At every step of life, we are asked to make choices. Do we go abroad to study or stay in Singapore? What course do we take in the university or poly? What JC do we go to? Do we stay in the same job or move? Do we date or marry this person or not? For the most part, most of us Christians feel that it is important that we are somehow aligned with God's will in our choices.
On this point, two very different theologies are taught in our churches. Some Christians teach that no matter what choice you make, God's will will definitely be fulfilled in your life. Meaning, if I choose to marry this person or if I choose to quit my job or if I choose to go abroad to study, I will always be in the will of God. For God is sovereign and His perfect will will always prevail. Those who teach such a theology often stem from the Presbyterian or Bible Presbyterian denominations with strong roots in Calvinism. Essentially, the theology stems from the Calvinist teachings that God's will is sovereign and will prevail regardless of man's choice. Our choices do not impact God because He is supreme. This, the Calvinist will extend into issues of predestination by the choice of God, ie. you are saved because God has chosen you; the immutability of God in the face of prayer, ie. prayer does not change God, it changes us; and in the issue at hand, do my choices really affect God's will for my life.
On this issue, others like me take a different theological position, that is, that my choices do really affect God's will for my life. This is in fact the theological position of the Armenians, who emphasise the reality of free choice and corresponding moral responsibility. Let us reason together. If we say our choices do not affect whether God's will is fulfilled or not in our lives, then our choices only have moral consequences, and not destiny consequences. Let me explain. If I say my choice does not affect God's will, that means if I make a choice to date and marry a non-Christian girl, I may be disobeying God if but ultimately His will for my life will be fulfilled. To assert this is true, I feel, is a bit of an absurdity and is inconsistent with scripture. It is absurd because we can never sin and still be within the will of God. Sin cannot be within the will of God.
I would like to discuss three possible scenarios where our choices DO affect the outplay of God's will:
(1) It is God's will for us to be saved. If we reject God and are disqualified from salvation, God's will for our lives is unfulfilled. This is because it is His desire for all man to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.(1 Tim 2:3,4) In every life who rejects God, the will of God for salvation is not fulfilled in that person's life.
(2) It is God's will for us to serve in a particular ministry. If we are disobedient to our calling, ie. we refuse to serve in a particular ministry for which God has intended for us to serve, God's will for the ministry will remain unaffected because He will simply raise up someone else to do the job. This principle is illustrated in the story of Esther. In Esther 4:14, Mordecai tells Esther, "For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish". Essentially, God's unfolding plan of salvation in the world today will not be thwarted by our disobedience however we in our own lives forfeit the blessings of God by our disobedience. Which brings us to our third scenario.
(3) It is God's will to bless us. However if we are morally disobedient, ie. we persist in unrepentant sin or rebellion against God and His will, we may enter into the discipline of God and suffer the consequences of our sin, thus stifling the blessing of God in our lives for the period of our active rebellion. However if we turn back to God in repentance, we enter into His blessing and thus fulfill His original intent to bless us. In this situation, there are two routes to the final place of blessing - the first is the route of obedience leading to blessing. The second route is the more painful route of disobedience leading to discipline leading to repentance leading to blessing. The final end point is the same in both cases but the alternative routes taken are very different. This principle is illustrated in the story of Jonah. Jonah could have been obedient the first time and gone to Nineveh. However he chose the path of rebellion and fled to Tarshish from the presense of the Lord. Though ultimately he repented and God's will for Him to preach to the people of Nineveh was fulfilled, the route to which Jonah had to take to reach there was one of calamity and distress and discomfort. The same situation is seen in the people of Israel entering the promise land. The 40 years in the wilderness could have been avoided had they obeyed first time round. Two paths to the same end, one straight path of obedience, or the difficult path of disobedience.
In conclusion, we see that our choices do affect the outplay of God's will in our lives. In certain situations, we put ourselves through unecessary pain to get to the same end point. In other situations, where we never repent, we miss the will of God for our lives and God raises up someone else in our place to fulfill His will. Your choice?