Day 29 – freedom of choice
We simply must break with the idea that everything that happens is the will of God in the sense of being his intention... We must come to terms with the idea that the intentional will of God can be defeated by the will of man for the time being. If this were not true, then man would have no real freedom at all. –LESLIE D. WEATHERHEAD
I want to use my relationship with my daughters as a means to explore something about God’s relationship with us. When the time came for the girls to choose which college to attend, I let them do just that. I gave my opinion here and there but left the final decision to them. By allowing them to choose, I immediately placed my own wishes in jeopardy. There was no guarantee that everything I wanted would transpire. And, in sort of a selfish way, that’s exactly what happened. Each of them chose a college one and one-half hours removed from home, making a commute (my sentimental choice) impractical. Up to that point I had dictated the streets of which town and the halls of which school they would traverse. They had absolutely no choice in the matter. If I had also decided for them which college to attend, I again could have guaranteed the outcome. But as soon as I let them make the choice, I lost that guarantee. The only way I could regain it was to rescind their right to choose, and that I would not do. Granted, I still remained in ultimate control of the situation. Mary Catherine and Allison knew all too well that one “D” or “F” on the transcript could have resulted in a commute to a local junior college. But as long let them choose, I voluntarily surrendered any guarantee that they would make the right choices. I couldn’t have it both ways. It was possible for their will, at least temporarily, to prevail over mine.
My youngest daughter, Allison, graduated from high school in 2005. For Cathy and me, it was an emotional event. We found ourselves filled with excitement for her, for she was beginning a new era in her life. We also sensed some impending dread, because it marked the end of an era for us. When she left home for college three months later, we found ourselves in the pit of the empty nest, and we had to decide how to live within it. There, as other empty-nesters can give testimony, we have not only survived but thrived. We have used the extra time to refocus on our love and companionship as husband and wife. And we still see the girls often. Both live only seventy miles away, close enough for us to visit and for them to return each month. So no pity should here be wasted on the Stewarts. Our life is good. We have been blessed by the grace of God.
God’s relationship with us is very similar. He, our Heavenly Father, created us and planted His Moral Law within us. He then gave us the freedom to choose whether or not to obey it. By doing so, it became possible for our immediate will for the time being to prevail over His. Although He still possesses ultimate control—the power to veto our choices—seldom, if ever, does He coerce His will. In fact, I cannot find one instance in the Bible where God usurped the freedom of choice of men and women. When He chose to give us choice, He apparently meant it.
The reason He did so is a mystery, especially in light of all the negative ramifications of our choices. The most popular explanation given by theologians is that God desired to establish a relationship with us founded on mutual love and that such love is not possible unless we can freely choose to accept or reject it. Regardless of His reason(s), we must once again bow to His sovereignty. He chose to give us choice, and we must accept His decision.
Daily Quotation
Leslie D. Weatherhead, The Will of God (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1972), 17-18.
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