View from the Stage

Imagine you are reading a story. The people in the story do not know what is going to happen next or how the story is going to to end. Now imagine a character receiving a message from the author telling about the author and how he was the one writing the story. This would be useful information, but it would not change the fact that the character would still have to make choices based on what was happening in the story and that those choices would affect what happened next. Nonetheless, the author would still be writing the story.

The relationship between us and God is more complicated then that. We are not simply characters in a story. But I find the concept helpful in navigating this complicated relationship. We live life based on our perspective, where we make choices and respond to things as they come to us. But God is still in control of the wo to us. It is rare someone feels that God is making a decision for them, and we are not told to seek this. Rather, we are to trust that God is always in control and will guide us in all things. But we still need to make decisions based on the principles God has taught us, and those decisions have an influence on what happens next in our lives. And we cannot use God's control as an excuse to evade this.