If Life Has a Plan, Where Does Free Will Fit In?
Predestination Requires Choice
In this scene from The Matrix Reloaded, Neo (Keanu Reeves) sits beside the Oracle (Gloria Foster) on a park bench when she asks a simple question:
“Candy?”
His response sets the stage for one of the movie’s deepest themes. “You already know if I am going to take it.” She answers him, “I wouldn’t be much of an oracle if I didn’t.” Neo then asks, “but if you already know, how can I make a choice.” To which she replies, “You didn’t come here to make a choice, you already made it. You’re here to try to understand why you made it.”
The oracle’s wisdom raises a profound question: If the story of our life is written before it begins, why should we bother to make tough choices on how to live it?
This is where the ideas of predestination and predetermination often become confusing. Broken down simply: predestination means God already knows the choices you will make, yet He still allows you the freedom to choose. Predetermination, sometimes called preordination, suggests something different: that your choices are decided for you by an outside force, such as God, leaving little or no room for free will.
In Scripture there are several verses that point to God’s sovereign knowledge and purpose. Ephesians 1:4-5, 11, explains that “God chose us before the world began and predestined us to be His adopted sons through Jesus Christ.” Romans 8:29-30 recounts the same message as does Acts 4:27-28 in reference to the death of Jesus Christ.
Some theologians suggest that compatibilism is a more helpful way to understand this mystery. It is the idea that God’s sovereignty and human responsibility work together rather than against each other. Instead of functioning independently, they operate together.
That is why prayer, reflection, effort, and moral choices still matter. Our task may not be to control the outcome, but to grow in understanding the why behind the choices we make.
Understanding the Why Leads to Authenticity
Going back to the scene from The Matrix Reloaded, if Neo’s decision had already been made, as the Oracle stated, his purpose was to understand why he made it. How does this personally apply to you and your perception of free will? First, you must accept that if God is all-knowing, then He already knows what choices you will make even before you were born.
So, in a sense, despite His omniscience, your freedom to choose remains intact. His pre-existing knowledge does not alter your free will; He simply knows what you will do. Your task is to understand why you make the choices you do. The more you understand the reasons behind your choices, the more you come to know yourself, which allows you to live more authentically.
If an all-knowing God has predestined all that He has created, how and what does prayer do to affect the outcome?
Traditionally, there are four types of prayer:
- Praise, adoration, and honor
- Thanksgiving
- Confession, repentance, and forgiveness
- Intercession and petitionary prayer
Let’s focus on the last one, seeking God’s intervention and assistance.
When faced with difficult situations, most of us seek the help and support of a higher power. Every religion from the beginning of time has worshipped many gods, appeasing them through acts of worship like rituals of dance, song, offerings and in some ancient traditions, even human sacrifice. All these actions were performed for the purpose of influencing a higher power to intercede in human affairs.
Therefore, God must be seen as a primary cause of all that exists, and we must see ourselves as a secondary cause He designed us to collaborate with Him in shaping the world, a truth reflected in Genesis, where Adam is entrusted with dominion over creation. From the beginning, humanity was invited not merely to exist within God’s plan, but to participate in its unfolding.
Our work as humans is to join with our Creator in the universal plan that He has predestined. Prayer is not meant to alter God’s plan, but to help us understand it, trust it, and accept our place within it.
According to Saint Augustine, the primary purpose of prayer is not to inform God of our wants and needs because He already knows them, but to prepare our hearts and minds to do His will. The importance of our response to this invitation is the highest expression of the freedom with which He has endowed us. We can choose to say yes or no. The magnificence God is that He does not deny nor restrict our freedom.
God Helps Those Who Help Themselves
Accepting the unchangeable providence of the Creator enables you to co-operate instead of control, a temptation that can distort your faith. When you try to influence God through bargaining, you often create self-defeating results.
The call to surrender is the primary focus in Neo’s encounter with the Oracle, realizing he cannot change what he’s already chosen but striving to understand why he did so. This pursuit of self-knowledge will ultimately lead to a deeper relationship with God because it requires the abandonment of the ego and submission to his higher calling.
I am reminded of my favorite mantra of late, God will never do for us what we refuse to do for ourselves. If we want peace in the world, we must work to achieve it. If we aspire to a virtuous pursuit, we must make the effort. Expecting God to intervene whenever the need arises reinforces the image of Him as the “deus ex machina” a supreme power always coming to our rescue. Instead, look at it as a partnership in which we work with Him to cultivate the plan he has designed for us.
I am reminded of the story of the man who reverently prayed each day that he would win the lottery. Finally, after years of frustration he complained to God that he asked, petitioned and begged for a winning ticket and God did not hear him. Finally, in exasperation God responded, “Meet me halfway, buy a ticket.”
Investing in the effort to understand the why behind our choices and decisions will ultimately lead us into genuine alignment with our purpose in life.
5 Steps to Understanding the Why Behind My Choices
Step 1: Start With Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Grant me the grace to look honestly
at the choices I make and the paths I take.
Help me not only to see what I choose,
but to understand why I choose it.
When my choices are rooted in fear, teach me trust.
When they are driven by pride, teach me humility.
When they come from love, strengthen my courage
to keep walking in that direction.
Lead me into deeper self-understanding,
so that I may grow into the person You created me to be.
May every reflection draw me closer to truth,
every truth draw me closer to freedom,
and every freedom draw me closer to You.
Amen.
Step 2: Choose the person you want to become
The ultimate purpose of understanding why is transformation. Ask yourself: Does this choice align with the person I am becoming?
Step 3: Look for a pattern in your choices
Have you made this kind of decision before? Are there unmet needs, old wounds or misguided beliefs that need to be purged from your decision?
Step 4: Pause before you judge the choice
Awareness always comes before understanding. Ask why you chose what you chose and what happened before you made the choice.
Step 5: Identify the emotion behind the decision
Most choices are emotional first and rationalized later. Ask yourself whether you were afraid, seeking approval or protecting yourself before you made the decision.