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Someone asked me this question once: I recently decided to marry a non-Christian man, but he is “open” to hearing about my faith.  I know I did not follow God’s “perfect will” for my life, but isn’t it God’s “permissive will”?

 This question takes me back almost 30 years, in Christianity.  It was in the mid to late 80’s when I first began to hear the catchphrase words of “God’s permissive will Vs God’s perfect will” for our lives.

 The idea represented by these phrases implies that God has a unique and perfect plan for each one of us.  It is a plan that he has designed to bring us the greatest good for our lives, and the greatest happiness.  However, flawed humans that we are, for a wide variety of reasons, we do not always “find” that path he desires for us, but very often end up taking a detour route along the way.  These detours, since we are still Christians, become a part of God’s plan for our lives, because He loves us and will never forsake us or leave us.  (Deut 31:6, purposely misquoted out of context).

 There are a variety of problems with these concepts and this line of thought.  For starters, these phrases and ideas are not biblical concepts though often many biblical texts are quoted to back them up. 

 For example, it has been stated that God’s “perfect will” for Israel was that they enter into the Promised Land, directly from their departure of Egypt.  However, they got detoured along the way and ended up following God’s “permissive will” for their lives, the 40 years of wandering in the desert.  Clearly God did not leave them or forsake them during this period, and their detour became a part of God’s plan for their lives, his “permissive plan”.

 The problem with this type of mentality or thinking, is that it tends to justify sin.  It eradicates right and wrong, transforming them into just a series of choices.  It turns the clear-cut directives of God into a gray area for our existence.

 When you and I choose to follow God’s “permissive will” we are choosing to DISOBEY GOD, and that is sin!

 It is not a matter of me making a choice to settle for less than what God has prepared for me. 

 It’s not a magnanimous or humble decision for me to say, I’m happy enough with this option. 

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