Freud Or Paul?

By John Stallings


A missionary and his wife were returning to the United States from Mexico. As they crossed the border to come home, shots were fired at their car and the missionary’s wife was shot dead. She was a 59 year old mom and grandmother. 
A little baby is born with no brain, only a brain stem. The doctors tell the parents that she has no chance of surviving. Somehow she stays alive for sixteen months. The parents struggle to take care of her. When she gets sick, the doctors tell the parents “Don’t bring her to the hospital. There is nothing we can do for her.”

A seemingly healthy 12-year-old girl develops severe migraine headaches. On Friday she is taken to the hospital; on Saturday she dies. Her father calls her “the sunshine of my life.”

A man and a woman meet while attending Bible College, fall in love, and get married. Feeling called to the mission field, they end up serving the Lord in a remote stretch of the Amazon River in northeastern Peru. While on a routine flight back to their houseboat, the Peruvian Air Force mistakes them for drug smugglers and shoots their plane out of the sky. One bullet rips through the mother and into the head of their infant daughter who was sitting in her lap. Both are killed instantly.

A young seminary student was catching the eye of people far and wide because of his preaching ability. He was said be already on the level with Billy Graham in personality and charisma and possessed a grip of God’s Word uncommon in men three times his age. He was a straight A student, President of his graduating class, played several instruments, wrote beautiful Worship music and already had a book ready for publication. Everyone predicted an extremely bright future for this young man only in his early twenties.

On a short missions trip just a few weeks before his graduation from seminary, he caught a mysterious virus and died within hours. His casket was placed in a large Texas church for the funeral and it had to be hermetically sealed because of the highly infectious nature of the disease that killed him. After the funeral his wife ran down the church isle following her husband’s casket carrying their newborn baby and screaming why, why God, why?

These stories are all true. Why? Why? Why do these things happen? And why do they happen to good people, decent people, Christian people?

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, wrote -

“Religion is merely a dream or a figment of man’s imagination.” He based his conclusions on the idea that man looks out into the world about him and sees the ruthlessness of nature--such things as fire, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, famines, disease and death. Man becomes afraid and longs for a protective father out there somewhere who will take care of him, so he begins to create his god.

Man looks next at man’s inhumanity to man. Human beings are sometimes unjust and cruel to their fellow human beings, so man feels a need for a great judge who will set all things right and who will protect him. He takes another step toward creating his own God. Man also realizes that he is growing old and he does not like the idea of extinction, dying as a dog dies, with no future life, so he dreams of a wonderful world beyond this one.”

In these suggestions, Freud has hit a heavy blow against many of the things which you and I hold dear. He said that our belief in a heavenly Father who protects us and cares for us is simply an illusion, a dream, or, as he speaks of it, “the projection of a wish.”

When you strip it of all its extra verbiage, his argument is no more logical than for us to say that because our children have a desire for a father to provide the necessities of life for them, provide protection for them, and to play with them, their father is an illusion. Since they desire him, he cannot exist; he does not exist. It is only a figment of their imagination, a projection of their wishes. Freud gave no evidence, but simply recognized, as all of us do, that man is built with an incurable hunger toward God.

In the South Sea Islands, or in Africa, or wherever you find men, there is an inclination to look up to worship. Freud has recognized this and from this fact has drawn a conclusion that does not follow. The evidence is all on the other side. God does exist and He does provide for His people.

PAUL’S FERVENT CONVICTION

Paul’s revelation is quite the antithesis from Freud. He believes that God is an actual heavenly father who will take everything that happens to us and cause it to work out for our good and His glory.

Admittedly the following is a trick question. I’ve often asked people; “can you quote Romans 8:28?” Most Christians will say they can quote the verse and then proceed to quote it like this—

“All things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose.”

Of course the verse actually says;-And we know, that all things work together for good……

It’s relatively easy after we’ve come through a time of testing to look back and smile about it when we remember how God worked everything out. Paul is underscoring the fact that we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to understand that God always had our best interest at heart, we can know that now. We weren’t so sure about it while we were going through it but in retrospect, we realize that God always had our back.

