According to the bible our lives were planned by God prior to birth but he gave us free will....?

Question

You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!" [Psalm 139:16]

Now here is my problem....everytime something bad happens Christians say it was God's plan. Now why does God allow abortion? If he planed our lives was abortioned planned by him as well?

Now I know I will get the answer that he gave us free will. Now how can a life that is determined by the choices we make day by day possibly planned?

If he knows the choices that we are going to make but does not change anything in our lives that may be a deciding factor does that not set us up for failure?

Mark rapes Anna, Anna has the baby due to religious convictions, Anna can no longer finish school due to her parents kicking her out, Anna works at K-Mart, K-Mart has to let people go because there isn't enough business due to the Wal-Mart. Wal- Mart gives her a job but only part time and not as a manager as she was... she hits the streets to make money to feed her baby... now other peoples decisions just screwed up her life.... God let this happen did he not?

Answer 1

Very good question and very simple answer. If you have a child, you plan what you want for that child before he is even born. You plan to have him go to school, then maybe on to college, maybe even the one you went to if you did. You plan for him to have a good carreer making good money and being very successful. Now does that mean that since that child has a free will that he will choose what you have chosen for him? Maybe instead of going to school he drops out and gets on drugs and into a life of crime. Where are your plans now? Your plans were for him to go to college and be very sucessful but that did not happen. He chose another path than what you chose for him. Same way with God. He chose for us to be near Him, to have a very sucessful life with lots of blessings and then to be with Him in Heaven. Does that mean we will choose that for ourselves? No way!! We sometimes choose our own way to our own destruction and injury. Just because we choose to have an abortion does not mean God planned it that way. He never planned it but He can use it for good if we will let Him. God's plan for us does not depend on our plan or vice versa. God plans good things but we come along and throw a monkey wrench into the midst of it and those plans have to change, daily most times. Just as you planned your child's life from beginning to end, God plans for us a life that is full of blessings but we are free to take our own way if we so choose just as your child will take his own way if he so chooses, contrary to what you have in mind.

Answer 2

The query here is difficult, and I have pondered it more than once. Do you believe that no one dies unless it is Gods will? I do. Do you then believe that it was a choice made by the dieing person that caused them to die? Sometimes... but what about the murdered and accident victims? These are incidents that revolve around the choices made by others. This then lends credence, at least somewhat to the fact that God does know and we do not. Confused yet??? I do believe that God knows not only the outcome of our life, but also the intricacies through-out our lives. I believe that it was decided prior to each individuals birth, if he or she was going to follow in the steps of the Lord and "go to Heaven" or not. I am not a theologian, I am however a christian. I do not take literally everything that is written in the Bible, but I do believe in God.

Answer 3

I have a friend who asks about this all the time. He gives us free will to do what we want but with each choice we make He knows what is going to happen. Its like you come to a fork in the road and the map says to take this road and not the other one because there is road construction or a down bridge but you decide to go down the road that the map says not to go down and you find out that maybe you made the wrong choice you should of done what the map said so you turn around and go down the right road see the map knew that people would take that road not knowing what was ahead but it still gave them a choice to go down the bad road or the good one that's how God is He lets you choose to go down the bad path or the good one and when we go down the bad one He knows what it holds for you and He knows if you will turn around and find out that the other path was actually the best choice. Hope that answers your question if not contact me and tell me why it doesn't plz.

Answer 4

I don't think God planned it, but this is where the greatness of God can't be explained by mere human thinking. Because God is all knowing, He knows everything that's going to happen otherwise He wouldn't be God.

Here's an example. I have a little sister who is going to grab the vase full of water off the table. I tell her not to do it, and she has the choice to turn away and walk away from the vase, but she grabs it anyway. This isn't a really good example, but God has a similar relationship with us. He looks out for us, but He knew us before time began. We still have free choice and free will, but He is still all-knowing

Answer 5

You are reading something into the Bible that is not there. He does NOT have your entire life written out. And there is nothing in the Bible that says he does. He may, in his foreknowledge, know what will happen and when, but he does not force you down that path. Also, the Psalms are men writing to God and not God writing to men. Reconcile Psalm 109 for me. See if some of the things said in that chapter do or do not conflict with previously written doctrine from Moses. The Psalms are expression and are not necessarily literal.

Answer 6

Trying to make sense of the bible will drive you nuts.

