When a Chief Justice proclaims that her appointment is “God’s will,” is she being arrogant and delusional? That was how Chief Justice Sereno was characterized in the press after she said that her appointment to the Supreme Court was God’s will.  All over the internet  there were vociferous objections.  The objections to her speech centered mainly on her invoking “God’s will.”

What was all the fuss about the Chief Justice mentioning God’s will?  What is their problem with her saying that her appointment was “God’s will?”

Some people thought her mention of God and God’s will in her speech was a violation of the separation of church and state.  The Philippine Constitution upholds the separation of church and state but this concept does not prohibit a Chief Justice from believing or even saying that her appointment is God’s will.

Under the non-establishment clause the Constitution prohibits government from establishing an official state religion.  It is prohibited for the government to use taxpayers’ money to set up or fund churches or sectarian schools.  This also means that religion will not be taught in public schools.  Under the free-exercise clause Congress cannot enact laws that will prohibit a person from freely exercising his religion.  This also means that civil and political rights will not be curtailed because of membership or non-membership in a religion.   It is clear that the Chief Justice’s speech invoking the will of God does not establish a religion or prohibit the free-exercise of religion.  If at all, the Chief Justice was making full use of her own personal freedom of religion.

What does the Bible say about God’s will?

• He is a fool who says in his heart that there is no God.  The fact that one believes in a personal God who has a mind, emotions and a will is no fool; for the God of the Bible has a mind, emotions and a will (Ang Dios ng Biblia’y may kaisipan, may damdamin at pagpapasya.).  He who comes to God must believe that He is who He says He is.
• God’s will is not unknowable. Apostle Paul exhorts the Christians in Rome to “prove” (or to establish the truth about) what is “that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
• God’s will is not unfathomable; it is capable of human grasp.  Apostle Paul exhorted the believers in Ephesus not to be unwise but instead, “understanding what the will of God is.”

What is their problem with “God’s will”?

People bristle when God’s will is mentioned because historically, “God’s will” has been used by despots and tyrants to justify their iron rule and to keep ordinary people in poverty and ignorance as in the Dark Ages. “God’s will” has been used by the religious hierarchy to support their claims of infallibility as in the time of Papal Supremacy when no one can be saved except they accept all that the Pope tells them to believe.  “God’s will” has spurred on witch hunts and massacres of entire populations in the name of religion as in the Inquisition.  All these are examples of the perverse exploitation and use of the concept of God’s will.

What is God’s will?

People use the term “God’s will” so often but they have no clear idea of the concept as it is explained in the Scriptures.  Some believe it to be a cosmic fatalism which is synonymous with destiny or providence.   God’s will is more than that. What do we mean by God’s will?

Here, I will use the definition written by J.I. Packer in his book Knowing God as a working definition of what God’s will is.  He wrote: “the wisdom of God ordering the events of a human life for a double purpose: the individual’s own sanctification, and the fulfilling of his appointed ministry and service in the life of the people of God.”

God’s will is God’s wisdom at work.  God’s wisdom is lofty.  God’s will is personal to the individual but God also has a will for nations.  God’s wisdom is not to be utilized for our own selfish purposes, to advance our own personal agenda; instead, it is given by way of discernment for our spiritual wisdom, growth and maturity.

God’s will orders the events of our human lives.  There are no accidents as far as God is concerned.  Everything that happens to us has been foreseen by Him.  Nothing takes God by surprise.   Also, God cares for humans individually– He even knows the number of strands of hair we have.  The God of the Bible who created the universe is intimately interested in the minute details of our thoughts and emotions.  We are known to him and there is nothing we can hide from God.  Inasmuch as He is interested in us, He also has a plan mapped out for each of us.  And God’s plans for us are peaceable, He wants what is best for us, He wants what is good for us.  This is because God knows us more than we can ever know ourselves.

God’s will has a purpose.  God moves in the lives of his children.  His work in our lives is not limited to keeping us happy and healthy all the time.  God does not exist to make us happy and rich.  When bad things happen to us, when we do not get the things that we want, when we suffer adversity, God uses these circumstances to shape us and mold us. God acts with the object of bringing us to the measure of the fullness of the stature of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ.  It is his plan for all his adopted and redeemed children to be conformed to the image of His own Son Jesus Christ.   And if God led his Son to the wilderness and to the road to Calvary, we can expect God to also lead us through the valley of the shadow of death.

God’s will has an object. God’s will is put into action not only in the individual lives of those who have been called to his purpose but his will comprehends also His family and His body (that group of believers who have been called out of the world and out of sin so that they may glorify and serve God).  God even has a will for kings, nations and empires of this world.

So why do most people find the prospect of finding God’s will so daunting and mysterious?

The knowledge of God’s will is available to those who have “presented their bodies as a living sacrifice.”  The image that comes to mind here is that of Isaac when he was bound by his father Abraham to be a human sacrifice for God.  Our God wants a living sacrifice, though, not a dead one.

God’s will is accessible to those who, because they have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ are “holy and acceptable unto God” through the Scriptures.

God’s will is comprehensible to those who have decided to offer to God their lives as a “reasonable service.”  It can only be known by those who have ceased to be “conformed to this world” but have become “transformed by the renewing” of their minds.

The challenge that confronts us today is:  do we know God’s will?  Are we actively seeking God’s will?  Have we prepared our hearts and our minds to accept and to obey God’s will?  If your answer is a reluctant “yes” or an embarrassed “no”  then you are not in God’s will. You may still be in your own self-will.  It is time to be like Christ who said, “Not my will, but Thine will be done. And God will not reveal His will for us unless we are ready to obey it. It is God’s will for us to seek, to know and to obey God’s will.