As far as God and bad things happening go, should we go with "free will" or "God knows what He is doing"?

Question

Are they contradictory, complementary or it doesn't really matter?

Free Will: God doesn't have control over people actions and will act later.

"God knows what He is doing": God is doing it to strengthen us and for a purpose.

Answer 1

not contradictory at all Ja JA  agian this is  the  Calvin / Arminian  Debate and is a secondary issue.

Answer 2

We all face trails and tribulations.

"Ignis avrvm probat. Miseria fortes viros"  

"Fire tests gold, misery [tests] strong men." Seneca

Find the lesson.

God love you!

Answer 3

We can always believe the bible you never know god might cancel judgment day or change other plans  

Answer 4

God has everything under control! As far as bad things. God is good and only good comes from God. Satan is bad so only bad things come from satan. This is were you get to test God. If it's good, put God to the test and see if he sent it. If not you know it's bad and satan is behind it. A little confusing I know but once you learn to test God, it becomes clear.

Answer 5

You know...Trillions and trillions of prayers every day asking and begging and pleading for favors. 'Do this' 'Gimme that' 'I want a new car' 'I want a better job'. And most of this praying takes place on Sunday...his day off. And I say fine, pray for anything you want. Pray for anything. But...what about the divine plan? Remember that? The divine plan. Long time ago god made a divine plan. Gave it a lot of thought. Decided it was a good plan. Put it into practice. And for billion and billions of years the divine plan has been doing just fine. Now you come along and pray for something. Well, suppose the thing you want isn't in god's divine plan. What do you want him to do? Change his plan? Just for you? Doesn't it seem a little arrogant? It's a divine plan. What's the use of being god if every run-down s*****k with a two dollar prayer book can come along and s***w up your plan? And here's something else, another problem you might have; suppose your prayers aren't answered. What do you say? 'Well it's god's will. God's will be done.' Fine, but if it gods will and he's going to do whatever he wants to anyway; why bother praying in the first place? Seems like a big waste of time to me. Couldn't you just skip the praying part and get right to his will?

Answer 6

free will!

Answer 7

God knows what He is doing - He gave man the freedom to make choices and to act.  

However, with the freedom to act comes the freedom to be acted upon.  This is why bad things happen to good people - it is a result of bad choices made by either themselves or others where the consequences of their choices have rippling effects.

Answer 8

There is no right answer to that question. It is like asking when you stopped beating your wife. There is no right answer. You do what you want to do and the consequences fall where they may. There is no way to predict what you have or will do will influence or affect any others lives until they affect them. Don't think to hard on this one. a no-brainer!

Answer 9

Free Will and God exist together.  God exists at ALL moments of time at once, knowing what we will decide before we decide, it.  He doesn't make us choose anything, but already knows what we will choose.

Answer 10

How does a hurricane or birth defect relate to free will ?

How do they relate to an "all good" God ?

Answer 11

God allows bad things to happen as consequences to our sin. He uses these things to bring about what He is doing in the world and in the lives of believers. Perhaps some people might be saved because of for example a hurricane or an earthquake because they realize they need God, and God in His mercy reveals Himself to them. Christians believe all things work together for the good of those who love Him. Our definitions of good and God's definition of good are often different.

As far as decision making goes, as this is the other instance where people talk about "will", the reality is you have to do something. God is not going to make your life happen if you just sit there. He expects us to take responsibility, if you are following God, learning from Him daily, praying about your decisions, and trusting, acting wisely, and out of faith then you will be right.

A couple of good books on these subjects are Don Carson's "How Long O Lord?" which is a book on suffering and a book called "Guidance and the voice of God" if you want to know about decision making.