Providence Defined

There is a doctrine that helps us understand. If it does not answer every question, at least it provides the only possible foundation for understanding. It is the doctrine of the providence of God.

Though the word providence is not found in most modern translations of the Bible, the concept is certainly biblical. It refers to “God’s gracious oversight of the universe.” Every one of those words is important. God’s providence is one aspect of his grace. Oversight means that He directs the course of affairs. The word universe tells us that God not only knows the big picture, He also concerns himself with the tiniest details. God upholds all things, He governs all events, He directs everything to its appointed end, He does this all the time and in every circumstance, and He does it always for our good and his own glory.

The doctrine of God’s providence teaches us several important truths:

First, God cares about the tiniest details of life.

Nothing escapes his notice for He is concerned about the small as well as the big. In fact, with God there is no big or small. He knows when a sparrow falls and He numbers the hairs on your head. He keeps track of the stars in the skies and the rivers that flow to the oceans. He sets the day of your birth, the day of your death, and He ordains everything that comes to pass in between.

Second, he uses everything and wastes nothing.

There are no accidents with God, only incidents. This includes events that seem to us to be senseless tragedies.

Third,

God’s ultimate purpose is to shape his children into the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). He often uses difficult moments and human tragedies to accomplish that purpose.

Many verses in the Bible teach these truths, including Acts 17:28 “in Him we live and move and have our being”, Colossians 1:17 “in Him all things hold together”, Hebrews 1:3 “sustaining all things by His powerful word”, Proverbs 16:9 “in his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”, and especially Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases him”.

The doctrine of God’s providence is really a combination of four other attributes: Sovereignty—He is in control.Predestination—He is in charge of how everything turns out.Wisdom—He makes no mistakes.Goodness—He has our best interests at heart.

God doesn’t roll dice. Nothing happens by chance. Ever.

Predestination and Free Will

As a boy I became interested in this subject because my father was raised by a “primitive
Baptist” father but departed from their strong teaching on predestination soon after being saved. I don’t mean to imply by that that primitive Baptists aren’t saved, I’m merely saying that my father never believed in predestination as they taught it. I realize that opening this theological “kettle of fish” will necessitate dealing with issues like predestination and free will. I’ll try to give that my best shot. As for now think about it like this;

God’s in charge of:

what happens

when it happens

how it happens

why it happens

And even what happens after it happens.

This is true of:

all events

in every place

from the beginning of time.

He does this for our good and his glory.

He is not the author of sin, yet evil serves his purposes. He does not violate our free will, yet free will serves his purposes. We’re not supposed to understand all this. We’re simply supposed to believe it.

I always endeavor not to get lost in the theological “misty moonlight” so I might appear to be indulging in over simplification but please just work with me here.

Providence Illustrated

Let’s consider the story of Joseph. If you’ve followed this blog long you know this to be one of my favorite stories. If you are acquainted with the Bible at all, you have heard it somewhere along the way. It goes something like this. Because Joseph was the favored son of his father Jacob, he was the object of envy by his many brothers. One day his brothers conspired to sell him into slavery to the Midianites who happened to be passing by. They did that, and then splashed his “coat of many colors” with the blood of a goat in order to make it appear that he had been killed by a wild animal. They then showed the coat to Jacob, who believed their lie and sorrowfully concluded that Joseph was dead.

Meanwhile Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Midianites. There he was sold again, this time to Potiphar, who was head of Pharaoh’s security force. Genesis 39 tells us that Joseph gained favor with Potiphar because the Lord was with Joseph to bless him. Eventually Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his entire household, which included the land, care of the property, and oversight of the other slaves. This was a signal of honor for a Hebrew slave. Because he was competent, confident, and good-looking Potiphar’s wife approached him about having a sexual affair. Joseph refused, pointing out that he could not betray Potiphar and he would not sin against God. This awful little woman persisted, to the point that one day when everyone else was gone, she attempted to pull him down on her bed. Joseph fled from the scene, leaving his cloak behind. The woman was humiliated and accused him of rape. It was a false charge, of course, but Potiphar believed his wife and had Joseph thrown in prison.

