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I know this is somewhat of an ancient debate, but I’d like to know what others think.
When people say “I’ll leave in God’s hands” is it really in God’s hands or does God have a hands-off approach? How much does God influence the goings-on of human existence?
Does God really give someone an extra boost because they prayed for it?
When we thank God for doing well on something are we thanking him for the faculties to do well or do we really think that God intervened in some way?
How does God intervene in our lives, does He? Good question. I would argue from what I think is the Catholic position that the daily evidence of both His existance and interaction with us is less obvious to us, rather than less present due to our own distractions and disconect from both God and His creation. Before the Fall, we are told Adam “walked with God” there was real evidence of His existance not simply from Adam’s “walks” but not being blinded by sin, and having our focus distracted from the gifts of life, and all the bounty of the world he experienced God in the manner we will eventually in heaven. We often take for granted the very air we breath, the food that grows up from the ground and the beauty that surrounds us, all a reflection of not only God’s love for us, but his providing for our every need. That is providing for us even though we sometimes reject Him by our disregard for Him or outright ignoring of Him.
While miracles, or supernatural interventions are sometimes overlooked, or seen as something that only happens in rare cases, I do think they occur every day, we just don’t see them, or expect them to be flashy and grand. Some mistake submitting ourselves to God’s will, spiritual growth, and learning to trust in God with expecting God to be our servant and give us the prosperity, or easy life that we suppose others have.
I think sometimes the challanges we face in our daily life and what appears to be a rejection of our petition can be a way to bring us closer to God by sharing in His (in the second person in the Trinity and His suffering for our Salvation) a gift and vote of confidence in our sonship.
I’ve always held that God tends to let things get worked out over time. Just look at how messy Christian history is!
I mean, if God had wanted it things to go smoother, He would have left us an assembled Bible, Cathecism, Canon Law, and not just laid the foundation, but actually design it for us. That’s not how it happened though.
In light of that, my problems are miniscule compared to that.
I guess I just feel that one needs to work through things and that God actually wants us to because it does something to us and the human race in general.
If God micromanaged the Universe the way Calvinists claim then there would be no such thing as Free Will.
So, Robert, if I follow you correctly, the place of prayer in all of this wouldn’t be for God to make things happen for us (I know it’s not limited to this and this view makes God a divine butler), but rather prayer is for us to tap into God and the things that he is already doing. Is this what you mean?
Not 100%. God involves Himself in our lives our very being is due to His will, He does answer prayers, however we sometimes try to interpret our personal status in the way we try to interpret His answers. I believe that some things are left to the way creation was put into place by God, and influenced by the choice of our first parents to reject God’s command in Eden.
Not being totally satisfied with the above, I’ll have to ponder the best way to express my thoughts…
"LARobert":1k0c37k3 wrote:however we sometimes try to interpret our personal status in the way we try to interpret His answers.[/quote:1k0c37k3]
I think this is very common with televangelists and Evangelical/Fundamentalist theology. They preach a gospel of prosperity if you have Jesus, which, ironically, isn’t what the gospel says at all.
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