Predestination and God's Will

Predestination and God’s Will

         I have a dear friend who recently authored a blog entry related to discussing that one person God has sent into our lives who has made a significance influence on us. It was a simple idea which I, as usual, made more complex than it was intended to be. Nevertheless, I responeded that I, myself, am the product of many encounters, much like a piece of stone sculpted by many artists. I commented that, in fact, I do not believe God sends particular people into my life to help me grow. With the exception of my parents, my encounters with these marvelous people were accidental collisions in life, of which God is fully aware because he, in fact, sets all things into motion. Their influence on me has a direct correlation to my ability to absorb the beneficial things that they bring. When I am in a right relationship with my Creator, I absorb the greatest benefit from these accidental collisions. When I ignore His presence in my life and forge off on my own tangent, I appear to have little positive growth. Therefore, no single individual has made a primary influence on my life. For me it has certainly taken a village. My life has been influenced by the corporate relationship of many people.

         Now, my friend apparently thought I was responding to the concept of predestination, that we are destined to encounter certain individuals chosen to impact our lives, and to which my friend does not particularly subscribe. It was not my intent to make that connection. However, the topic she introduced with her entry has, at its foundation, some interesting theological issues, of which the idea of predestination is one.

         There is in fact a difference in the idea of predestination and preordination. I believe God preordains certain things to happen. In the natural course of things that preordination is accomplished. It may be brought about in any number of ways, but the fact is that it will come to fruition. It is preordained—just as Jesus is preordained to be the Savior of humankind. There is a difference in destiny and ordination.

         In the days of the Reformation, when the yoke and control of the Catholic Church on the theological ideas of men was removed, men were free to formulate new and exciting theological ideas. John Calvin’s influence on protestant sects and groups has been deeply ingrained in us. His idea of predestination has prevailed even among religious groups who profess to not accept his concept. How many times have you heard a young person profess that they are confident that God is preparing that one person just for them or conversely that they were being prepared for that one person. The idea that there is one individual out there, walking around, predestined to be with them is a popular idea in most evangelical denominations. We can thank Calvin for that idea.

         Similarly, the Will of God in a Christian’s life is placed in this same arena. The idea that there is a definite “Will of God” for my life smacks of this Calvinistic concept of predestination. The person who subscribes to this belief is then burdened with the chore of discovering what that particular predestined will for their life is. I have often witnessed Christians toiling and lamenting over discovering the will of God for any number of situations. Each decision requires a repeat of the process of discovery. When in fact, discovering the will of God is not that difficult. The will of God in any Christian’s life is that he live a Christ-centered life. That’s all there is to it. There is no predestined “will’ to be discovered.

         Now before you say that is too easy, think about it. How easy is it to live a life totally dedicated to the Lord? It is not easy at all. In fact it is the most difficult thing I have ever attempted in my life. However, with His help I can become a saint; without it, I am totally bewildered.

         The will of God works this way. When I am walking in the Christ-centered life, anything that I do is in His will. I can have that confidence. There is no mystery. The will of God is more of a relationship than it is a thing to be discovered. There is no predestination to it. This means that when searching for a woman to be my wife, all I have to do is be living a Christ-centered life and I can have the confidence to know that any decision I make is God’s will. Which means there are any number of women out there who I could have married and still been in God’s will. Now, how awesome is that. That is what true freedom in Jesus means. All I have to do is keep my relationship with Him right and I am in His will. I don’t have to find it or discover it; it was never lost. To think otherwise smacks of Calvin’s idea of predestination—that there is a specific will floating out there that I must find. This concept applies to any number of things for which we are searching for God’s will—that new job, that move to another city, that major purchase, and so on. According to Calvin, there are some of us who are predestined to find that will and some of us who are predestined to never find it. In fact, all God wants us to do is be close to Him; that’s His will for us.

         The people who have influenced my life are directly correlated to the relationship I had with the Lord. When I was walking closer to Him, I absorbed the good that was offered to me—even when I was lost. When I turned my face from Him, there was little benefit gained from others because I was less sensitive to receiving the gift they were offering. That is why I often did not realize what I was given until I was enlightened at a later date. God did not send these people into my life specifically for me. They were there by divine accident, waiting for the collision with a receptive spirit. Sometimes it happened and sometimes it did not. I sometimes wonder what I have missed because I was not receptive at the moment of that accidental collision. Had I been walking continually in a Christ-centered relationship, there is no telling what I could have experienced.

         And, do not discount the power of the other person walking in the Christ-centered life. On the accidental occasion of them colliding with me, there is much power there. I sometimes wonder what turned my head back towards God. Just perhaps it was the power of their walk with God. This idea can be expanded to discuss the presence of the will of God in the lives of those good people who are not Christian, or who may even be agnostic. All I know is that God is a God of love and even they are not abandoned by His love. Calvin would say they are predestined to be lost. My God is bigger than that—more powerful. I can’t explain it, but I know that God’s will extends to the goodness in others, even those who do not profess in His name. However, that is a different topic and I have rambled enough as it is.