A friend of mine wrote in with some questions about what God causes, what God controls, and the role of free will... I wrote back to him...
Hello Brother,
I am finally writing to you. Sorry it has taken me so long to reply.
Let me say that your question is complicated, or many Christians make it complicated and I am not sure that my answer is that helpful, but it does help me.
The questions about God controlling, God knowing, God causing, free will vs predestination, well they go back a long way. To many Christians, the answer to these questions are important. They have led to many books being written about how to understand these things theologically. There are many different answers that people come up with. This is one of the reasons that there are so many denominations.
Personally, I don’t think about such things very much anymore.
I would encourage a person to ask themselves a question about what they believe about God. Like fundamentally, how do we view Him/Her/It/God?
· Is God wrathful?
· Is God controlling?
· Is God loving…
I have come to believe, and it is simply a choice for me, I have come to believe that God is loving. Consequently, I don’t think in terms of what he knows or what he controls. I spent so many of my early years worrying, I just don’t want to do it anymore. My years of worry only hurt others, and hurt me as well.
These days, I think in terms of what he loves and how he shows that love.
If my brain is filled with thoughts about God being angry or wrathful, or controlling… my brain becomes filled with worry. Am I doing it right? What if I am not? Will he send me to hell? This creates an endless cesspool of worry and fear, and many Christians live there their entire lives.
When I think of God as loving, I just wake up in the morning and I am happy because I am loved. I don’t worry about my mistakes or failures. I just wake up in the morning and say thank you. I go about the rest of my day trying to love people. For me it is simply, it feels good, and it makes me happy. It helps me love God and love others.
I’m not sure this answers the questions that you posed, but this line of thinking satisfies those concerns for me.
All the best…
- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info
Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information
No comments:
Post a Comment