Walking Out God’s Plan
I recently read an article dealing with the topic of Free Will. Most of us believe we have a free will. After all, we aren’t a bunch of robots walking around, but if God is sovereign and we have free will, how can His plan ever be accomplished?
In the article the man believed that we have choice but that is not the same thing as having will. It sounds like he is playing with words, but being a Mom, I actually understand it. When my children were little, they would throw a fit if they didn’t get what they wanted. (Ah the fun of having a two year old.) I believed it was important for them to learn to make good choices but those choices had to be governed. After all, you can’t let a child choose to wear his swimsuit in the winter, so I would let them decide what to wear from clothes that I had picked out. They were free to choose and had to live with the results of their decision but their choice was within what I allowed them to have.
Our walk with God is similar to that. He allows us to make choices and those choices reflect the level of our maturity. We get to live out the results of those choices but all of them are within the plan of God for our lives. OK, I know that means God lets us make bad choices and some of us live sinful lives because of it but He allows us that freedom because His ultimate plan will eventually be fulfilled.
I was thinking about this when I read the passage about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a colt while the crowds cut palm branches to line His path.
John 12:12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
John 12:13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
John 12:14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,
John 12:15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.
John 12:16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.
Isn’t that interesting? They chose to cut the palm branches and rejoice in His coming. Later on they realized that they had walked out prophecy through their choices! The more I think about it, the more grateful I am that God is in control. We can’t mess things up. Isn’t that good news?
