I used to believe that everyone played a part, that there was a part for everyone to play.
If things are meant to happen, anything, any bad thing that happens people always say "well that was meant to happen," or "God meant for that to happen". Doesn't that mean that we played our parts to get to that role? so if we get to a point that was "meant to happen" it was pre-determined by God, right?
but, what if someone who is following there role, and then decides they don't like the outcome? if they don't follow the path that is laid out for them what does that mean and they decide to follow there own path, does that change the whole reality that is? If someone defies all odds, and goes against everything that is set in front of them, what does that mean?
now the argument, "well, maybe that is the path they were supposed to follow" comes into play, and by the wording that i have laid out then it can be taken that way but i can't think of any other way to explain it. if someone denies the path that God has laid out for them, is that going against God? i'm not saying that he has already decided who is getting into Heaven and who is going to Hell. but what i do think is happening is that God has set up a path for us and has determined our destination, but we must follow the path, and we can do whatever we want on the path and that is what determines whether or not we get into Heaven or Hell.
But when someone denies the path altogether, when they break away from the path laid out for them and go against God's will, what happens then? Does that mean we are all just puppets set up to obey our master (God) and follow what he has already determined where we are going. or are we just here, with our path and no God there supporting us, on the set path that we are given?
now what about criminals and murderers and the like? that's easy, that this only applies to Christians in general. I'm not saying that God doesn't love everyone or that he doesn't give us all chances, we just have to believe in God for him to give us that path to where we are to follow.
I just read this whole story back to me and it sounds a bit confusing (and a little bit contradictory) but i stand by my statement.
I do not believe how you do about God determining every step of the way. In Jeremiah 29:11, it may look like predestination, but I believe that it is really God offering us an invitation to place our lives into His hands because He is good and knows the best for us. He has always given us as humans free choice: otherwise, how could Adam and Eve have done what they did? I don't believe that every bad thing was "meant to happen" rather sometimes, since our world has fallen into imperfection, that senseless, bad things happen. I DO believe that if we let Him, God will teach us a valuable lesson and strengthen us through even the bad things. Romans 8:28 says "All things work together for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose." You could probably argue predestination through that last part: "...called according to His purpose." But taken in context that verse is talking about a different kinda predestination. It was God's "purpose" that man should live in paradise and harmony with Him. That has been destroyed with our choice to sin and since then salvation history and salvation have been attempting to bring us back to that purpose: the harmony of perfection, which comes through perfectly loving God (which comes from perfectly obeying Him). That is what we were created for. If that's predestination, then okay. Since our world has fallen into sin, the whole focus of salvation and redemption is the ministry of reconciliation Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 5:11-21: God is bringing us back to righteousness, to perfect love, as we choose to put our lives in His hands and as we allow Him to transform us through the Spirit. No one is a puppet; God put us here to love and glorify Him, but what kinda satisfaction would he get out of our love and glory if it was forced- if we were just puppets loving Him simply because He told us to? No, there is beauty in loving our Creator and that beauty comes, just like the beauty in any love, from the want to do just that; love.
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