13. The Will of God and the Mystery of Permission

I. The Immutable Will of God

The question most often uttered by hearts pierced with sorrow is the simplest and most ancient: "Why would God allow this?" From the fall of the angels to the Cross of Calvary, this cry has echoed through creation. It is the cry of the creature confronting the Creator's wisdom: a wisdom too deep to measure, yet too perfect to err.

God's will is one, eternal, and immutable. There are not two wills in God as though divided by conflict, but rather one divine intention expressed in two aspects: His positive or ordained will, by which He directly causes all that is good, and His permissive will, by which He allows the existence of certain evils in order to bring forth greater goods.

As St. Augustine teaches, "Nothing is done unless the Almighty wills it to be done, either by permitting it or by doing it."[^1] Even when the world appears ruled by injustice, it is never abandoned to chance. The divine plan encompasses every motion of history and every tear of the just.

Thus the apparent disorder of the world does not spring from defect in the Creator, but from the mystery of freedom He bestowed upon His creatures: a gift so real that it can be abused, yet so noble that it gives meaning even to suffering.

II. The Permissive Will and the Freedom of the Creature

The distinction between God's ordained will and His permissive will safeguards both His sovereignty and man's freedom. He wills good absolutely, but permits evil conditionally, allowing it only insofar as it serves His higher purpose.

Evil, in itself, has no substance; it is a deprivation, a shadow cast by the misuse of created freedom. Yet God, in His providence, transforms these shadows into instruments of grace. As St. Thomas Aquinas explains, "God permits evil that He may draw from it some good; for from the privation of order He brings about a greater order."[^2]

The sinner acts freely and is rightly held accountable, yet his very rebellion is overruled by divine wisdom. Thus the betrayal of Judas did not thwart the plan of redemption but fulfilled it; the malice of Pharaoh became the stage for the revelation of God's power; and the crucifixion of Christ, the greatest of all crimes, became the fountain of salvation.

No evil escapes the bounds of divine providence. The permissive will of God does not mean indifference; it means patience, the patience of a Father who allows His children to choose, that they may learn to love truly, not under compulsion but in freedom.

III. The Problem of Blame: "Why Did God Create Me?"

The heart wounded by suffering often asks, "Why did God create me, knowing what would happen?" Such a question, while human, overlooks the love implicit in existence itself. For God's act of creation is never arbitrary: He creates out of love, not necessity. He foreknows all, both the sins and the sorrows, yet wills to bring each soul into being that His goodness might be shared.

St. Alphonsus Liguori writes, "When God permits trials, He wills also to aid us in bearing them; He never sends the cross without the grace to carry it."[^3] To exist, even in suffering, is already to be loved, for nonexistence cannot suffer, nor can it know love.

God did not will sin, nor the ruin it causes, but He foresaw from all eternity the redemption that would arise from it. The mystery of His permissive will is the mystery of the Cross itself: what He permits in His justice, He redeems in His mercy.

To question why God created one who would suffer is to forget that the same God willed to suffer Himself. The answer is not philosophical but cruciform: the Word made Flesh accepted every agony, not to explain suffering, but to transform it.

IV. The Redemptive Meaning of Suffering

Our Lord's own life on earth reveals the measure of divine love. He who could have prevented all suffering chose instead to endure it. He was betrayed, scourged, and crucified not because He lacked power, but because His will was love.

St. Peter teaches that "Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps" (1 Pet. 2:21). The faithful soul learns, then, that to be conformed to Christ is not merely to share His truth, but also His wounds.

In the mystery of the Passion, the permissive will of God and the free malice of men meet. Yet from this apparent triumph of evil comes the victory of grace. Every permitted suffering, whether loss, illness, injustice, or grief, becomes, when united to Christ, an altar of redemption.

Cornelius a Lapide beautifully comments on Romans 8:28: "All things work together unto good, not that all things are good in themselves, but that God disposes even the worst to serve His elect."[^4]

Thus the soul learns to see the hand of God not only in joys, but in crosses: to say with Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21).

V. Trust in the Hidden Wisdom of Providence

The true disciple must learn the difference between understanding God's will and trusting it. Faith does not demand full comprehension of providence, but humble confidence in the One who orders all things.

The saints, most afflicted of souls, were those who most trusted God's hidden designs. St. Therese of Lisieux wrote, "Everything is grace." She did not mean that sin or suffering were good in themselves, but that within God's plan, nothing is wasted.

When one blames God for evil, one forgets that He suffers with us, not as author of sin, but as Redeemer who transforms it. Divine permission is not divine neglect; it is divine patience at work for our sanctification.

The same fire that consumes the dross purifies the gold. So the crosses permitted by God burn away the self-love that blinds us to His glory. Every suffering accepted in faith becomes a participation in the divine will, an ascent from exile toward union.

VI. Conclusion: The Will That Saves

In the end, the mystery of God's will is not to be solved but adored. His permissive will is not a concession of weakness, but an expression of omnipotent love.

He wills to bring His creatures freely to beatitude, and therefore allows freedom to err, that mercy may triumph over justice, and love may triumph over fear.

The same God who permitted Adam's fall willed the Incarnation; the same Christ who permitted Judas's betrayal willed His own sacrifice. The plan of redemption was written not in the absence of evil, but in its conquest.

To those who cry, "Why did God create me, knowing what would happen?", the Cross answers: "Because I loved you before you fell, and I will love you until you rise."

"For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of affliction, to give you an end and patience."

• Jeremias 29:11

Thus even the darkest permission of God is light hidden under the veil of time, for when unveiled in eternity, it will be seen that every tear of the faithful was a jewel in the crown of the City of God.