Fate Versus Free Will

In the movie The Adjustment Bureau (2011), Matt Damon stars as a politician running for office. A chance encounter with a pretty ballerina leads him to want to get to know her better. But every time he tries to meet her, mysterious forces keep them apart. Eventually, Damon learns about a complicated system of agents who work to manipulate people’s lives to keep them on the path fated for them. According to the movie plot, most people live the life fated for them, but once in a while someone like Damon comes along to challenge that predetermined path. The movie is a dramatic rendition of the question of fate and free will in our lives.

Many people today believe that fate controls their lives. I encountered this belief as a parent when my daughter Carrie was only nine. As we were leaving for school one morning, I told her to buckle her seat belt. She asked why, and I said it would keep her safe in case of an accident. She replied, “It won’t make any difference because if God wants me to live, I’ll live; if he wants me to die, I’ll die.” There it is folks—the philosophy of fate in the words of a child.

These competing philosophies—fate versus free will—are not new to our contemporary lives. In the 16th and 17th centuries we read about the debate between the Arminians who believed in free will and the Calvinists who advocated predestination. The Calvinist perspective plays out in the lives of people today when we believe we have no control over our lives. Blaming events of our lives on fate becomes a cop out if we believe we are no longer responsible for the decisions in our lives. Arminianism offers us more control over our lives, but it, too, can be dangerous if it removes God’s influence from the decisions we make.

The story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-31 illustrates God’s role in the decisions we make. When the younger son asked his father for his inheritance, left home, and squandered his inheritance in foolish living, the father did not stop him. Even though the father may have known that the son would waste the money on profligate living, he let the son leave. Once the son left, he didn’t go find the son and make him return. He waited until the son himself decided to return home. As a result, the son was able to enjoy all his father’s blessings.

God gave us free will—even when we use that free will to rebel against Him. But God also gives us wisdom to make good decisions (James 1:5) and answers prayers for guidance (Psalm 73:24). Through prayer and study, we can submit our will to our Heavenly Father and be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

That day in the car when Carrie said God had already decided whether she would live or die, I answered, “God gave you a brain, and God gave you free will. He expects us to use them both.”

Nancy Shankle

Abilene, Texas