Free Will and God's Plan for Us

[Footprints]

I began reading The Bridge to San Luis Rey today and it said that we either die and live by accident or by plan. This Brother Juniper in the story believes that the 5 people died while that bridge collapsed because it was God’s plan for them, an Act of God, to die.

This got me thinking about how I’ve never really understood free will and how it goes with God having a plan. I believe in both. Obviously we have free will and are not like video game characters with God behind the console. However, I also believe that God has a plan for humanity far beyond what any human mind could imagine. I know He does not see time as we do but I’ve often wondered about situations like the Florida shooting in February and how those deaths fit into God’s plan.

I know the shooter had free will and acted with free will which resulted in 17 deaths. We’ll never know if God intended for those people to die on that day or did He have plans for them later on in their lives? Was that just the consequences of someone’s free will?

I guess what I’m asking is what exactly does God’s Will and plan have to do with our own free will? Does our free will change God’s plan or does He not necessarily have a plan for each life, but rather humanity as a whole? A lot of people say to follow God’s Will and plan for YOU in YOUR life regarding vocations… But then, do we just die whenever and God doesn’t have a say? I mean, He’s God! I’d think He’d be the one who decides if life leaves you or not? Isn’t every suffering given to us by God that we need to endure? So isn’t that part of His plan for us? Some people seem to think it’s just chance and our free will which bring us suffering.

I’m sorry if this is confusing, I’m confused on this matter myself. Maybe it’s something we will never understand because we’re human?

 

[Lee1]

In general we thank God for all the good things and blame the enemy and ourselves for all the bad. That’s nice and simple and appeals to me.

I wasn’t compelled to answer this question so yes, I’d say we have free will.

I think God does have a flexible plan for each of us but we can alter that through prayer and how we behave and the choices we make. Yet still we make our way back to the source, our Creator and benefactor whence our souls derived.

I think when we fall asleep our conscious mind rests and I have no idea who turns the light off. So yes, there are mysterious depths to our physical bodies and minds. Our personality is perhaps the tip of an iceberg. Which makes it all the more of an adventure!

 

[Servant31]

I also think we should clarify God’s active will and His permissive will. His active will is what He wants to happen. He does allow things that are due to our choices, ie respecting our free will. So generally I tend to think the more we do what He wants of us the less general suffering we have to endure. He knows what’s best for us so His plan is the best option. We think we know better sometimes and that causes problems for us and those around us. Sorry I know that’s not a complete answer but it’s part of a point I think.

 

[Lee1]

Another thought is this.

We may not know God’s plan for each of us, or all of us, except by observing what has happened so far to all of us and to each of us individually.

I don’t think we can say that God has a plan for us and at the same time say that we have total free will. It’s like me saying that my plan is to knock down my neighbours house to extend my garden but I never do anything about it. And it’s not falling down anytime soon.

I think we should live our lives as we think we should and if you’re a Catholic then we are advised as to how to live our lives. If God has a particular mission for someone then it soon becomes apparent I think.

 

[Vico]

…

Per Christian theology:

• Moral and physical evil is due to the action of created free will.
• Metaphysical evil or perfection, is necessarily involved in creation, because the finite cannot have infinite perfection.
• All evil is overruled by God to a good purpose.

See:
Walker, L. (1911). Divine Providence. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12510a.htm
Sharpe, A. (1909). Evil. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05649a.htm