with His will. We hope on that score we shall not be “found wanting” (Dan 5:27):

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:19)

     Again, the primary difference between fate and providence is the involvement of God: Fate affronts Him; providence affirms Him. Linda and I have seen—have experienced—God’s providential love and care for us repeatedly in our half century together, and we look forward to more of the same, especially because we will spend eternity with Him, a prospect for which we are most grateful.

 

 

Bibliography

 Manuel, Paul http://paulwmanuel.blogspot.com

     2020a     “Cat and Other Tails.”

     2020b    “An Essay about Free Will.”

     2022      “Gratitude.”