I’ve heard many times that God has a divine plan. People also think God controls the weather, earthquakes, and volcanoes. They believe that God punishes people. Then they turn around and ask “Why does God let there be pain, starvation, murder, and suffering?”
Because God doesn’t control any of that. Seriously… every one of those natural disasters are measurable phenomena that can be predicted (we just haven’t found a faster or more conclusive way of doing it… we are getting closer, however). I’ve never seen a case where God has direct control of anything. However, I’ve seen plenty of cases where a little voice guides me to the right solution to things.
God, to me, has always been a guide. God represents a path and a door. It’s up to me to follow that path, open the door, and walk through it.
Here’s a simple example. Say you have a project due in a week. You know you can get it done in one day. Your choice is to get it done now, or wait until the last day. The smart choice is to do it right away. But you don’t… you wait until the last day. What happens then? An emergency comes up on the last day, leaving you with no time to devote to the project. The deadline is missed, and you suffer severe consequences.
The path was laid out for you, and the door was right there. It was up to you to follow that path… but it’s your choice. Sometimes your own path will get you to the door, sometimes it won’t. All the while, the smart path was laid right out for you. All you had to do was take it, handle the hardships within it (i.e. sacrificing your free time to do the project immediately), and you would have been lead to that door with no problems.
Other times it’s your conscience that the path is based on. I’ll use an example from “The Legend of Bagger Vance.” If you’re a professional golfer, and you accidentally nudge the ball before you’re ready to hit it, you now have a choice. Do you tell the referee that the ball moved and suffer the penalty, or say nothing and hit it anyway? If you hit it anyway, and win, you’ll carry with you that you never won that game legitimately based on your own abilities. You needed a handicap, and you really haven’t proved your worth to the best of your ability after all. And what if you lose? Even while cheating you can’t seem to win the game. Imagine how worthless you’d feel then!
However, if you take the honest path, even if you lose you can feel satisfied. I mean, after all, it’s an honest game, and you didn’t cheat. You can walk away content in either case.
You figure your life out in your own way, with little hints brought to you by outside things you had no control over. Whether you believe those hints were given to you by God, or fate, or whatever, they’re there.
The best stories out there are of those who walked the path of truth and righteousness… There’s probably a very good reason for that.