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Cross Words: Que Sera Sera
 “Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be.” While those words make for catchy lyrics to a song made famous by Doris Day, they make for dangerous theology. They seem to imply that everything in life has been predetermined and the best we can do is to simply roll with the flow. In spiritual speak, God has set in motion times, events and circumstances and nothing we do or don’t  do has any effect whatsoever.

     God is sovereign, make no mistake. What He purposes to accomplish He will. But that doctrine does not suggest that we are merely puppets on the Almighty’s grand stage. While we may each have been assigned roles in a play who’s ending has been written in stone, the script is open for editing.


     After being informed by the prophet Isaiah that his days were shortly numbered, King Hezekiah prayed and God granted him an additional 15 years of life (2 Kings 20). Upon hearing God’s plan to destroy the infant nation of Israel, Moses beseeched God to relent of His plans - and He did (Exodus 32). After the Apostle Paul promised that God had guaranteed the safety of all those sailing on board with him to Rome, he then warned them that if they got off the ship they would die at sea (Acts 27). In all these cases, as well as when God asks us to pray for souls and tend to the sick and poor, the words and works of God’s children alter history.


     Does this all mean that we can somehow subvert the overall providence of God? By no means. Our ultimate destiny as recorded in the book Revelation is not subject to change. Whatever will be will indeed be. However, in many matters leading up to that fateful event our lives and those we come into contact with are subject to adaption. 


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