Seize the Moment

“If it is meant to be, then it will happen”.  Have you ever heard that?  Have you ever been told that?  I know I have.  But is that really true?  I want to talk about that for a minute, or maybe two, without getting too in-depth, because this can become a very deep subject.  The key words and phrases are “man’s free will”, “God’s foreknowledge” and even “destiny”.  We will not worry too much about those, but we will talk about choices.  That seems much simpler to me, how about you?

We all are faced with choices each day.  God gives us choices and allows us to choose.  He allowed Adam and Eve to eat from the tree in the Garden in Genesis one.  He still allows us to choose today, and sometimes that even means choosing the thing that is not best for us.  I am proof of that.  I have been down many paths and wasted a lot of time with bad decisions.  We probably all have.  So first, I believe God allows us to choose or make decisions in our lives.

I also am convinced that, yes, God still does work in this world.  He tells us to pray, and if He wasn’t planning on making His own decisions based on prayers, then He wouldn’t ask us to do that (James 5:16).  Now God doesn’t always say yes, sometimes it is no, maybe or wait.  We have examples of that all through the Old and New Testament.  This even includes a no to His own Son in the Garden of Gethsemane. So far, we see that we are allowed choices, and God listens to prayers and answers all prayers in some way. 

Thirdly, God’s will is always done.  You see, we sometimes forget that God doesn’t necessarily need us for His will to be done in this world.  He may choose to use us, but He doesn’t need us.  We need Him.  This is where it gets interesting.

God may give us a fork in the road, but we choose which way to go.  Joshua chose to follow God in Joshua 24:15, “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

God gives us opportunities, but we decide to accept or decline.  God may open or close a door or window, but we decide whether to keep knocking or to climb or step through.  God will have His will be done.  But it doesn’t have to include us.  He wants it to include us and went as far as to send Jesus to tell us this. He died so that we can be a part of something great in this world and for all of eternity.

So now to our original question, “if it is meant to be, it will happen”…yes and no.  God’s will is always going to happen, but God is not limited by our decisions.  We are allowed to mess up.  We can miss opportunities.  We have to keep ourselves ready to seize the moments we are given, because God will give them to us, but we have to grab on and go with Him for the ride. We will begin a series on Seizing the Moment next time.

God Bless!