Today I was doing some university work, then, a message from my youth group's whatsapp group appeared on the screen. It was a video, titled "Is God Good?", I was doing some serious university reading, so as the good and responsible procrastinator I am, I closed my laptop and watched the 2 minute video on my cellphone. Afterwards, because I knew all comments where going to be positive Christians saying how good the video was (Sarcasm indeed.. its youtube after all) I decided to take a peek, what I found was a mass of atheists that fail to understand even the simplest idea, then it hit me, many Christians dont ask this questions because they believe in God, but their doubts remain just like the atheists i was reading.
"So God created free will? then he cannot be omniscient! if you can change your mind, God cant know that in advance!" "So God created me, knew exactly what I would do, but still sent me to earth to suffer? why not take me directly into heaven or hell?" This questions are fair points, but simple ones in my mind.
A big issue today among atheists is not whether God created man on the Sixth Day, nor if Jonah really decided to rebel and not be God's prophet (although in his rebellion he ended up saving a whole town). But it is in fact the issue with reconciling God's omniscience, and free will. How can, He know everything, and thus, the outcome of our lives and choices and what's best, if we have free will. Arent we then slaves to some kind of destiny? the simple answer is, No. As I see this, this is a logically inconsistent question, (a False dichotomy to be precise), which assumes that Either God knows the answer, or we can change it, being both mutually exclusive. If God knows i'll chose A, then even if I feel I could choose B or C, I Will choose A. On the other hand, if we have free will, God can not know the answer, as it is determined by Us. Here's the problem, who said God can only know one outcome? who said God thinks, knows and decides in the way We do? Are we being so arrogant that we are assigning God a human mind?
The answer to this false dichotomy, is in fact, a maybe no so obvious one for most people, it dawned on me not so long ago in fact, but now I see its a very simple answer, and actually it fits perfectly with the character of the only Living God. Lets say for a moment we are in a car, we are in Atlanta, Georgia, and we want to go visit our aunt which lives in Fort Worth, Texas; we are on a low budget so flying is out of the question, plus, we want to enjoy the ride, after all, is not all about the destination, but also about how we get there. So, we take a map, we open it (or a GPS, sorry, my Boy Scout side likes old style maps) and we see we could take the I-20, go through Birmingham, Al, ... or we could take I-85 through Montgomery... As we see, we have plenty of options, maybe we could take a detour and drive up to Tennessee and see some old friends from high school, but we end up choosing none of the above, drive straight south and do the coast line until we reach Texas. even if we have all the options laid before us in this scenario, we have the option to choose.
I think this is how God see's our life, he can see and knows every single option, and how other decisions affect the likelihood of others (even if you could go right now and go around naked doesn't mean you will). Because He knows all options, all variables, he can know every single possible outcome of your life, however unreasonable or unlikely it be. Therefore he can also see which is the best path for you, the most scenic route, the more happy life, the faster ride, or the most simple and boring life, and also the most long, bumpy, filled with potholes but beautiful and rewarding drive.
So if God knows everything, what we could do before going to bed, what groceries we could buy tomorrow at the store... and everything else, then He definitely knows the best for us, and not only does he know what will happen, but also all the million of options that each second of our lives carries. It does give a new sense of depth and vastness to the "Omniscient" part of God, doesnt it? Knowing what will happen is one thing, but knowing every single option that could ever happen, no matter how ridiculous, unreasonable, unlikely and ludicrous it might be... its the different between knowing one way to get to your aunt house... and between knowing every single combination of interstate, state, county and dirt back-roads available that could, even if in months, take you there, from memory, while also knowing every single person, animal and plant you could possibly run into while driving.
I know this has been kinda confusing, and very heavy with options, chance and opportunities. but hey, it does give a new sense of greatness to God, Doesnt it? knowing that he knows best not because X is always better, but because He knows everything that you have lived, almost lived, could have lived, Thought, saw, felt, experienced, and might or might not live, so He knows whats best for you specially. He knows exactly
how many hairs there are in your head (Luke 12:7 & Matthew 10:30) and like that with everything. I don't know about you, but for me, coming to this realization was quite powerful, not only because I realized that while I'm driving blind and without any way to see what's ahead or where I'm going, in life, just hopping to one day reach my aunts house, God knows exactly through what road I'm cruising and where I'm heading.
Free will exists, God never intended to create robots that where stuck to one decision while having the illusion of free will, there would be no point in this world if that was the case. But God gave us the chance to follow him, do Good or Evil, while opening his Eternal Map of life and telling us, "Hey, you there, yes you! Its best if you dont take the easy way, lets go through this bumpy road, I know it seems it goes in the opposite direction, but trust me, the view is amazing, and you'll enjoy your ride much more at the end";
So my question for you is, will you keep driving with no clear path, or will you allow God to whisper into your ear what He sees as the best road?
