In my walk through life, as I’m sure there is in everyone’s journey, I have discovered that every part of your past has had a part in shaping you for today. Are there things that I would’ve liked to avoid? Of course, but as I have been a student of the Bible for the past eleven years, every wobble and misstep has a purpose. God used so many things in people’s lives to bring about something good and glorious for each of their lives and Himself as well. He did it in the book of Genesis and He did it all the way through the Bible, right down to the book of Revelation.
Some of you might remind me that most of the book of Revelation hasn’t happened yet. Hang on, it’s coming. Every detail and every curse that is foretold in it will come to pass and I don’t believe we will have to wait very long to see it. Most of you who have denied the truth of God’s Word will see its Truth come to light when the church is taken away from the Earth. There will be many “explanations” for why people vanished but the only one that will be based on fact is the one found in the Bible. God’s facts, not mankind’s ideas or fabrications.
Each part of your life and mine has been a part that shaped each of us into the person that is here today. You read on social media about “what would you tell your younger self if you could”, even knowing what I know today there isn’t anything that I could tell my younger self that would make any real difference. Because if anything was changed in my past life, I wouldn’t be the same person that I am now. If I had stayed in the Air Force my future would be entirely different from what it is. My family would have been different, and my outlook on the world would be altered from what it is now if that one change had taken place.
God knows the person that we are and when He has a plan for your life in the future, He will make sure that you are that person at the appointed time.
You might ask “Does that mean that I’m not in control of my destiny?”. Well…the answer is more of a yes and no when it comes to your destiny. If God has a plan for your life but you choose not to listen to His voice and go off doing your own thing then the answer is yes, you are in control of your own destiny. But if you have given your heart to Jesus and then decide to go your own way for a while, then God will bring you back in line one way or another. When I say “given your heart to Jesus”, I mean truly repenting and turning away from your old life and following Him, at least for a while. Totally refusing to listen spiritually to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and going your own way is rebelling the way that Satan did. That is where freedom of choice comes into play.
God gave the angels and humanity the freedom to choose because He never wanted us, all of us, to be obedient because we didn’t have a choice. He wanted us to love Him and choose to obey Him because we loved Him because He loved each of us first, even before we decided to love and follow Him.
The Living Message of Christ 