On accepting God’s will

God’s will permeates our universe and expresses itself through places, people and even ideas that we come up with. While we seem to have free will, divine providence is like a cosmic force that sees all and knows where our lives are headed, regardless of the path we take. So, at the same time, we have our destinies, even though we have the power to choose. Some destinies are more glorious, some are more humbling. Does God intervene in our choices if He has a particular destiny in mind for us and we stray off the path? Good question.

We look for grand designs but God’s hand can seemingly be found all around us. Is me coming across this blog and writing this blog post right now a part of God’s will, for example? As God permeates the universe and is the Creator, the answer is yes, God has guided me to write this blog post.

While reading blog posts by other authors, I’ve learned about Shabbat candles and decided to read up on the topic. I’ve learned that they are traditionally a woman’s mitzvah. The woman sets the tone of the household; it is her task and God-given ability to ensure that light and harmony prevail in her home. Girls begin lighting Shabbat candles when they can recite the blessing – approximately three years of age). I had no idea about this before.

I’ve also learned about what I call the chair ceremonies don’t just happen during Bat Mitzvahs but during weddings as well – it’s an intriguing ceremony that elevates an individual and also seems to symbolically bring them closer to God. It’s a ritualistic rite of passage, one might say, and a highly symbolic one at that. At least that’s how I see the chair ceremony.

As Hebrew is an ancient language, I believe that studying it definitely widens one’s horizons when trying to understand God. Hebrew has many words and phrases to describe God that are imbued with profound meaning, wisdom and symbolism. One is rarely going to find so many ways to describe God in other languages. I’ve discovered there are many more ways to praise and pray to God in Hebrew than I thought there would be, and while I haven’t looked into it specifically, there likely are many ways to express one’s anger at God in Hebrew as well.

God’s will isn’t always logical to us because we can’t fully fathom how the cosmic chess grandmaster engineers events around us. Whether God’s will we are subjected to is a test, a punishment, or a blessing, we can only accept our role in God’s grand plan and act accordingly, because as I wrote in my blog post earlier – challenging, rebelling or expressing anger at God is counterproductive and God’s will is going to happen, no matter how many tantrums we throw and threats we make, we are going to be reformed however God wants us to be reformed. And our thinking is going to be converted, eventually, to reflect the new reality God has envisioned for us. It’s going to take time, as God likely wants us to arrive at certain conclusions ourselves.