Has God planned our entire lives? Are we exactly where He wants us to be?
We may not be exactly where He would like us to be. We can distinguish between God’s prescriptive will and His decretive will.
God’s prescriptive will is where He has told us in Scripture that He wants us to be. So, the Ten Commandments would be a summary of His prescriptive will, what He prescribes in His revelation, His written Word, as to how we should live. Behind God’s prescriptive will is His decretive will, by which He has decreed all things to come to pass. Those things come to pass according to the counsel of His decretive will (Eph. 1:11).
We are where God’s decretive will has put us, but we may not be in harmony with His prescriptive will. And it is the prescriptive will that we are to seek to live according to. We don’t know all of the mystery of His hidden, decretive will. So, we can’t blame Him for who we are and what we are. We have to seek His life, Spirit, and power to live according to His revelation.
This transcript is from a live Ask Ligonier event with W. Robert Godfrey and has been lightly edited for readability. To ask Ligonier a biblical or theological question, email ask@ligonier.org or message us on Facebook or Twitter.