As I was washing dishes the other day, I had this random thought pop in my head. Do I really have free will? If God is the orchestrator of all things, and He knows the very thoughts in my head, and knows what I’m going to do before I even do it, do I really have a choice in what I say or do throughout the day, throughout the week, throughout my entire life? I often think that I am the product of my choices, that I am here because of the choices I made, which then determined my outcome. But if I am a Child of God, who has preordained my steps since before I was born, when I was in my mother’s womb, then do I really have a choice in what I do and say? Have I ever had a choice?
I sat down with God for a few days, and God revealed to me that though He has ordained my life to be the way that it is, it is only this way because I made a choice, and it’s a choice I have to make daily, which makes me the product of my choices. That choice is whether to stay in the Will of God, or to stray against His Will. Every decision I make, albeit big or small, is rooted in some way in the grand Will of God, and my decisions, the daily choices that I make, are contingent upon whether God wants me to do what I am doing or not. Even in those times when I have to make a huge decision that I know will impact my life for the next five years, and I actually have no idea where that decision will lead me in two days, I have to decide whether I am going to submit to the Will of God or submit to my own devices, safety nets, and limited scope of view. By deciding daily to operate under the Will of God, I am exercising my “free will” and submitting my will to a God whose Will is far more precise, rewarding, and fulfilling. So do I have free will? Yes. Is it really free, that remains to be seen. Then again, faith being the evidence of things NOT SEEN, I guess only God will know, eh?
As God Speaks To Me 
I guess it’s all part of how much God love us – He loves us so much that He lets us choose: His way (perfect) or our way (of which, although isn’t what He wants for us, He certainly knows the consequences of). I’ve heard people say that if God “pushed” us to do certain things (including accepting Him to be our Saviour), He wouldn’t truly be loving, and yes a trapping and selfish God. We don’t do God’s will because He’s forcing us to, we do it because we love Him, and we only love Him because He loved us first.
To God be the glory! You’re absolutely right. We must consider that God, though He orchestrates everything, allows us to make the choice, because He already knows what the choice will result in. His Master Plan will be carried out one way or the other, but He will never force us to go with His plan, no matter how beneficial it may be for us to go by. He wants us to fall in line, but not necessarily because we have to, but because we love Him and, in love, want to fall in line. It’s just like that line from “The Break-Up” when Jennifer Aniston’s role says to Vince Vaughn’s: “I want you to WANT to wash the dishes.”
I completely agree. Something else I’ve just remembered to say that I feel to be very enlightening on this topic (coming a bit off topic but also links to it), is that, being free – having free will – is a gift to all of those who are saved though Christ. That being said, those who are lost and don’t have Jesus in their hearts are not free, for they are trapped in sin. But society and the media in general reverses this and says Christians are trapped because they have to obey the commandments and everything the Bible says to do or not to do, and those who aren’t Christians are free because they can do whatever they want. The truth though, is the other way around, for God has broken our chains that were stuck in sin and set us free. 🙂
Going back to what the post is actually about (which, in my understanding, may be presented as Predestination x Free Will), there was once a preaching I heard that said that people tend to do a lot of questions that complicate things that are either very simple or not possible to humanly understand. The preacher gave an example of a black-board eraser that was obviously a 3D object. “Is it rectangular or square?” (Just like saying, “Is my life consisted of free will or is everything predetermined?”) God’s answer would simply be, “Yep”, because He is God and works however He wants to – even by 2 different things at once.
Anyway, I’ll stop talking now. Haha. But before I go, I find this short article to be very straight-forward about this issue, and recommend that you read it: http://www.rationalchristianity.net/free_will.html
In reference to the first part of your reply, I’m just like “WHOA!” As many times as I have read and so-called understood that, I never really understood what being free meant until now, because you’re absolutely right. Being in Christ frees us from the bondage of sin, standards, and societal whims, given that 1) God dares us to stand out from the world (being in it but not of it), and 2) unlike society, who dictates to us what we can and can’t do in order to fit in, and unlike sin which keeps us bound into our own carnalities, Jesus gives us two simple commands to follow once we become a part of the Kingdom: love God, and love one another. The essence of Christianity summed up in those, who wouldn’t want to be free, truly free? Thank you for opening my eyes to that.
The second part, predestination vs. free will, I agree again in that God has everything scrpited in His hands. The awesome thing about God is that He already knows what’s going to happen, and how we can get through our situations. And if I can ever master “peace that surpasses all understanding,” then I can rest peacably, assured that God will work everything out, because He knew this was going to happen anyway. All I’m really doing is walking. 😀
P.S.: I like to talk, too, so feel free to talk to your heart’s content! Edification and catharsis is good for the soul.
The first time it was put to me that way I had the same “WHOA!” reaction! I even got a bit mad at myself for not realising that any sooner. It’s amazing how we tend to complicate things that are actually really simple. It’s kind of like spending a long time searching for your glasses and then figuring out there were already on your head the whole time. ^^
[…] thought about putting over here what was discussed on the post Is Free Will Really Free? for it is a very interesting, debatable and important topic to think […]
I put what we’ve discussed on my blog too so more people can read it! ^^ (Don’t worry, I’ve given you credit!)
By all means, share it with everyone you know! I’m grateful to know that God is using us to bring this and other topics to the forefront, and I’m grateful that God used me to inspire you, too. Stay in touch! 😀