From Prison to the Palace

In prison Joseph prospered once again and gained the respect of his fellow prisoners and of the guards. This happened because the Lord was with him to bless him. Eventually the cupbearer and the baker were thrown in the same prison and Joseph befriended them. One night they both had dreams they could not interpret. But Joseph was able to interpret them with the Lord’s help. The dreams came true exactly as Joseph had predicted—the baker was hung but the cupbearer was released. Joseph asked him to remember him after he was out, but he didn’t.
Two years passed and Pharaoh had a dream that he could not interpret. That’s when the cupbearer remembered Joseph’s amazing ability and mentioned it to the Pharaoh who ordered Joseph brought before him. Joseph correctly interpreted his dream and was rewarded by Pharaoh, who made him the Prime Minister of Egypt. Not bad for a Hebrew slave who had been sold into slavery by his brothers!

Eventually a famine settled on the Near East. Jacob told his sons to go to Egypt and buy some grain. They go and in the process meet Joseph—only they don’t know it’s Joseph. This happens twice. Then Joseph reveals his true identity. They are shocked and then scared because they betrayed him and now he is in a position to get even. But Joseph doesn’t do that. In fact, he stuns them with these words:

And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. (Genesis 45:5-8).

The Pharaoh Meets Jacob

But that’s not the end of the story. The brothers go back to Canaan and tell their aged father that Joseph is still alive. He can’t believe it but eventually they convince him to come to Egypt with them. He makes the trip and is reunited with the son he had given up for dead many years ago. Then he meets the Pharaoh who offers to let Joseph’s family settle in Egypt for as long as they like. The family settles in Egypt and lives in peace there for many years. Finally Jacob dies at the age of 147. Now it’s just Joseph and his brothers. They fear that with Jacob’s death Joseph will be free to take revenge on them. So they tell Joseph, “Oh, by the way, before Dad died he told us to tell you to treat us kindly.” It sounds like just one more deception to cover their guilt.

Listen to Joseph’s response. These are the words of a man who believes in the providence of God:

Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives (Genesis 50:19-20).

JOSEPH DOESN’T TRY TO RE-DEFINE EVIL HERE

The King James Version translates verse 20 this way: “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” Both sides of that statement are true. “You meant it for evil"—what the brothers had done was indeed evil and Joseph doesn’t sugarcoat the truth. They are 100% responsible for their sin. “God meant it for good"—this doesn’t mean that evil isn’t evil. It just means that God is able to take the evil actions of sinful men and use them to accomplish his plans.

Joseph saw the “invisible hand” of God at work in his life. He understood that behind his conniving brothers stood the Lord God who had orchestrated the entire affair in order to get him to just the right place at just the right moment in order to save his whole family.

At Just the Right Moment

Joseph is saying, “Though your motives were bad, God’s motives were good.” And though it took years and years for God’s purposes to be clear, in the end Joseph saw the hand of God behind everything that had happened to him.

Think about the implications of that statement:

At just the right moment his brothers threw him into the cistern.At just the right moment the Midianites came along.At just the right moment he was sold to Potiphar.At just the right moment Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him.At just the right moment he met the baker and the cup bearer. At just the right moment the cup bearer remembered Joseph. At just the right moment Pharaoh called for him. At just the right moment he was promoted to Prime Minister. At just the right moment Jacob sent his sons to Egypt. At just the right moment the brothers met Joseph. At just the right moment Jacob’s family moved to Egypt. At just the right moment Pharaoh offered them the land of Goshen. At just the right moment they settled there and prospered.

All of this happened at “just the right moment” and “just the right way” so that the right people would be in the right place so that in the end everything would come out the way God had ordained in the beginning. God never violated anyone’s free will, yet everything happened as he
had planned. That’s the providence of God in action.

SOME IMPLICATIONS OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE

Trusting God’s Providence frees us from bitterness.

 This is clearly the message of Genesis 50:20. If ever any man had the right to get even it was Joseph. We get bitter because we doubt God’s goodness and we don’t see his invisible hand at work in our lives. We think God isn’t involved in our situation and that’s why we get angry and try to get even and hurt the person who has hurt us. If you really believe God is at work in your situation, you can just stand back and let God do whatever he wants to do.

