Where does God’s plan meet free will?
Kaity Holtman
This is the recurring conversation my husband and I have had regularly for the nine years we’ve been together.
Since we ponder this question all the time, I thought I’d share the conclusions we usually come to when we discuss this.
On one hand, the bible tells us in Jeremiah 29, “For I know the plans I have for you.”
In Psalm 139, we read, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in–behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
Often during times of struggle or tragedy, many people turn to the saying “God has a plan for you,” or, “We may not understand it, but it’s all part of God’s plan and His timing.”
And I believe all of those things. Truly, I do.
But then there is free will. And this is where things get tricky. Where debates get heated. Where we wonder how much control we have over our lives.
Proverbs 16:9 says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
This can be interpreted in different ways, depending on the person, of course. But what I pull from it, is that our lives are an intricate puzzle that takes a real team effort between God and us.
My goodness, to realize he establishes the steps of every single person on this earth is amazing to think about. But we’re not to understand the why and how of everything – that’s where faith comes in.
It is my belief that we have free will – and that there is both good and evil in the world – so that we can choose God and choose to do good.
God wants us to choose Him when the bad times come. God wants us to choose Him when we don’t understand what’s happening. And I imagine He would much rather us choose Him instead of Him outlining every single moment of our lives.
A few years ago, I listened to a sermon series called The Waiting Room. That series has stuck with me ever since.
In that series, Steven Furtick pointed out that while it’s important to hear God and let Him show His plans to us, we also can’t just sit around doing nothing and expect God to put every decision right in front of us.
While we discern and weigh our options on where life is taking us, we have to continue to live life, to serve others, and to do good.
That can easily be a struggle. When the plans we make for our lives aren’t going the way we want or are in limbo, it’s easy to just stop, wait inactively, and say “God will show me the way.” We still have to continue to move forward and stay active.
I’m reminded of Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane after the Last Supper. Jesus knew what was coming for him. Though he didn’t like it, he said, “Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Sometimes it’s not that we’re looking for God to tell us where to go next or what decision to make, but to learn to be okay with His will. To say, “okay, God. I’m going to continue to work and serve and live, but I’m okay with whatever Your will is.” The hard part is, we may not always like His plan…at first.
We humans like to have control over what happens to us. I like to plan and know what’s coming next. But sometimes we just continue down our path – hopefully using our free will wisely to do good and spread good – until God changes the direction of our footsteps to carry out His plan for us.
