Free Will?

Does Free Will actually exist? What can we do versus the will of God? Is Free Will merely a matter of perception? The choices we make cannot circumvent the intentions of God, so why does it feel like we have the power to direct our own lives? Maybe that is the point entirely, that we feel like we are in control without actually imposing our own will. I think it ties in directly with the notion of submission. Submission is letting go of our own desire for power and control and bowing before and gladly accepting the total authority of God. 

As a clever parent I can make my children think that cleaning their room was their own choice. They feel better about the chore when they feel like they are making the choices that lead to a clean room. The feeling is real, but the reality is that the room was going to get cleaned regardless of my children’s desires. They aren’t really fooled by my rouse. Instead they have made the choice to go along with my will for their own contentment. It feels good to do what is right, what needs to be done, especially if you can do it before someone asks you to do it. They certainly have a choice to fight the process and make themselves miserable and waste an enormous amount of time. The bigger point is not that I can get my kids to do what I want them to, but rather that both their lives and my life is better when we are of the same will. They have to be able to trust that I want the best for them. Is this simplistic view a good analogy of our free will with God? I certainly don’t want to make God out to be a cosmic taskmaster. He in fact loves us and wants only good for us. All good things come from God and if we are in line with his will, goodness can flow to us and through us. Contentment can be found in difficult circumstances because we have chosen to submit our will. Free will is not a matter of changing fate, but altering our resistance. The Law was given to Moses to give a clear example of the expectations of God. However, there comes a time when we choose to follow the will of God and the Law becomes irrelevant because we are in tune with what is good and right. As Jesus said, he came not to abolish the Law, but fulfill it. When things are right, God has written the Law on our hearts and we obey without effort, because it was our choice and desire to do so. It is God’s desire as well. 

I picture God standing in water up to his chest. His arms swing and direct the water into waves, channeling the waves where he wants them to go. We are tiny creatures in the wake of the water. If we resist the wave we will struggle and gasp and possibly drown, but still end up where God intended. However if we recognize that God is in complete control and go with the wave we can flow with God. We can actually ride the crest and enjoy the process and end up exactly where God wants us.

Adam and Eve lived in Gods immediate and personal grace. They made a choice. It wasn’t the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge that changed everything, it was the decision to eat it that did. It was the decision to turn from God. That was a choice of will, to turn away from what you know the will of God to be. Eating the fruit sealed the deal and gave them nothing but doubt and toil. Doubt may be the resulting reality of Free Will. Love is God’s method of getting us back on the wave. Faith is the representation of our belief in that Love. Salvation is the mutual goal for God and Humanity (whether through our own Free Will, we accept it or not).