It was written by several different people over a number of years, has been translated several times, etc.

It is full of contradictions. You can find a verse to support almost any opinion you have.

And of course the whole idea is that the new testament trumps the old testament, so forget all that "eye for an eye" crap if you are going to call yourself a christian.

As a last resort you might have to actually examine all the facts available and make some decisions for yourself.

Answer 7

The Psalm you quoted was written by King David. It does show that God sees us from the time of conception and that we are important to God. The development of the embryo followed a specific pattern, as though obeying instructions recorded in a book. Our DNA is like a book.

As far as "God's Plan" or predestination and free will, here are some things to think about:

God can foresee certain events, but in many cases, he has chosen not to use his foreknowledge. Because God is almighty, he is free to exercise his abilities as he wishes, not according to the wishes of imperfect humans

God choose not to know which course mankind would take but that did not prevent him from prophesying the consequences of man’s good or bad actions.< A mechanic who warns a driver of the poor condition of his vehicle cannot be held responsible if an accident occurs or be accused of predestining it.> Likewise, God cannot be accused of predestining the sad consequences of individuals’ actions. (such as abortion)

How unloving and unjust God would be if before we were born, he predetermined the course we would take and then held us responsible for our actions! He does not do this, for “God is love,” and “all his ways are justice.” (1 John 4:8; Deuteronomy 32:4) Having given us freedom of choice, he did not at the same time ‘determine from eternity whom he would save and whom he would damn,’ as believers in predestination assert. Freedom of choice precludes predestination.

The Bible clearly shows that the choices we make will alter our destiny. For example, God appeals to wrongdoers, saying: “Turn back, please, every one from his bad way and from the badness of your dealings . . . that I may not cause calamity to you.” (Jeremiah 25:5, 6) This appeal would be pointless if God had already fixed each individual’s destiny. Moreover, God’s Word states: “Repent, therefore, and turn around so as to get your sins blotted out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the person of Jehovah.” (Acts 3:19) Why would God ask people to repent and turn around if he knew beforehand that they could do absolutely nothing to change their destiny?

Answer 8

Many of the people I deal with everyday want to make God subject to time. When Jesus said before Abraham was I AM He was using more than the Name of God He was telling us of one of God's attributes. He doesn't live in time the way we do. Since Christ is present before Abraham he is also presently laying the foundations of the world, He is present right now enthroned at the end of the age. And one more time that Christians don't even like to think about, He is hanging on Calvary's cross suffering for the sins of the world. He will always be there that's why it had to be Him, He was the only one who could offer an eternal sacrifice. This leads me to the answer to this question. Since He fills all time he knows all our steps all our wins all our failures. He knows our sin our minds and our hearts. He knows how we will react to any given circumstance. It's hasn't preplanned our lives He knows about them because he is already there..

Answer 9

God can see a person before he is born. This is referring to the fetus. During pregnancy, the fetus grows and develops as if according to a schedule. Doctors know just how long it will take before it developes eyes, a brain, and so forth. They even know approximately when it will be born (9 months) It can also mean that God has the foreknowledge to know who will be born in the future. He doesn't plan their birth, he just knows about it.

Deteronomy 30:19 shows that God let's us make the decisions that affect our future, hence it's not preplanned. "What a man reaps, this he will also sow."

Answer 10

>>>Now here is my problem....everytime something bad happens Christians say it was God's plan.<<<

The whole premise of your argument is based on the above sentence.

The problem with the above sentence is that not all Christians say "It's God's plan" whenever something bad happens.

Bad things happen simply because we lived in an imperfect world -- a world that we, human beings, made imperfect.

God doesn't allow abortion any more than He allows murder or theft or adultery.

Abortion is an entirely human-created tragedy. Let's not blame it on God, or say that He "allows" it.

Again, the whole premise of your argument is the idea that we believe that God plans everything bad -- but your argument falls apart because this premise is faulty.

Answer 11

God gives us free will as we see the countell times God gave us choices to make "Choose today whom you will serve" "If my people will humbly pray and seek my face..." etc

God can know all about us before we're born but that doesnt mean He knows (or chooses to know) every move we'll make. See how repentant God was that He even made man in Genesis. Why would He be if He ordered man to do so or saw it before man even came about? Even we can know things that we choose not to know, know people better than they do yet be surprised at their actions.

Some things are predestined, some things are not. Things that are not can take any turn.