God Does What He Wants
May 16, 2021
One day we go walking into the temple to pray, just like we normally do, always have, and always plan to. We pass through the Beautiful Gate, when we pause. Something is off, but we can’t quite put our finger on what…
That’s it! The lame man! He’s always laying there, asking for money. We help from time to time as we can, but even when we can’t, we still notice him. He’s a temple fixture, as much a part of the temple as the stones are. Maybe he died in the night? Maybe his friends didn’t get around to bringing him? We shrug and carry on—there’s just nothing we can do.
Our pace quickens as we notice a crowd in Solomon’s Portico. Any crowd promises something interesting. Could it be? Could that be the beggar? What’s he doing here? How is he walking? We’ve seen him for years, no change, then all of a sudden he’s walking and leaping?!? How could this be?
It’s tempting to call it a miracle, or something supernatural. Those are words we commonly use to describe such events, but they reinforce a way of thinking about God that maybe isn’t helpful. It gives off the idea that most of the time life runs by natural laws, things we can see and feel and expect, things we aren’t surprised by. When something surprising happens, well, that must be from outside the natural order of things, something supernatural. Most of the time we get along very well on our own, but sometimes God steps into the natural order of things and does something surprising, i.e., supernatural.
That’s all good and well, but also a bit deceptive. Take Psalm 104—the psalmist looks at nature, the water cycle, the way plants and animals interact, the cyclical moving of the sun and the moon, things living and growing and dying, all of these incredibly natural and explicable things, and he says, “God, you are doing all of this. You are actively involved in all of this. These all look to you to give them their food in due season; when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.”
For the psalmist, and therefore for us, there is no natural/supernatural, there is only ever the work of God. All of it—the water cycle, life, death, planets orbiting—all of it functions at the pleasure of God. God does what he wants. Sometimes he works with great power to do surprising things (which is how miracles are described in Scripture—works of great power), but that’s not very different from the way God works with power to bring rain or sun. It’s always a bit surprising when God works with power to help the lame walk, when God reaches into our lives and changes things, but that doesn’t make it supernatural. God’s work is the most natural thing of all.
—John Coffey
