“For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone” (Lamentations 3:33, NIV).

God didn’t will that you break your leg. He didn’t come up with a plan to have your leg broken and then speak it into being. He knew that it would happen, not because He wants you to break your leg, but because He has ordained that we be able to make choices in our lives that have consequences. And, He allows Satan and his minions to operate within certain boundaries.

Bad things can, and do, happen. Let’s not call them God’s will. God allows it because of His will, His heart’s desire. Not that you suffer pain, because we know God does not afflict willingly, but because His heart is unchanging in its steadfast love for you.

What’s God’s will? For you to be with Him, for you to be conformed to the image of Christ. If He sees an opportunity to answer your prayer to become more Christ-like, through our bad choices or the devil’s evil schemes, He might choose to allow it. He will use it for our good and His glory. That’s the will of God, His heart-plan. That’s God’s heart: our good, His glory. Why His glory? Because we need to see Him high and lifted up. We need to worship Him to live! He loves us. He’s thinking of us. He acts on our behalf, and His unchanging will of loving, good intentions toward us directs His plans.