Is God in control?

[Moses Lisa]

Hi I'm Lisa. I joined this group for various reasons including hoping to get some feedback on a subject that seems fairly obvious yet I believe is being misunderstood or misinterpreted. I just realized "God is in control" seems to be taken literally by a high percentage in the Christian faith which seems rather ridiculous to me. My opinion is "God is in control" because God chooses not to be in control or by allowing free will, ignorance, stupidity, evil, etc. in the world. I am actually hearing Christian people and pastors utter aloud (paraphrasing here): Everything that happens is done intentionally as part of a greater plan orchestrated by God. Pastors actually telling their congregations in sermon not to worry about anything cuz God has it AND your back. Therefore (for a few random examples), if a shark tears up a swimmer; if a child is thrown off the second floor of a mall in Minnesota; if a chemical plant explodes killing and injuring dozens: God somehow did the dirty deed as part of a greater plan that we human beings should not dare question. I don't challenge or blame anything regarding God. Just the interpretation or Christian "thinking" seems to be way off and dare I say: nutty as a fruitcake

 

[thecolorsblend]

Hi I'm Lisa. I joined this group for various reasons including hoping to get some feedback on a subject that seems fairly obvious yet I believe is being misunderstood or misinterpreted. I just realized "God is in control" seems to be taken literally by a high percentage in the Christian faith which seems rather ridiculous to me. My opinion is "God is in control" because God chooses not to be in control or by allowing free will, ignorance, stupidity, evil, etc. in the world. I am actually hearing Christian people and pastors utter aloud (paraphrasing here): Everything that happens is done intentionally as part of a greater plan orchestrated by God. Pastors actually telling their congregations in sermon not to worry about anything cuz God has it AND your back. Therefore (for a few random examples), if a shark tears up a swimmer; if a child is thrown off the second floor of a mall in Minnesota; if a chemical plant explodes killing and injuring dozens: God somehow did the dirty deed as part of a greater plan that we human beings should not dare question. I don't challenge or blame anything regarding God. Just the interpretation or Christian "thinking" seems to be way off and dare I say: nutty as a fruitcake

Are there things that happen which God is definitely in control of?

Are there things that happen which God is definitely not involved in?

How can you distinguish one from the other?

 

[Moses Lisa]

I would say the universe does not appear designed for God to control it. If someone wants to argue in favor of some situations having godly intervention, I would be slow to disagree. I believe positive and helpful behaviors are inspired or created by God who provides the resources and wisdom. It's not difficult to tell the difference in most cases.

 

[Moses Lisa]

Welcome to the forum, Moses Lisa.

On your question, there is an outreach/apologetics sub-forum where you might be able to get some theological explanations and discussion on that.

 

[Moses Lisa]

I considered myself agnostic for a while until too many high level discussions (as both a participant and a spectator) provided the realization that the thinking process is provided by a designer.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Hi Lisa, Welcome to CF and I hope you fond encouragement and blessing here.

Better to start a thread and raise you question there, I dont think they want 'deep and meaningfull's' in the introductions section (I could be wrong)

Blessings,

Carl Emerson.

 

[devin553344]

There is God and there is Lucifer. One commands good things, and the other evil. We can understand this if we read the bible. Anything you think is good you should honor God with, anything you think is evil you can be upset with Lucifer for. Cheers

 

[Moses Lisa]

Hmmmm. Your reason for believing in a cosmic designer sounds reasonable to me, but I am not a good judge on philosophical arguments due to my lack of knowledge. I suspect that God exists, because I have a few personal experiences in Christian churches, but I also have read some skeptical books about the historical Jesus that make it difficult for me to believe in Christianity. So that is why I label as agnostic. But there are lots of other people who analyze the same historical evidence differently and have not lost their faith in Christianity.

 

[Moses Lisa]

The Bible is inspired by God. It is not written by God. Writings came from other languages. Words often had different meanings and context in the original language. Then transcribed and probably edited into various editions. There's more writings left out of the Bible than went in The History Channel has a lot of objective information on this kind of stuff. It all points to there is a God. It gets confusing and frustrating when humans are true believers who jump to conclusions, and defend their views instead of listening and truly discussing.

 

[Moses Lisa]

Hi Lisa, Welcome to CF and I hope you fond encouragement and blessing here.

Better to start a thread and raise you question there, I dont think they want 'deep and meaningfull's' in the introductions section (I could be wrong)

Blessings,

Carl Emerson.

 

[Moses Lisa]

"Too late to turn back now" --Cornelius

 

[Carl Emerson]

OK great to have you here...

Blessings

Carl Emerson

 

[mnorian]

Mod hat on

this thread has been moved from
Introduce Yourself
to
General Theology
to better answer the OP's question.
This is a Christian Only forum.
Hat off.​

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

The Scripture says: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

This does not apply to those outside of Christ. They are subject to the whim of the god of this world, and so things don't work together for good for those people. They are bound to the law of cause and effect.

 

[Moses Lisa]

A Christian man recently said to me in Bible class, "God is in control by allowing sin." Another said "God is in control because he chooses not to be in control" So this tells me it's up for discussion amongst Christians since many take it literally as God ordains evil and suffering as part of a plan.

 

[yana2]

The Bible is inspired by God. It is not written by God. Writings came from other languages. Words often had different meanings and context in the original language. Then transcribed and probably edited into various editions. There's more writings left out of the Bible than went in The History Channel has a lot of objective information on this kind of stuff. It all points to there is a God. It gets confusing and frustrating when humans are true believers who jump to conclusions, and defend their views instead of listening and truly discussing.

 

[yana2]

I experienced that God is in control of all things when he brought me to the point of realizing my need for him. I realized the only thing I control is my choice to surrender my will and serve him or to choose to continue to think I have control my own life, which lead me to the place of dark depressing emptiness, even though I had all the things in life that's supposed to make one happy. Material things don't satisfy our soul. Luke 16 vs 13-15 we can't serve two masters. God allowed me to get to the point of my brokenness the point in my life where I realized I controlled nothing in this life. We are either held in God's hand or we are at the hands of the god of this world the devil. When I looked back at my past when I thought I was in control of my life, I could see that God allowed me to make my choices, to run my course in life that I thought would satisfy me. He brought me to a point where I cried out to God to give me the life the bible offers or to let me die. He was in control of my life all along. He made it easy for me to see my need of a Savior. Through this journey he taught me he is in control of all things and gave me faith in his word. God has a since of humor. God created this universe so inspiring his chosen humans to write the Bible wouldn't be that difficult for him. After all these years no one has been able to find an error in this book and as more time passes it only proven its authenticity.