Reflections on God's Will...

In reading Lincoln's Greatest Speech, by Ron White, I've come to the point in Lincoln's Second Inaugural address in which he begins to describe why he believes the Civil War was so utterly devastating. White clues us in to a personal memo that Lincoln had written in 1862, just after the second defeat of Bull Run. In it we see Lincoln meditating on God's Divine Will. Regarding God's Will, Lincoln states, "The will of God prevails." On the issue of both sides claiming that God is on their side he writes, "Both may be, and one must be wrong. God can not [sic] be for, and against the same thing at the same time." And on the topic of the war itself, "I am almost ready to say this is probably true - that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end." In his inaugural address Lincoln was setting up the crowd for the reason he felt our country was being ravage by war. While the Northerners in the crowd were hoping for a judgment against the Confederates, Lincoln, understanding the justness of God and the sin of slavery, posited that both North and South had brought this upon themselves. God's Sovereign Will. He will work out His plans through our choices and, sometimes, in spite of our desires.