Christians: Do you believe that God leaves anything to 'chance'?

Question

I would assume that we all agree that He 'controls' at least some things. Do you think there are things He doesn't ordain/plan (as in, He only intervenes sometimes)? Or do you think that He ordains/plans everything that happens?

Best answer will be given to the answer that's most logically explained and that has at least one scripture supporting it.

Thanks! :)

Answer 1

God has predestined (foreordained) everything that comes to pass to accomplish His own purposes. His eternal decree is not conditioned by any act of human will. "He worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11), not after the will of His creatures.

Predestination is the pre-determination of all events that can possibly come to pass. It involves the God’s Sovereignty, and exhibits the wisdom and the power of God. Predestination is the result of the counsel of God's own will, originating with
Himself alone. "With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him &c"(Isaiah 40:14).

The entire history of mankind is by Predestination established in the view of God, and the final destiny of all things are held in His Almighty hand. Predestination is not confined to the God’s purpose of Salvation by Grace; but it has a direct bearing on all things. Not a sparrow can be brought to the ground, nor can the troubled ocean dash her foaming waves one inch beyond the limits of God's decrees. “When I said, this far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!” (Job 38:11).

The brethren of Joseph had no knowledge of the purpose of God when they sold him to go down into Egypt, they meant it for evil, but God ordained it for good.

In the midst of turmoil, it is our consolation to know that God has ordained: “..all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Answer 2

Have we discussed this before, or was that someone else? Oh well, here goes. . .

God is outside of time. He can look down and see what will happen in the future, and what happened 100 years ago, at the same "time" (remembering that He is outside of time as we know it). Just because He knows what is going to happen does not mean He causes it or forces it to happen. Calvinists seem to want an "excuse" for all those NOT in Heaven -- "Oh, God decided that they weren't gonna be here" -- in such a case, would you even worship such a god? I think not.
There is a difference between His "holy will" and his "permissive will". God's holy will is that "all men [are] saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). Will all humans be in Heaven? No, so God's holy will is NOT always fulfilled. His permissive will comes into play when we make choices outside of His holy will. Can I choose a career that He doesn't want me in? Absolutely, because "all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). So He then has to work with it, and I don't get the best that He may have intended for me, but adequate blessings follow because He wants to give us earthly blessings as well.

In a cheap summary, I don't believe that such a thing as "chance" exists for God, which is not to say that he foreordains all things. If I knew the winning lottery numbers somehow, and bet them and won $100 million, does that mean that I made those numbers come up? Of course not, but somehow I knew that they would.

I don't think that God really cares about the little things, like what we eat for breakfast or what lane we're in on the way to work, for example. Only if we aren't taking care of our bodies intentionally or are just in that lane to speed (lol).

Have a great night!

Answer 3

I think that Genesis ch1 v1 is a very good starting point to answer your question.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

It is not a philisophical argument about whether God exists, it is a direct statement. The author (Moses) knows that God exists and passes the narative on to us his readers.
We are then told that God created the universe and in so doing I believe that nothing can occur that God is not in control of. I am thinking on the lines that not one molecule can make a move without his approval and divine guidance. He certainly has a plan and of course he can access the past, present and future as he is not limited by the passing of time.

Answer 4

God pretty much lets us do as we will and doesn't pre-ordain anything.

Prophecy is not pre-ordination. Jesus birth, life and death are the most widely recognized fulfilled prophecies, Yet, it was still his choice to follow God's direction. He could have chosen to take an alternative course. His sacrifice only counted because it was freely given, not forced or fore-ordained on him. Something taken away be force or that you have no choice in is not a sacrifice.

On the other hand, we are also told that time and unforeseen occurrences befall us all. That pretty much sounds like chance to me.

Answer 5

The bible says some were chosen to believe and others were not. Either way all of us are part of his plan whether you are a believer or not. An example would come from the book of John when God himself allowed the devil to enter Judas in the last supper so that the scriptures might be full-filled. Believing is a choice, a choice we will all be judged by when judgment day comes. God presents himself to everyone in one way or another. The thing is when you seek truth, you will find it. And when you do, you should make a choice and what you believe is right.

Answer 6

I know, looking at my own life, that God has control over everything and knows exactly what is going on and how it will help us. I think of Job. From the beginning of his trial til the end God was there working for Job.

Answer 7

Well, first of all, there is no logic involved when trying to rationalize the irrational. I'm well aware that my belief is irrational. And even for those who say it isn't, can't, because they do not understand God, therefore, on our level it is irrational.

Anyway, He has fun every now and then letting the lottery go to chance. Even He shits His pants from amazement sometimes!

Answer 8

I am an Atheist, you know, but as a former Christian I recall that whenever contemplative paradoxes like this raised their head, this was a favourite scripture given as an answer:

The secret things belong to the LORD our God,
but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law
( Deuteronomy 29:29).

Apparently, what God has not revealed--such as his views on randomness of occurence--is his own province, and not our place to question, at least in Christian teaching.

Answer 9

The existence of prophesy in the bible would indicate that he is in complete control of all things.

Think about the billions of things that had to go just right in order for Judas to betray Jesus. His ancestor's behavior is involved in that complex calculation.

If Revelations is a true prophetic book, then everything will have to go just right in order for the anti christ to appear etc... Therefore God is controlling all things, he must, in order for prophesy to come true.

This is one of my biggest problems with Christian doctrine. The existence of prophesy negates free will. If the Anti-Christ is to be born of believers, then they have to believe, and have no choice in the matter in order for it all to work out.

If prophesy exists then the future must be fixed in place in order for the predicted existence to come to pass. Therefore God knows people he creates are not only going to make the wrong decisions that will result in hell, but knows they HAVE to make those decisions in order for prophesy to be fulfilled.

God is creating people to fulfill prophesy, some of whom will be tortured for eternity in hell.

This is why I cannot believe in an intangible loving omniscient god. It cannot exist.

Answer 10

God doesn't play dice. Einstein knew that. Plus, it's kinda hard leaving things to chance when God knows the outcome of every random event. After all, God is all-knowing.