Colossians 1:17 (NLT)
He [Jesus] existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.
August 13th marks the anniversary of one of the most painful events of my life. It was 1982. I was 14 years old and about to begin my freshman year of high school when my older brother, who was eighteen and had just graduated a couple of months earlier, was killed in a car accident. Those next weeks and months are a blur in my memory, but one thing I do recall is how my family and I wrestled with one word, “Why?”
Was my brother a victim of bad luck, or was it the sovereign plan of God that he died that fateful night in August? It's been more than forty years, and I have had the privilege to sit under some really good theologians and study the tension between the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. As I have tried to unravel the questions over the years, I have discovered that there are three strands that run through the fabric of life:
God’s sovereignty, man’s freewill, and spiritual warfare
1st Strand: God's Sovereignty
The Bible makes it clear that God is sovereign. “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isaiah 46:9–10, ESV). See also Psalm 115:3; Eph. 1:11; Romans 8:28; Prov. 21:1; Dan. 4:35; Job 42:2.
2nd Strand: Man's Freewill
While God is in control of everything and is sovereign, He also grants humans the ability to make choices while holding them responsible for their decisions. “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” (Deuteronomy 30:19, NLT). See also Joshua 24:15; John 7:17; Acts 2:21; Rev. 22:17; Matt. 23:37; and Romans 10:9–10.
3rd Strand: Spiritual Warfare
The Bible is clear that here on earth we are engaged in a spiritual conflict that requires us to resist and fight against the evil influences of the world, the flesh, and the devil. “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 NLT). See also 2 Cor. 4:4; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8; John 8:44; 1 John 4:4; 2 Tim. 2:25–26.
It's a mystery how these three strands are all weaving together here and now in this world. How God can give us the freedom to choose and remain in total control is incomprehensible. “Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways!” (Romans 11:33, CSB).
Back to August 13, 1982. I don't believe what happened that particular night was bad luck because luck doesn't biblically weave into the three strands mentioned above. My brother made some bad choices that night, but he did so of his own freewill. He chose to get in the truck with his friend after a night of drinking (spiritual warfare). Ecclesiastes 7:17 implies that if we make foolish choices, we may cut our lives short. "Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time?”
Here is where I land theologically concerning the three strands of God’s sovereignty, man’s freewill, and spiritual warfare. God will allow us to choose to go our own way and live for ourselves, disconnected from His Kingdom protection and provision. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12 ESV). In choosing our own way, we are navigating the road of stress, anxiety, and worry because we bear the weight of everything working out according to our choices and efforts under the façade of assuming we’re in control. On this path, we are blinded to the reality of spiritual warfare (2 Cor. 4:4) and just chalk all our struggles up to bad luck.
Or we can choose to live under the Kingdom authority rule of Jesus. Here, we don’t bear the weight of everything working out on our shoulders, knowing that some things in this world are broken and messed up due to sin. The Bible makes it clear that King Jesus is weaving even the broken strands of this life together for His glory and Kingdom purposes (Rom. 8:28).