There are many theological debates over God’s sovereignty verses man’s will and where the two intersect and how it all works together. There are volumes upon volumes of books written on the subject and I venture to guess that man has not and will never completely grasp how free will works within God’s sovereignty. I have many thoughts, some of them settled some of them in transition, but that is for a different blog post(s)…maybe. Anyway, often those who speak on behalf of man’s ability to chose will make a statement to the effect that they don’t want to be God’s “puppet,” unable to make decisions for themselves. “If God has decided everything,” they say, “what is the point?” I understand that. I do. BUT, what I’ve learned is that…
I’m kind of very cool with God making my decisions. All of them. Would you rather the Creator and owner of everything be “pulling the strings” or would you rather insist on having it your way? I believe the Christian life is really getting to that place where God’s thoughts are our thoughts; where there is no distinction between God’s desires and ours; where we die and Christ lives. (Romans 6) Which raises an interesting question, “if you are dead, how can you make your own decisions anyway?”
Yeah, I’m good with God making all my choices for me. (For the record, I believe that man does make many decisions in the context of God’s sovereignty … but again, different subject…) I’ve made enough of my own and a lot of those haven’t turned out great. God’s puppet? Sure…sign me up!
I totally get you…and I have certainly made choices I believe were not in line with having the mind of Christ or bringing glory to God…but I gotta say…this is and has always been a difficult concept for me…I continue to struggle…I do want to have the mind of Christ…but the puppet analysis is too extreme for me.
It is so interesting to watch people make decisions and do thing that they attribute to God…His will…His control…Him pulling the strings…Only to later uncover that their ego or their agenda was more at work than they themselves even know.
I know…I over complicate things…but…I have done it myself…I have watched others do it…and I have been a victim of it.
All I know right now…is that I want more God life…and that is often times not so clear…at least for me.
joy…there are definitely those times where people might say “God told me…..” and everyone around them is thinking, I’m not sure God would say that. Certainly, we’ve all been there. What I’m aiming for is not the “God told me statement” but the “God directed life.” The puppet language is extreme and does conjure up negative connotations but my hope is that God would be directing every area of my life…like a divine and perfect “puppet master.” Sorry…couldn’t help myself.
No…I gotcha…I have such a long history of hearing some language used in unfortunate ways…it still brings questionable imagery.
I too want a Christ satiated life…I do feel that I have a spaciousness and freedom to live incarnationally in a way I never felt I had before. I don’t wig over what the perfect will of God is etc. Choosing to imitate Jesus and choosing to follow in His Way…has certainly given me more confidence that I am living as authentically as I can…I still see my way thru a darkened glass…and I am sure my humanity has, does and will get in the way.