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Does Christianity say that the events that happen to us are from God?

Is it all free will, or free will and God steps in to veto if he wants, or everything from God.

I ask because at the Church I go to it seems like if a street light turns green, it is from God...or if a stranger says something to me, it is a sign from God...

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BTW, why did God invent forks? My mom never told me, she only continually asked. – Peter Turner Mar 14 '12 at 20:08
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Pick and choose which you like :) I believe in free will. However God does bring people closer together. – user1054 Mar 14 '12 at 20:41
Dan, then who brings people further apart? Isn't God the one bring people out of different lands away from home in the bible? – Greg McNulty Mar 14 '12 at 22:09
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If a street light turns green, that is "engineering"; if a stranger says something to you, that is "society". It is possible to over-analyse things. – Marc Gravell♦ Mar 14 '12 at 22:43

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Not all things that happen are from God: Either God has allowed something to happen, or God intervenes and causes something to happen. God accomodates for everything that takes place and has worked it out for His own purpose.

A light turning green or someone saying something to you, does not necessarily mean they are from God.. But that doesn't mean God hasn't intervened with traffic lights before (or more likely the timing in which you come into contact with this light), or not inspired someone to say something to someone else.

Proverbs 16:4 (Amplified) - The Lord has made everything [to accommodate itself and contribute] to its own end and His own purpose--even the wicked [are fitted for their role] for the day of calamity and evil.

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any references to this belief? – Greg McNulty Mar 14 '12 at 21:46
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Yes, the Bible makes clear that even a random number generator will always generate the number of God's choosing:

Proverbs 16:33 NIV

The lot (dice) is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

If a tornado kills my child, I can take comfort in knowing there is a divine purpose for it.

God says He "rose up Pharoah", He also "rose up Hitler".

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hmmm..this makes me think that everything has an "origin" from God but necessarily God acting directly through it every moment - of that person or thing, like a traffic light. For example, our knowledge from God allows us to create computers and software but if I write a computer program it is running the instructions I give it (which I can change any time), not God's instructions. This also fails to explain how the devil plays into events, as the devil is known to cause things to happen as well in Christianity. – Greg McNulty Mar 15 '12 at 15:15
You can't say you wrote programs, because science says the way you think, the way you program, is a product of your brain, which you also did not create. – Hammer Mar 15 '12 at 15:48
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If everything came from God, then that would even mean temptation. James 1:13 tells us that temptation is not from God. – Shredder Mar 15 '12 at 16:33
The conditions which let evil exist did come from God. You can blame Him for that. – Hammer Mar 15 '12 at 16:44

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