Whatever you do, the choice is yours, but rest assured, that God has prepared return roads at every point in your journey, if you were to ever get lost.
May God bless y'all
"So God created free will? then he cannot be omniscient! if you can change your mind, God cant know that in advance!" "So God created me, knew exactly what I would do, but still sent me to earth to suffer? why not take me directly into heaven or hell?" This questions are fair points, but simple ones in my mind.
A big issue today among atheists is not whether God created man on the Sixth Day, nor if Jonah really decided to rebel and not be God's prophet (although in his rebellion he ended up saving a whole town). But it is in fact the issue with reconciling God's omniscience, and free will. How can, He know everything, and thus, the outcome of our lives and choices and what's best, if we have free will. Arent we then slaves to some kind of destiny? the simple answer is, No. As I see this, this is a logically inconsistent question, (a False dichotomy to be precise), which assumes that Either God knows the answer, or we can change it, being both mutually exclusive. If God knows i'll chose A, then even if I feel I could choose B or C, I Will choose A. On the other hand, if we have free will, God can not know the answer, as it is determined by Us. Here's the problem, who said God can only know one outcome? who said God thinks, knows and decides in the way We do? Are we being so arrogant that we are assigning God a human mind?
The answer to this false dichotomy, is in fact, a maybe no so obvious one for most people, it dawned on me not so long ago in fact, but now I see its a very simple answer, and actually it fits perfectly with the character of the only Living God. Lets say for a moment we are in a car, we are in Atlanta, Georgia, and we want to go visit our aunt which lives in Fort Worth, Texas; we are on a low budget so flying is out of the question, plus, we want to enjoy the ride, after all, is not all about the destination, but also about how we get there. So, we take a map, we open it (or a GPS, sorry, my Boy Scout side likes old style maps) and we see we could take the I-20, go through Birmingham, Al, ... or we could take I-85 through Montgomery... As we see, we have plenty of options, maybe we could take a detour and drive up to Tennessee and see some old friends from high school, but we end up choosing none of the above, drive straight south and do the coast line until we reach Texas. even if we have all the options laid before us in this scenario, we have the option to choose.
I think this is how God see's our life, he can see and knows every single option, and how other decisions affect the likelihood of others (even if you could go right now and go around naked doesn't mean you will). Because He knows all options, all variables, he can know every single possible outcome of your life, however unreasonable or unlikely it be. Therefore he can also see which is the best path for you, the most scenic route, the more happy life, the faster ride, or the most simple and boring life, and also the most long, bumpy, filled with potholes but beautiful and rewarding drive.
So if God knows everything, what we could do before going to bed, what groceries we could buy tomorrow at the store... and everything else, then He definitely knows the best for us, and not only does he know what will happen, but also all the million of options that each second of our lives carries. It does give a new sense of depth and vastness to the "Omniscient" part of God, doesnt it? Knowing what will happen is one thing, but knowing every single option that could ever happen, no matter how ridiculous, unreasonable, unlikely and ludicrous it might be... its the different between knowing one way to get to your aunt house... and between knowing every single combination of interstate, state, county and dirt back-roads available that could, even if in months, take you there, from memory, while also knowing every single person, animal and plant you could possibly run into while driving.
I know this has been kinda confusing, and very heavy with options, chance and opportunities. but hey, it does give a new sense of greatness to God, Doesnt it? knowing that he knows best not because X is always better, but because He knows everything that you have lived, almost lived, could have lived, Thought, saw, felt, experienced, and might or might not live, so He knows whats best for you specially. He knows exactly
how many hairs there are in your head (Luke 12:7 & Matthew 10:30) and like that with everything. I don't know about you, but for me, coming to this realization was quite powerful, not only because I realized that while I'm driving blind and without any way to see what's ahead or where I'm going, in life, just hopping to one day reach my aunts house, God knows exactly through what road I'm cruising and where I'm heading.
Free will exists, God never intended to create robots that where stuck to one decision while having the illusion of free will, there would be no point in this world if that was the case. But God gave us the chance to follow him, do Good or Evil, while opening his Eternal Map of life and telling us, "Hey, you there, yes you! Its best if you dont take the easy way, lets go through this bumpy road, I know it seems it goes in the opposite direction, but trust me, the view is amazing, and you'll enjoy your ride much more at the end";
So my question for you is, will you keep driving with no clear path, or will you allow God to whisper into your ear what He sees as the best road?
Whatever you do, the choice is yours, but rest assured, that God has prepared return roads at every point in your journey, if you were to ever get lost.
May God bless y'all
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