April 4
Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents predestination; the way you play it is free will. Jawaharal Nehru
Life is too important to equate it to a frivolous game of cards--especially since card games are so often associated with gambling, but Nehru does make a point that is worth assessing. One of the perplexities of being a Christian is having to reconcile the single verse in scripture that uses the word 'predestine' (Romans 8:29) with so many others that indicate man has a free will. Not being students of the original languages of scripture, most believers must trust the scholarship of those who are.
With that in mind, and knowing God has promised all things will be revealed to us when we see Jesus face-to-face (I John 3:2,3), we look through our "glass darkly" and try to live our lives the best way we can within the clouded understanding our many limitations impose upon us, according to I Corinthians 13:13. Are some people predestined for certain tasks, achievements, foibles, failures? Are some predestined for greatness while others are on a path to obscurity from birth? Or is there the matter of free will that makes it possible for a person born in poverty–an Abraham Lincoln, for example—to rise to heights of power to which few in his mean position ever dare to hope? That cause one destined to power–Edward VIII, for example—to live in luxurious obscurity instead of realizing his potential for leadership?
Can we ever fully know? Should we care? Or, perhaps rather than wrestle with the line between predestination and free will, we should simply, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge HIM, and HE SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATH!" according to Proverbs 3:5. From all we read of the scripture, from the words of the Old Testament scribes to those of Jesus Himself, it would appear that in the eyes of God, trust—our conviction of the honor and integrity of our loving Heavenly Father—trumps both the concepts of predestination and free will!
Whether we believe His all-seeing eye and almighty hand are upon us to direct us into paths of His choosing or whether we believe His all-seeing eye and almighty hand simply guide our minds and hearts into the way He would desire that we go if we would but obey Him, we must ultimately trust Him with the moments and hours and days and years and decades of our existence so we can walk in the confident resolve that our time on this planet will be lived at the optimum advantage for our profoundest self-fulfillment and enrichment--and for the realization of Jesus' fullest glory in and through us.
As Nehru suggested, we play the hand that is given to us simultaneously with the skill of a Mississippi Riverboat gambler and with the faith of a preacher. We allow our confidence in Jesus to guide us, to use us to lavish His truth and hope and joy and power and love upon every life that touches ours. We allow our hearts to overflow with faith in the Christ who makes His dwelling place within us. We say as did Paul, "I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him," II Timothy 1:12.
We trust His plan to be achieved in and through us whether by His predestination or by our free will.
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