Is My Future Determined

It was not the first time that I had been faced with such statements, “I guess it was his time to go.  But I warned him not to ride that road. He told his wife he could handle it. She had a feeling that something bad would happen. The only thing is, why would God take him when he has four young children?” Questions of choice and destiny have been raised once again in my thinking after I left my friend who is grieving after another of his close friends was killed in a motorcycle accident. Did I give Him the best answer that I could? I ask myself, do I exercise choice, or has everything already been decided?  Is my future determined or free?  I must confess that these questions have crisscrossed in my thinking numerous times in my life. But for the most part, I have left them lying in a mental filing cabinet resulting from the fact that the mental gymnastics had always left me confused and yet somewhat disappointed. A couple of my friends insist that nothing takes God by surprise.  On the other hand, other friends reject the kind of fatalism that is seen in so many parts of this world.

In my prayerful and intent study of the question I find that the problem with it, as presented, is that it is not nearly difficult enough. To truly appreciate the magnitude of what I’m asking, I must first deal with an even greater question.  And it is this: If time stopped immediately-right now.  What would I be thinking?  What would I be feeling? The answer is nothing.

In the absence of time, I would not be able to think or feel or do.  Everything would be frozen.  As an example: people sometimes complain that I speak too quickly—the problem being that there is not sufficient time for them to think about what has been said.  I always try to cheer, or is excuse myself by saying that at least I have said something for them to think about!  But it is a fair criticism because in the absence of sufficient time they cannot think things through. I know that from personal experience.  In the absence of time altogether, however, I cannot even begin to think, as there is literally no time to think in.

My understanding, as a believer in Christ, is that I live and have my existence in a space-time continuum.  "[We] belong to eternity stranded in time," observes Michael Card in his lyric of Joy of the Journey. This also means that before God created there was no time; in other words, time is not co-eternal with God.  But my faith also attests that God was a thinking, feeling, doing Being even before He created.  I can’t even imagine a Being who is able to think in the absence of time?  Yet the God I profess not only exists outside of time, but thinks and acts in the absence of time. 

Just writing this makes me feel overwhelmed.  And so it should, I suppose.  Whenever I think about the person of God, I think I should rightly feel that I have come across something truly awesome.  And maybe this is part of the problem. I don’t find myself faced with a logical contradiction here.  Rather, I am faced with the reality of what it means for God to exist, for God to be God.  Since I am only able to think in time, and thus, God confronts me with choices: "Choose this day whom you will serve," "choose life" and so on (Joshua 24:15; Deuteronomy 30:19).  But God, who is outside of time, sees all of history stretched out before Him.  The problem comes, therefore, when the attempt is made to confine God within time.  But doesn’t need to be the case.  As a Christian, a proper understanding of the tension drives me back both to God's divine nature and to my knees, acknowledging how wonderful God is.

This is also helping my deeper understanding with the issue of eternal life.  I have met people, when confronted with the idea of eternity; find the idea frightening, tedious, or absurd.  One individual asked me, “What could one possibly do with all of that time?” Once again, I think that the dilemma arose because she was captive both to the passage of time and too small a view of who God actually is.  At the time, I don’t think I really had the full answer myself when ask: if God truly knows all things, then why did God create knowing that we would experience pain in a fallen world? I understand now a perfect answer is: God did not create the world and then think of a plan to rescue it.  The book of Revelation depicts that the Lamb was slain before the foundations of the world were laid.  This does not mean that the crucifixion took place in our space-time history before creation (there was no space-history for it to take place in).  What it does mean is that even before God created, God also knew the cost—the suffering of his own Son—to redeem creation and unite us with the Father.  God didn't count that cost too great—and hence Christians sing of God's amazing grace.

The next time i visit with my grieving friend I'm going to tell him that the best answer I can give his is: I've concluded since the last time we've talked tthat God is big enough to be able to say, "I know the plans I have for you... plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 9:11).  There is no hope without a secure future, and the future is frightening in the absence of hope.  Only God is big enough to bring these two things together—hope and a future—and this is what God has done for me ……and you, my friend.