Comments on: Daily Devotional – October 30 http://bereans.wordpress.com/2006/10/30/daily-devotional-october-30/ The Thinking Christian's Site Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:05:52 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: chickenhawk http://bereans.wordpress.com/2006/10/30/daily-devotional-october-30/#comment-660 chickenhawk Wed, 01 Nov 2006 00:42:16 +0000 http://bereans.wordpress.com/2006/10/30/daily-devotional-october-30/#comment-660 That really was a great post and its great to see it written so thoughtfully. Of course it can be construed as sin to even question His existence, but how easy is it to sit there, and just not wonder sometimes? To say I know, well, I honestly do not know for absolute certain, but I choose to believe and I have faith that He exists- I have seen things and experienced things that I cannot help but feel that He does exist (especially in the past few months). For obstacles I have overcome, do I give myself credit and acknowledge that I had a lot to do with it? Absolutely. But did certain events occur in my life that I felt were beyond a person's actions, or free will? Yes. There is something that sets the wheels in motion and makes these things all come together. I am not saying there is no such thing as free will, I believe there is, but at the same time, decisions are made and things happen so spontaneously- I am sure philosophers have thought about this for ages- and sometimes there is no answer for why we may have taken a different route to work or avoided something, and ended up saving someone's life, meeting your spouse, avoiding some disaster, and, yes, sometimes, lives are lost under those circumstances as well. Another thing that always gets to me: Forgiveness, for example. When you think about it, it is one of the most amazing things that we humans have. Forgiveness is a state of mind and an action that I feel is beyond us and this world. One day we are so angered, then the next, all of a sudden we forgive. Is it our decision to forgive? Yes, it is. But I think there is room for free will and God's doing to coexist as well as room for faith and science to coexist- people have spent so much time arguing for why they cannot, and seem to not think a little in the other direction and attempt to see reasons why they can. I started thinking like that and it changed my life, hey, maybe even saved it. Does that mean that that will happen for anyone else who thinks like me, or that I am better than anyone? No way. Just a little observation I had. That really was a great post and its great to see it written so thoughtfully. Of course it can be construed as sin to even question His existence, but how easy is it to sit there, and just not wonder sometimes? To say I know, well, I honestly do not know for absolute certain, but I choose to believe and I have faith that He exists- I have seen things and experienced things that I cannot help but feel that He does exist (especially in the past few months). For obstacles I have overcome, do I give myself credit and acknowledge that I had a lot to do with it? Absolutely. But did certain events occur in my life that I felt were beyond a person’s actions, or free will? Yes.

There is something that sets the wheels in motion and makes these things all come together. I am not saying there is no such thing as free will, I believe there is, but at the same time, decisions are made and things happen so spontaneously- I am sure philosophers have thought about this for ages- and sometimes there is no answer for why we may have taken a different route to work or avoided something, and ended up saving someone’s life, meeting your spouse, avoiding some disaster, and, yes, sometimes, lives are lost under those circumstances as well.

Another thing that always gets to me: Forgiveness, for example. When you think about it, it is one of the most amazing things that we humans have. Forgiveness is a state of mind and an action that I feel is beyond us and this world. One day we are so angered, then the next, all of a sudden we forgive. Is it our decision to forgive? Yes, it is. But I think there is room for free will and God’s doing to coexist as well as room for faith and science to coexist- people have spent so much time arguing for why they cannot, and seem to not think a little in the other direction and attempt to see reasons why they can. I started thinking like that and it changed my life, hey, maybe even saved it.

Does that mean that that will happen for anyone else who thinks like me, or that I am better than anyone? No way. Just a little observation I had.

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