Jeremiah 1:5a "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart."
Matthew 10:30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Matthew 12:25a Jesus knew their thoughts...
I loved spending time with my daughters as they were growing up. Looking back, I realized that how they would react to certain situations became predictable. It's because they were my children and I had an intimate relationship with them, teaching them about cause and effect and the consequences of our actions.
I've never been to seminary or claim to be a bible scholar, but this has been weighing on my heart over the last few days. A few years ago, my best friend and I had a great conversation about free will. I really didn't have an opinion about it then, but over time and reading Scripture, I've come to this conclusion, although I could be wrong.
Do we have free will? The answer is a qualified yes.
Scripture tells us that God knows us intimately. He knows everything about us. I believe He knows everything about everything. The word for that is omniscient, meaning all-knowing. He knew us before He created us in the womb. He knew what our DNA and genetic make up was going to be. He wired us to be the individuals that we are. He knew every detail about us, down to the number of hairs on our heads, and even how many hairs would be left after fifty-four years in my case. He even knows our thoughts. There is absolutely nothing that He doesn't know about us.
I knew what choices my daughters would make, or how they would react in certain situations. God knows us, but much better than how I knew my daughters. We are His children. So we can make our choices out of our free will, but God knows us so well that He already knew we would make those choices.
Many think we live in a complicated and chaotic world, but I say that the Great Architect, the Great Planner has designed all of this and all the actions, reactions, and interactions. God knew before creation what your thoughts were going to be at this very moment, and that you were going to be reading this at this very moment. Not only you, but He knew what everybody else on this planet would be doing at this moment. Not just us, but everyone else before us in time and everyone to come. This is staggering. This is overwhelming. This is the omniscience of God.
There will be those that scoff at this and say I'm absolutely wrong, and I've already made that concession. But think about it. Many of us have made the claim that God is omniscient. I don't believe we can fully and completely believe that if we attach any stipulations to it. If we do, we diminish the power of God. We make Him smaller than what He really is. The God that I know is big.... REALLY BIG!
