One of the oldest stuggles in Christian philosophy is the clash for dominance between free will and predestination. God showed me that these two things are not as incompatible as I once thought. We are trained to think, as Kierkegaard so eloquently wrote, in terms of either/or. Truth is one thing or the other. It cannot be both. This really stems back to Artistotle and his Logic, but, that's another story. Looking more closely at the issue of predestination and free will, the crux of the matter is that God's predestining our acts eliminates the ability for humans to exert free will. If his will prevails regardless of what we choose then human free will is actually an illusion and is no more real than the wizard of Oz.

But, if we look at this a little differently, the issue of will domineering will is incorrect. God does not want his will to replace ours. He wants our will to merge with his. This is the essence of how we can understand the compatability of human free will and predestination. Here's a down-to-earth example. Say my daughter needs shoes put on. My will and necessary goal is to get her to put her shoes on. (For this hypothetical, we are in a hurry to get to McDonald's.) So, I have two choices: 1) pick her up and shove her feet in the shoes with frenzied thoughts of fries in mind. 2) I can ask her, cajole her, plead with her, "Emma, come put your shoes on."

Eventually, or perhaps quickly as sometimes happens, she comes over, sits down and lets me put her shoes on. In one sense, putting her shoes on was predestined. It was going to happen whether I made her do it (she had no choice) or whether she cooperated (actively chose to do it). Now, what we have here, in the second scenario, is a situation where free will and predestination both occur. I put the shoes on her and she chose to particpate in the event that occured. So, in this simple, McDonald's oriented example, both can happen.

So, looking more big picture, real-world significance, we are given choices every day to work with God or work against God. Let's face it, if we aren't with him, we are against him. Scripture aside, God's plan depends on us. He wants our input, our willful choice to coooperate with him. But, at the same time, he is not beyond or limited to our choices to fulfill his plans. It is way too anthropocentric (and utterly self-absorbed as a human) to think that God's works rely on our actions and choices in such a way as to be unable to accomplish them without us. What we do miss, by not cooperating, is the ability to share in the most glorious creative act in eternity...the restoration of God's kingdom. God made each of us unique with unique abilities and completely perfect attributes to perform certain parts of this plan. If we so choose to cooperate, we can claim a special part in this miraculous act. However, if we choose not to do so, God will find another way to do it. What is lost is the precious thing which the individual can add with their special mixture of attributes, powers and abilities.

In the end, God wants us to be co-creators with him, as we were originally created to be. (For more on this, listen to Kent's revealing teachings on co-creation and Christ...among other things.) Since God's plan does not wholly depend on us, He is within his right to do whatever he wants, however he wants. But, in this case, he wants us to work with him...and, he wants us to want to work with him. So, some might reason, we have to do what he wants. No, not really. He is not bound by our choices. But, in the co-creation, what happens is a mixture of what he wants and what we will. Without our input, without our free will choice, it would only be his creation. That is where we must realize that God has honored us with the ability to choose his will and participate in his works to create something eternally and infinitely unique. Free will and predestination are not at odds with each other if we look at it as a matter of honor and grace instead of a matter of power and might.

God's glorious work, the restoration of his kingdom, is going to happen. It is predestined and it will occur. Of that, our part is merely to add what we can. By not working with God we are simply decreasing the infinte degree of uniqueness, the preciousness of co-creation. The collaborative work of co-creation cannot be matched. But, by refusing to add to it, people simply make the work less beautiful. Image Beethoven's Pastoral symphony less one note in the second movement or Van Gogh's sunflowers less that one stroke on the righthand corner of the painting. As a whole, the work is no less amazing...but, in part, it is less.