Trusting God’s Providence gives us a new perspective on our tragedies.

That perspective might be stated this way: God is involved with us even in the worst moments of life. I believe that in the great issues of life we will generally not have an answer to the question “Why did this happen to me?” That is, we won’t know why our mate got sick or why we lost our life savings or why God didn’t intervene when we were being sexually abused. Most of the time we are simply left puzzled as to why these things happen. Who would dare to say to a woman, “This is why your child was stillborn?” or to the grieving people of Haiti, “This is why your world fell apart?”

But it is at this point that God’s providence is so crucial. It doesn’t tell us everything we would like to know about the mysteries of life, but it does assure us that God is there and that he cares for us. He is somehow involved even in our darkest moments in a way we cannot see—and probably wouldn’t understand even if we could see it.

Because of God’s providence we can keep trusting in God even in the face of many unanswered questions. He can bear the burden of all our unanswered questions.

Trusting God’s Providence gives us courage to keep going in hard times.

A few months ago a relative of mine told me he’d been listening to a satellite radio station and a program came on highlighting the people of Haiti and the almost unbelievable problems they’ve gone through recently. All during the program the song “learning to lean’ was being sung by Haitian people in the background. It gave this writer quite a thrill to learn that one of his songs was being so greatly used to help this struggling little island nation.

Speaking of providence, any of us would be hard-pressed to explain the tragic nature of what's happened to the little island of Haiti. It seems the worst keeps happening to the people who can least afford to deal with it. But again, we have to do what we can and then put things in the hands of our benevolent heavenly father.

God’s providence doesn’t answer every question, it doesn’t make our problems go away, and it doesn’t give us an easy road. But it does tell us that there is a pattern to the seemingly random events of life and that God is designing something beautiful out of that which now seems to be only a chaos of clashing colors. Life is hard—make no mistake about that, but God is good. Both those statements are true all the time for all of God’s children.

With Full Confidence

The doctrine of Providence doesn’t answer all our questions but it does give us a place of rest. We can never fully understand why some people are called home right in the middle of a productive life but knowing our God is all wise is, as I’ve stated, a place to rest. If God is not there as we lay our loved ones into the ground, if his plan is not being worked out when our loved ones are taken from us, then there is no hope for any of us. But if he is there, then we can go on
through life “with full confidence.”

Providence forces us to make a choice by faith.
The longer I live the more I understand that faith is a choice, not a feeling. Many times we won’t feel like believing in God. But faith is a personal choice we make to believe that God is good and that he can be trusted in every situation. Faith rises above feelings to choose to believe even when our circumstances may argue against it.

Providence helps us understand why Jesus died.

Listen to the amazing words of Peter at Pentecost from Acts 2:23,

“This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.”
There you have both sides of the truth. Jesus died “by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge.” That tells us that the Cross was not an accident or some afterthought in God’s plan.

But who crucified him? Remember that Peter is preaching to the men who participated in that evil deed. “You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death.” His death was no accident. God foreordained it from the foundation of the world. Yet the men who crucified him were guilty of the most heinous crime in human history. They were morally guilty, but what happened to Jesus happened because of God’s divine plan.

God’s providence leads us to Jesus and Jesus leads us back to the Cross.

I don’t believe, and I don’t think you do either, that when an individual gets up in the morning they are simply a creature of chance and that the events that happen to them during the day are the results of blind fate.

I don’t think I could begin the day if I believed that, -if I thought that my existence was dependent simply upon the willy-nilly vagaries of nature. I doubt I could have the peace of mind to face a single day. But rather, I believe as the scriptures say, from one end of the Bible to the other, that there is an infinitely all-wise and powerful God and that He is concerned with the affairs of his children.

I’ve never seen God in bodily form, yet I believe that He hears when we pray. I believe, as the Bible says, that God is concerned about His People, and that the events of our lives are guided by His unseen but powerful hand.

When Freud wrote about religion as a figment of man’s imagination, a projection of man’s wish and described man as simply a creature of blind fate, he was denying everything that I believe.

On the basis of thousands of years of experience of
God’s people,

Freud was not right, but rather Paul was right when he wrote;

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28


Blessings,


John