Does God really ‘Design’ or Plan Out our Trials?

At some point in our lives, we’ve all been hit with an unforeseen event or circumstance that rocks our world. It may absolutely be due to no fault of our own. Something hits us “out of the blue.” We literally feel as though we have been sucker-punched or “busted in the chops.” (“chops” refers to the jaw and/or mouth area, so being busted in the chops means to be hit very hard in that area.) Another vivid description of the sensation is feeling as though you’ve been “kicked in the gut.”

In the first chapter of James he writes of “falling into various trials.” This creates similar imagery – the idea of strolling along without a care in the world and suddenly the world drops out from under you and you’re falling, crashing into the bottom of a ditch. You are left broken and bloody, gasping for air and wondering, “What just happened?

My question is, “Who is the author of this calamity?”

Doesn’t the Bible promise us with some certainty in Psalm 23 that if we dwell in the house of the Lord, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life?” And in Romans 8:28 it states, “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.”

And yet, there are numerous scriptures indicating that God is in control of all things – the good, the bad and the ugly circumstances of our lives.

I’m a “free-will” believer who sees God as one who does not impose himself on people. He waits to be invited in to save, guide, lead and empower us. I also will acknowledge that I like to lean on the scriptures highlighting God’s goodness, like:

• John 10:10 – ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” and
• Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

If you spend enough time in the Bible, inevitably, you will come across teachings that appear to contradict one another. Scriptures of God’s goodness, conflicting with God’s authority with Bad things and even promises that he does not tempt or test us with evil things.

So, if we are going through a particular time of trial or testing, what is God’s part of all this? Is it simply the case that when we willfully or even unknowingly go in the wrong direction that He “Busts us in the chops” to redirect us?

In a recent Bible discussion gathering, my friend, Dave S, led us through a study about “trials” where we talked about the notion that God actually designs and orchestrates our trials. My initial impulse was to reject the notion. How could the loving, caring God who only has good intentions for us at the same time be behind the curtain organizing life’s painful episodes?

My thoughts turned immediately to James 1:12-14 – “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted (Peirazo) when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”

Here James is specifically saying that God cannot be a source of temptation. He is not tempted by evil nor would he even tempt anyone with evil. Furthermore, in verse 17 He goes on to say that He is only capable of bestowing good/perfect gifts to those He created.

DONE! Let’s put a stake in that one – GOD DOES NOT TEMPT/TEST US WITH EVIL!

Yet, Dave brought up a great example where it appears that God is the source of piling on terribly painful circumstances upon someone he loves – Jonah.

Most out there are pretty familiar with the Story of Jonah so I will just highlight where God injects Himself into Jonah’s trial. It may seem that God is repeatedly “Busting his chops”

• First, God directs Jonah to go somewhere he absolutely didn’t want to go – to face a people that he hated and feared.
• When Jonah tried to flee, God created a terrible storm to stop him from escaping
• Jonah simply preferred to end his life drowning rather than follow God’s path
• God sent a great fish to swallow him and rescue him from drowning.
• Just before Jonah is consumed, God caused him to be vomited onto Nineva’s shores.
• Facing an enemy of 120,000 God equipped Jonah with only a few words, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (I’m certain that after Jonah spoke these words he fully expected to be torn into pieces)

From Jonah’s perspective God is making him do something he doesn’t want to do and then keeps “Busting his chops” to drive Jonah to accomplish God’s will.

But, did God plan every step of this trial or did Jonah make choices that God then intervened to not only accomplish His will but to answer the true desire of Jonah’s heart?

In James the Greek word used for Trial is the Peirazo, just as often translated as testing. Sometime we confuse ourselves as to the purpose of taking a test. In school we focus on the resulting grades purpose as being to prove to others how successful we are in a particular area of study. However, the real purpose of a test is to demonstrate to ourselves our true level of knowledge and understanding. I can clearly remember taking tests in school where I thought I had the material down cold. I walked away assured I had ‘Aced’ it. But, the resulting grade said otherwise. Oh, really? You think you’re so smart?

This is true with our all-knowing God. Testing is not really about proving something to Him but about learning something about ourselves.

So, in James he describes how we are drawn away by our own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. It is the world’s disfunction/evil, the resulting temptations and the evil desires of our own heart that causes us to fall into or be drawn into trials. Then, God lovingly injects himself into the trial to provide correction and opportunity to follow the good desires of our heart – that which matches His own desire.

We often think that God’s goodness is a promise that we will not experience anything painful. That is not what scripture says at all. Jesus clearly says, “In this world you will have tribulation.” Part of God’s plan to draw us into the good desires of our heart may mean enduring painful lessons.

For Jonah – enduring a terrible storm, being swallowed and digested by a big fish, facing a loathsome, angry enemy of 120 thousand ready to tear him to pieces. These were not fun but were part of God’s plan to meet the ultimate desire of the “Prophet” Jonah’s heart. What is the prophet’s ultimate desire? – To convey God’s message and have people turn to Him.

Jesus faced great pain and anguish to ultimately see the desires of His heart realized and that was based on “God the Father’s” plan. Hebrews 12:2 says “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

So, did Jesus practice this same kind of teaching method with His disciples? A method where Jesus allows them to struggle and even to fail in order to accomplish a greater good of learning a valuable lesson and to grow more fully into the character of Christ?

I can think of a number of episodes. In my book, WHO IS THIS GUY? I include one of my favorite teaching moments by Jesus with his disciples. In the Matthew 15 we find a desperate Phoenician woman chasing after Jesus and his disciples. She is begging him to heal her demon-possessed daughter. He seems to deny her saying that he only came for the House of Israel and not to her—a filthy dog. Wow! At several points Jesus simply ignores her cries.

In this case, it’s my opinion that Jesus, while speaking truths, is also mimicking the disciples cruel and racist thoughts and actions. When Jesus chooses not to respond, the disciples jump in with cold hearted bigotry. Jesus is letting them respond and drawing out the evil in their hearts for them to see more clearly. Jesus then honors the woman to the disciple’s great embarrassment.

So, does God map out every step of a trial? I’m still not sure. The way I see it is that God allows life to happen and lets us make our decisions. He is still in control as at any moment he could intervene to stop the circumstances from happening. But, He sees well in advance what we will do and will plan out the next steps in order to teach, guide and direct us back to the path of our true hearts desire. This will be for our good but does not mean it will be without pain.

God is not ‘busting our chops’ but he allows, or even orchestrates, the testing our faith in a way that opens our eyes to see where we stand in comparison to the fullness of Christ.

So, somehow God allows us to make mistakes, to even fall into situations not of our doing for a greater good and out of love for us that we may grow into the full character of Christ – which, wether we fully realize it, is the greatest desire of the Christ-followers heart.

I agree with my friend, Dave S, who shared this quote from the evangelist David Wilkerson, “God orchestrates the steps and lives of all his children and he does not allow anything to happen in us merely by happenstance or fate. And, believe it or not, he has allowed your crisis. What is he trying to tell you through it?”

I’m a big believer in a God who is constantly speaking to us. Are we listening? Unfortunately, it’s often not until we reach the level of pain that we do most of our listening. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

I am certain of this thing – God prefers that we would be attentive to His whisper in our ear rather than having to get our attention by “Busting our chops!”