Do we think that God has planned everything, and it takes away our freedom?
Many mistake God’s plan for fate. The notion of fate says that whatever that happens in a person’s life is caused by God, and that God has already decided what must happen in each one’s life.
How is God’s Plan different from Fate?
God does not fix anybody’s future. If God fixes that such and such things, whether good or bad, must happen in a person’s life, it is fate. But God does not fix that a thing, be it good or bad, must happen in a person’s life. It means God does not have a fate for a person. But, God arranges so many good things in a person’s life. The arranging of good things is done in so many areas of life that even if this person chooses any turn in life, he can enjoy some of these good things in his life. Even these good things are not thrust upon him by God, but man can always choose whether to enjoy these good things or not. This is the difference between ‘fate’ and ‘plan of God’. As God arranges so many good things for a person, God’s enemy too arranges so many bad things for that person in so many areas of life that even if this person takes any turn in life, some of these bad things will be before him. This is why Jesus taught us to pray: Thy will be done as it is in heaven.
Why are certain things predicted in a person’s life?
Sometimes some people receive messages from God that a certain thing is going to happen in a person’s life. If these predictions come true, how can anybody accept that human beings enjoy real freedom? When a prediction comes true, most believe: Forget absolute freedom, we do not even enjoy a bit of freedom. Even if a prediction comes true, it is not true that there is fate in each one’s life.
Our life can be compared to a game of chess. A clever and experienced chess player can predict what is going to happen after a few moves by looking at the position of the coins. A person below this chess player’s intelligence will wonder how he could predict such an outcome. The person who predicted the outcome did not cause the outcome. He only foresaw the outcome of the moves the player had already made.
Since God’s intelligence is unlimited, He can foresee the result of every move we make in our life. He also can foresee what will happen or what we will do in our life by just looking at the things we have already done. When God gives a message that such and such things are going to happen in a person’s life, what God does is that He is just passing to him the analysis of the acts which that person has done. An intelligent business analyst predicts the price of a share in future. He reads the manner in which the business is run. This analyst does not force the price. So whenever a message regarding future is given by God, it is only a report of our life. As God is infinitely intelligent, He can foresee the result. As our intelligence is limited, we cannot foresee the result.
Can I avoid in my life what is predicted by God?
If God has foreseen such a result, is it possible for me to change the course? God does not fix what God predicts. God predicts only what we are going to do because of our nature and what we are going to reap because of our acts and nature. Since, what God predicts is a result of our acts, the choice is in our hands whether to act in such a manner or not. In a game of chess, there is always a choice to make a different move. If a clever chess player predicts a particular outcome, it is because this player analyzed the nature of the moves the other person has already played. But if this person chooses to make a different type of move, the outcome will be different from what is predicted. So if we choose to be different, what God predicts is not going to happen in our life.
Does the word of God support fate?
It is only the misconstruction of the Word of God which renders it a tone of fate. When God warned Cain of sin, God had read Cain’s attitude and he predicted where such an attitude would lead him to. Cain had the choice to be different. And in fact, God advised him to be different. When God predicted destruction for Sodom and Gomorrah, the people of those places had the time and choice to be different. When Jesus predicted the betrayal by Judas, he had the choice to be different. But, since these predictions came true, people believe that nobody had any choice. But the scripture says that we have choice. When God predicts Hezekiah’s death, Hezekiah changes his attitude, and his death as predicted by God does not take place (2 Kings 20:1-11). In the case of David, David condemns himself to death. But when David chooses to repent truly, the condemnation to death disappears (2 Samuel 12:1-13). When the People of Nineveh chooses to be different, the destruction predicted by God does not take place (Jonah 3:1-10).
What is the solution when our situation is so bad?
Even when the situation we are in is so bad that we cannot act, there is a way to change the course of our life. In this world there is no situation so bad that a person cannot seek God’s intervention. When a person feels that he cannot make any change in his life in order to prevent the bad that is going to happen in his life, God can still perform a miracle in his life. If we surrender our life fully, without withholding any part of our life, God WILL do a miracle in our life. This is because God can create new things at any moment. Our choice ends when we have shut all the escape routes. We cannot create a new door. But God can create an opening any time. The death of Lazarus was a situation so bad that no human being could solve it. But here, God allows a miracle. The situation at Cana too was too bad for any human being to solve. Again, God intervenes to perform a miracle. So, no situation is so bad that God cannot save us from.
What is the result of believing in fate?
1. A person who believes that there is fate will be lazy. He does not attribute any success or failure to his acts. He believes that whatever God has decided will happen. This attitude will lead to failure, and the person’s belief in fate will be strengthened.
2. A person who believes in fate will not pray. As he feels that whatever is going to happen is fixed by God, he does not feel any value for prayer.
3. A person who believes in fate is porn to be immoral as he feels that he is not responsible for his acts but God has decided such sins to happen in his life.
4. And the most tragic of all results is that a person who believes in fate will curse God, as he feels that God has caused so many bad things in his life, and God has given so many good things to others’ lives.
– – – written by Adv. Shibu Varghese
