Dancing on Strings

"A person's steps are directed by the Lord

How then can anyone understand their own way?" Proverbs 20:24

I never expected when I started this blog that my first few posts would be about deep theological questions that have had men and women, much cleverer than me, scratching their heads for centuries. But I write what God has planned and foretold I would write on this very day. Or did I decide to write it myself? Yes, you've guessed it. I'm going to use this post to explore the question of free will and the extent of God's control over our lives.

I know most of you at this stage are considering turning off your computer, or contemplating going to watch some paint dry. But I promise you there will be an extra specially good analogy later, so stay tuned!

Free Will vs Predestination. The classic debate that always manages to appear in conversation yet never gets resolved. This may be why I have consciously avoided it like the plague. Up until recently I have quite happily gone along with my life, knowing that God loves me (yay and all that), but not really bothering to work out whether or not I am in control. Does God truly know everything that is going to happen in advance? Does He know what decisions I am going to make and has He designed me to make those decisions? Am I just a robot?

The answer is not simple it seems. When challenged on this by a non- Christian friend, I was quick to say that God gave us free will, and that works into our day to day lives. I explained to him that God did not want us to love Him blindly and in a forced manner, He wanted us to choose to love Him. And that concept filters into our everyday lives, we need to choose to follow Him and His wishes in everything we say and do. But the point is, WE HAVE A CHOICE. 

On reflection, (and closer reading of scripture) God opened up His Word to me on His power and Sovereignty over my life and the whole world: 

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's 

       womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and 

    wonderfully made;

 your works are wonderful,

  I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

   when I was made in the secret place,

   when I was woven together in the 

         depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were

          written in your book

   before one of them came to be."  (Psalm 139:13-16) ---> a passage that                            
                                                   has appeared to me several times in the  
                                                   last week. Coincidence? I think not!

God wants each one of us to be aware of His loving, and guiding watchfulness over our lives. He has seen us before we were even conceived, and knew our hearts then. He has created us in the most wonderful way possible, and has created a plan for us that will lead us back to Him. 

But how does this play out in our everyday lives? For example, when I get up in the morning and decide that I want healthy wheetabix and fruit over yummy coco pops, have I really made my own choice? Or has God decided for me, way back before the earth was created?

It is my belief (not necessarily the uniform belief of all Christians, there are many that would disagree!) that God has a plan for us, a path to follow, which is the best possible way for us to live. It is a life close to Him, fulfilled and happy. But there are alternative paths we may choose to take if we wish. This is when Sin comes in to play. When we choose the path that God has not chosen for us, then we take control of our own lives, often finding that it is barren and empty compared to the life God has preordained. But the great part is, God always manges to find us and put us back on the right path! Time for an analogy? I agree.

----> Life is like a car journey, in which we are the driver and we have an unlimited amount of roads to drive along. God has designed the roads that we are driving on, from smooth long stretches of motorway, to bumpy difficult off-road terrain. Along the way we come to a series of crossroads. The signpost pointing left says "eternal life", whilst the signpost turning right says "lots of money and success". Now you would think that an idiot would choose the financially beneficial path over eternity in heaven, but sometimes we have a back-seat driver, whispering in our ear, reminding us that we have loans to pay off, or that we could have that high-powered job we always wanted. (three guesses as to who that is) So we choose to turn down the wrong path. Sooner or later, we manage to get lost. 

BUT after our satnav reconfigures, we realise that to get back on the right path, we must go over some rocky terrain. The best part is, God already knew this was going to happen, and designed our car with four-wheeled drive. So there we are driving our beaten up Jeep back onto God's path, with God looking down smugly from above saying "see, I told you my way was better!" like the true Father he is. ( because we all will learn sooner or later, that our Dad's were always right) As for our back-seat driver, he got left behind at a petrol station.

So, after that incredibly long and complicated analogy that would make Top Gear proud, we come to our conclusion:

God is amazing.

He knew our hearts before we were born.

He wants us to choose to love Him.

He has an AWESOME plan for our lives.

We need to choose to live on His terms!

Goodnight and God Bless!