Perhaps one of the most misunderstood concepts of life involves free will. Free will is your innate ability to decide how you want to live your life. Free will is the freedom to choose for yourself. Every human being that has ever lived has been born with free will. God designed man (and even angels) to have free will and it is something He will never violate. The truth that God will never violate your free will explains many things in life that have happened that you do not yet understand. With God, free will is sovereign. Often people exclaim in frustration, “Why does God allow all of the suffering in the world?” The answer – free will. “Why doesn’t God step in and fix all the things that have gone terribly wrong? The answer – free will. When Jesus walked the earth he healed everyone that came to him for deliverance. Why? Free will. Why didn’t he heal everyone he came across in his journey? Free will. “Why didn’t God stop that calamity from happening that caused all of that suffering?” The answer – free will. Why does it sometimes take a long time to get healed and in some cases not get healed? Free will. Why don’t the things we need get supplied immediately right after we pray to God about them? Free will. Once you begin to understand free will in life, many things will make sense that never made sense before. The reason? Free will…
It is never God’s will that people suffer in any capacity, ever! It is never God’s will that people’s needs don’t get met, the very moment they recognize those needs. It is never God’s will not to answer prayers concerning things big and small. In order for God to help us we have to believe for His help. If we do not believe Him or if we are ignorant concerning His ability, willingness and power to help us, then He cannot help us. He will not violate our free will choice. But instead He will continue to work with us and help us to get to the place where we can believe Him and thus receive from Him. Remember the words, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” God, the God of all compassion and mercy, does not desire for anyone to suffer, to live with unmet needs, to go without or endure life with some form of oppression from the adversary. It is absolutely contrary to His heart, to whom He is. But He requires, in His justice, that we believe for His help in life. If we do not believe in His help or seek His help or are ignorant of His help, He cannot violate our free will and provide the help, no matter how desperately we need it. All He asks is for us to use the free will He gave us to make the right decision. God can restore anything. God can heal anything. God can provide anything above even what we can ask or even conceive of. But, and it is a big but, He cannot violate our freedom of will. If God would violate free will He would have simply started the whole creation over after the fall of man. However, His justice required He honor the free will of all involved to decide. Free will.
The world can be an ugly place filled with violence and tragedy. God didn’t create it that way, it became that way. When Adam and Eve transferred, by their free will choice, their authority to rule the earth over to Satan, God had to honor their choice. As such the world today is ruled by evil. That is why there are unspeakable disasters and calamities. There is a pervasive cruelty that, if left unchecked, brings all manner of suffering and incredible hardships to people. If God simply stepped in as many have wished, He would have been violating freedom of will. It hurts God’s heart when these things happen. It hurts God’s heart when it is happening to you. He loves you more than you even love yourself. What checks the forces of evil is people who believe God. Noah believed God when literally everyone became evil and saved the world by his free will decision to believe God. Free will is at the very essence of who people are and how they will live. This is why no matter how much you may believe God’s promises, you cannot go into a hospital and heal everyone there. To do so would require the free will believing of every person in there. That is why you cannot do the believing for another adult. Free will cannot be violated by people either. However the enemy violates free will by controlling people with his spirits, but even then the person who has become controlled began by exercising their own free will. Free will is paramount.
There is also a free will factor involved with the things we pray for. Sometimes when we pray there are variables and factors involved we are unaware of. God knows all of the variables. One variable may be there is something more we need to learn in order to believe God fully. Another variable may be that we have something in our heart hindering us from believing God like sin consciousness or condemnation or a refusal to forgive ourselves for something. One variable may be that we wish it would happen but don’t yet believe it will happen. A variable may be that the adversary is actively hindering us or talking us out of the truth with our sense knowledge reasonings and limited beliefs. Maybe the variable involves the right time. Sometimes the variables involve other people and their free will choices and decisions. It’s like praying for God to suddenly turn a red light to green. What would happen to the people whose light was green? When it comes to answering prayers God knows all of the variables. It doesn’t always happen immediately because of the variables. Our job in that situation is to keep trusting God and keep seeking His help. We don’t plague ourselves with questions concerning our own believing ( been there, hated that…) Instead we continue to pursue what we need. God not only knows what you need before you ask Him, but He also knows how to get your heart to the place it needs to be for you to believe Him. God works with your free will, even your free will unbelief, to help you get to the place you need to be. He lovingly persuades you with His goodness until your free will choice lines up with His good will to bless your life and deliver you. He is most wonderful and He does it all without violating anyone’s free will.
If there were no such thing as free will, life would be unbearable. No free will choice would be no choice, but instead slavery. That is why it can never be true when people say God used them in some capacity. God never uses anyone. If God used you, implying without your consent, it would make Him into a monster. God works (energizes) in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. But He does it by preserving your free will choice. Sure God can work in you to produce good works, but He never uses you to accomplish some good end or any end for that matter. To say such is to be ignorant of the sovereignty of free will. Free will matters to God.
If you find yourself struggling right now with some (apparent) unmet need, take solace in this. God heard your prayer the first time you prayed it and even if you forgot it, He didn’t forget it. He hears your earnest prayers. He sees your tears and how much you have already suffered. Don’t give up on Him. Sometimes you have to persist and persevere. Sometimes the path has many obstacles to overcome. Remember the variables involved even if those variables are coming from you. God is faithful and will do what He said He will do. Stay focused on Him and not on your problems. Keep coming back to Him and let Him (free will) teach you what you need to know. God is never the source of your delay. God does not hold back good from you no matter how good or bad you are. God delivers you by His grace and it is by His grace we live. It doesn’t matter how things look, what the doctor’s prognosis is or how you feel. What matters is that you by your free will choice keep seeking His answer for your dilemma no matter how long it takes. God is faithful. Free will matters…
Just some good thoughts…