Got A Few Questions?

So, while my last post was about not arguing, I would still like to share a few things to encourage others about the Christian opinion. There are a few links here that I really, really like, and there are a few questions that I think I have somewhat of an answer to.

Question 1: If God knows everything, how do I have free will?
I have puzzled over this question for some time. It does seem contradictory to say that God knows everything that is, was, and will be while also saying that He respects our free will. I will admit that the answer to this one came to me while daydreaming a little bit in church. I was still thinking about God, just where He would take the story I am writing instead of listening to my pastor. I have kind of been in a stuck spot. You could call it writer's block, but it has been very long term. I was asking God what I should write and where I should take the story, when I was suddenly hit with a thought. We are God's story! 'Well, duh, Amanda. I knew that. God's tapestry and all of that...' But the meaning of that statement just lit up for me. From an author's point of view, I have created these characters in my story. They look like, act like, and desire what I write for them to. I know what I want them to do; I know what their purpose is; I know what has happened, is happening, and will happen to them. Basically, these poor characters have to do what I want them to and have no free will, or so it seems...If you read a story, do the characters seem forced to do anything by the author? In a really good story, do you realize that there is an author behind the story's events? Maybe I just get too into stories, but I forget that the story I am reading was completely dictated by the author. The characters reason themselves through their choice. Every action is believable and completely backed by the character's own opinion. There is no 'and suddenly he went to Africa for no reason what so ever, he was just commanded by an unknown source.' It is 'he suddenly went to Africa because of the urgent letter from his sister and HE CHOSE TO GO.'

God may know what will happen to us and what we are going to do, but we still have our own free choice. It isn't that He knows what you are going to do because He is forcing you, and you have no free will. He knows what you are going to do because He knows you so well. The story about the Pharaoh in the Moses story always bugged me. In the story, Pharaoh repeatedly decided to listen to the Lord and let the Isrealites go from their Egyptian slavery after the terrible plagues, but then the story goes that 'God hardened his heart' (this is the wording from the Bible I read as a kid) and he changed his mind. I thought, 'poor guy, he had no chance because God was just making him ask for more punishment.' Now, I understand that it was just the way God made him; God put that stubbornness in him, and he used it against God. God knew what he was going to do, but Pharaoh chose to do it.

Question 2: Why does God allow suffering in the world?
This is directly related to the question above. Get back to the story metaphor. In a story, honestly, all of the bad things that happen to the protagonist are all known and "allowed" by the author, but it isn't the author that causes them in the story. No, it is mistakes or bad choices made by that protagonist, a flaw and evil in their character that is haunting them; it is from the evil in others as well. We are human, so we have both good and evil in us. It isn't compatible with God's perfect ways to just, poof!, get rid of all the evil in us; that would completely get rid of our choice to follow Him or the Evil One. Bad things happen because of our own actions and choices or the actions and choices of others. The good news is that God doesn't allow these bad things to overtake us. He is always there to support you, to help point you in the right direction. In the Bible, Psalm 30, Phillippians 1:19, Hebrews 4:16, and Mark 10:27 all tell us that God will help us. There is always a way out. Also, just think that those bad times in the story are times where the protagonist can shine at their brightest or fall to their lowest, but in some form or fashion, help is there with them.

'Well, what about cancer?! A lot of that stuff wasn't caused by bad choices!' There was a letter that rounded the emails that answered this question better than I can. There was also Logan, the Sky Angel Cowboy, who gives us God's comforting message. Just remember that evil causes pain, suffering, and trials, and God causes all of the good in our lives. He also gives us the comfort and support to fight evil. And always remember that good does prevail in the end. Just read the book of Revelations.