The first part was my reflections on the bigger picture of how it was possible that God's will and our free will can co-exist. In this part I wanted to share my thoughts on practically, how I imagine these to actually work together. I will then post a third part on what exactly I think God's will is and how to apply it in our daily lives.
I pray that these thoughts will help you in growing closer to God - I found that figuring this out helped me to rely more on God and put more trust to Him! =)
============================
I imagine my life to be a journey towards some final destination. Visually, it might look like a map, with me travelling between two dots. I imagine that God desires that I will end my journey with Him in heaven - this is God's will/plan for my life.
I imagine that I have been given the chance to make my journey between my starting point and the end point however I like - and also to choose where I end up. If God had his way then I would travel in a straight line between my starting point (birth?) to my final destination - which He hopes will be heaven.
Because I am human and often make the wrong choices, I often stray from the path that he hopes I will walk - which probably would be the most suitable/easiest path for me. I choose to turn left when he hopes I will turn right, I don't move when I should, or I turn around and go back in the same way that I came when He hopes I will move forward. Because of this, my life seems to be full of challenges and suffering - and so much of the time I blame God for putting these roadblocks in my journey.
Little do I know that every time i made a wrong turn, He reoriented everything in the map so that I still have the best chance at getting to my final destination. Every time I stop when I'm meant to move, or move when I'm not supposed to, He adjusts everything so that my chances of ending up with Him are not jeopardised. How can He do this? Short answer - because He is God.
I believe He is able to do this because I believe 'linear' time (past, present, future) is a human concept. Because we are human, we have to do one thing after the other and can't go back or jump into the future. However God isn't human, and He isn't bound by time. Everything in our lives happens at the same point for Him. My being born, my wedding, my first step, the day I die, my graduatiion... it's all happening for him right NOW. And so, He is able to adjust my map while I am making the very choice that throws me off course.
Another way to think about it is in terms of how well He knows me. God is my Father, my creator, my God. He knows every hair on my head, every thought that has gone through/is going through/will go through my mind. He can 'predict' what I will choose, given a certain situation because of how well He knows me. Because of this, He can alter situations or put me in situations that will maximise my chances of ending up with Him.
(For example, my friends know that my favourite colour is purple. Given the chance to choose between anything purple and grey, they know that I will choose the purple, even before I have made the decision. God is like my friend, except He knows me that much more intimately.)
Does this mean we are manipulated by God? Are we pawns in His 'chess' game? Are we powerless and will He always win? I don't believe so. The most that God will do is put us in situations that will give us a better chance of being with Him. He won't ever make us choose in a certain way - because God is Love, and love is not manipulative nor forceful. God wants us to end up with Him because we want to be there, not because we have been told we 'must' be there.
And I can say with certainty that God, even though He is God, doesn't always get what He wants! He leaves Himself vulnerable to our choices, hoping and waiting ever so patiently that we will choose Him. And that's why the kingdom of heaven is like the father who rejoices over the return of a lost son, like the woman who celebrates when she finds her lost penny, or the shepherd who leoaves his 99 sheep to find the 1 who has gone astray.
I imagine my life to be a journey towards some final destination. Visually, it might look like a map, with me travelling between two dots. I imagine that God desires that I will end my journey with Him in heaven - this is God's will/plan for my life.
I imagine that I have been given the chance to make my journey between my starting point and the end point however I like - and also to choose where I end up. If God had his way then I would travel in a straight line between my starting point (birth?) to my final destination - which He hopes will be heaven.
Because I am human and often make the wrong choices, I often stray from the path that he hopes I will walk - which probably would be the most suitable/easiest path for me. I choose to turn left when he hopes I will turn right, I don't move when I should, or I turn around and go back in the same way that I came when He hopes I will move forward. Because of this, my life seems to be full of challenges and suffering - and so much of the time I blame God for putting these roadblocks in my journey.
Little do I know that every time i made a wrong turn, He reoriented everything in the map so that I still have the best chance at getting to my final destination. Every time I stop when I'm meant to move, or move when I'm not supposed to, He adjusts everything so that my chances of ending up with Him are not jeopardised. How can He do this? Short answer - because He is God.
I believe He is able to do this because I believe 'linear' time (past, present, future) is a human concept. Because we are human, we have to do one thing after the other and can't go back or jump into the future. However God isn't human, and He isn't bound by time. Everything in our lives happens at the same point for Him. My being born, my wedding, my first step, the day I die, my graduatiion... it's all happening for him right NOW. And so, He is able to adjust my map while I am making the very choice that throws me off course.
Another way to think about it is in terms of how well He knows me. God is my Father, my creator, my God. He knows every hair on my head, every thought that has gone through/is going through/will go through my mind. He can 'predict' what I will choose, given a certain situation because of how well He knows me. Because of this, He can alter situations or put me in situations that will maximise my chances of ending up with Him.
(For example, my friends know that my favourite colour is purple. Given the chance to choose between anything purple and grey, they know that I will choose the purple, even before I have made the decision. God is like my friend, except He knows me that much more intimately.)
Does this mean we are manipulated by God? Are we pawns in His 'chess' game? Are we powerless and will He always win? I don't believe so. The most that God will do is put us in situations that will give us a better chance of being with Him. He won't ever make us choose in a certain way - because God is Love, and love is not manipulative nor forceful. God wants us to end up with Him because we want to be there, not because we have been told we 'must' be there.
And I can say with certainty that God, even though He is God, doesn't always get what He wants! He leaves Himself vulnerable to our choices, hoping and waiting ever so patiently that we will choose Him. And that's why the kingdom of heaven is like the father who rejoices over the return of a lost son, like the woman who celebrates when she finds her lost penny, or the shepherd who leoaves his 99 sheep to find the 1 who has gone astray.
Posts
very nice
ReplyDeleteand concise
on God's will Edith....~
wow! :D