In Reply to: Re: How much does God get involved? posted by ray on November 16, 2004 at 07:27:19:
I agree he is involved in every subatomic particle. Colossians says that he created all things and by him all things consist (hold together) so I think he's the one who designed the atomic glue that holds the protons and quarks and whatnot together.
But my thought is, he designed the climate patterns, the law of gravity and other things which cause the rain to fall so that if you live in the desert you can pray for rain all you want but it won't stop. If you live in Florida you can pray for no more hurricanes to hit the coast, but they will come. I think some of this is just common sense.
Another thing, if you live in the rainy area of the country "the rain falls on the evil and the good". Conversely, "bad things happen to good people" just about as much as bad things happen to bad people. I know God can intervene miraculously and he sometimes does when he chooses or someone has great faith, or prays desperately.
But have you ever noticed how sometimes even those with great faith don't see their prayers answers? Even those who pray desperately and "claim every promise" are disappointed? God seems to be well outside the box. He can asnwer and often will, but just as often doesn't, perhaps to prove that he's God and not a genii here on command, perhaps because he figures that gravity and climate and other natural laws were a good idea and that we'd have the sense to not get ourselves in harm's way. Since hard work generally produces results (as opposed to laziness) we'd have the sense to work hard, etc.
I do pray when things go wrong but instead of "insisting" God answers, I present my petitions and then let God do what he wants. I certainly don't scream at God and curse him (like Berg did) if he doesn't move when I "command" him.
Many people claim the book of Proverbs as "promises" but don't realize they're only principles that generally apply, but cannot be held to apply in every circumstance.