Should these claims be made lightly? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
As a divorced man seeking to remarry, I am on a number of dating sites. I sit down at my computer and see an email from Christian Mingle saying to trust in God’s plan. The problem with that to some extent is that we have no idea what that plan is.
Now I know overall all things work together for good to them that love the Lord. Certainly, but beyond that, the details are not known. I pray His plan for me includes remarriage and to not walk this journey alone. It is a hope, but I cannot say that I know.
I bring this up because too many times people do speak and they speak so flippantly about many matters. It is thrown into casual conversation without any basis whatsoever. If someone wants something and we think it is good for them, well God has that in mind for you. I would love to know for sure when people say to me “God has someone for you.” The thing is unless that has been revealed by divine revelation, they do not know that. Far better is a simple “I will pray you find someone.” (Also really good would be, let me introduce you to this girl I know…)
I also see this in churches. I have been in several churches in my time and regularly, I see this happen and I always inwardly cringe some. I want to ask “How do you know?”
This has happened in churches that are not even Protestant. I used to regularly attend an Orthodox Church with my ex-wife. They were lovely people there and I think about them sometimes still, but I also remember hearing people say in the service something like “And God opened this door for us” and so many other statements. Maybe He did, but do you know that?
My concern here is when we say these kinds of statements, we can claim to speak when God has not spoken. If God has not spoken, we have in essence taken His name in vain. We do not know what is going on in the divine throne room. Of course, God can reveal that to anyone that He wants to at any time, but color me skeptical that that is what is happening every time.
If we say that about something that seems to be good at the time and then it ends in a disaster, some people might say “I thought you said God was behind this!” Keep in mind I am not saying God is not behind X. I am also not saying that He is behind X. I am saying that I do not know and thus, I will not speak without having any certainty on that matter because I do not want to claim God is doing X when I do not know if He is doing X.
If we talk about God to flippantly, it says a lot about how we view Him and how we view ourselves. Now if something good comes to me, I do thank Him in that I at least know that He allowed it even if He did not directly cause it. I try to be careful with my words. This is God we are speaking about after all and He deserves our best.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)