God decides to allow many things to happen that He does not enjoy happening within the bounds of His sovereign will. It is frequently referred to as God's permissive will when He permits certain things—even sinful things—that serve to indirectly forward His purposes.
As part of His perfect plan, God began by creating a perfect world (Deuteronomy 32:4). God also made humans and spiritual beings with free will and decision-making capacities. Everything was "really good" (Genesis 1:31). However, as God's moral beings used their free will, they opted for disobedience, which allowed sin to exist in the world. Death, pain, illness, and other effects of sin were not present in God's ideal world, but as part of His permissive will, God permitted them.
God is omniscient and in charge of everything. God is omniscient, thus He is aware of everything that has happened and will happen up to the end of time (Isaiah 46:9–10). God must at least "permit" all occurrences and happenings because He is sovereign. God never makes a mistake. Even though He knew Adam and Eve would choose to sin, He purposefully gave people the capacity for free will and planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden. God decides to allow many things to happen that He does not enjoy happening within the bounds of His sovereign will. One of the things God permitted was man's fall.
God does not compel us to follow His instructions (His preceptive will). Instead, He grants us the freedom to choose—even wicked ones that are contrary to His intention for our life. At the same time, there are repercussions for deviating from God's directive will. The Israelites asked Samuel to appoint them a king in 1 Samuel 8. God had forewarned them that this was not what He wanted for them and that their choice would have unfavourable effects. "But Samuel's message was ignored by the populace. No, they yelled. We desire a king to rule us. When that happens, we'll be like all the other countries, with a monarch leading us and going into war before us. 1. Samuel 8.19–20 God therefore granted them their request in accordance with His liberal will. Like the other nations, he granted them a king.
Every day, we encounter God's permissive will. God gives us the freedom to choose what to eat, how to spend our time, where to work, who to marry, and many other things. Some of our decisions will have long-term effects, while others won't. Some decisions made by others have a detrimental impact on us, and occasionally unfortunate events occur. We must keep in mind that everything that occurs is in accordance with God's permissive will. God still reigns supreme. He is still in control.
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