Perennial Questions

Who is writing the script of my life?

This is a question I’ve struggled with since I was in middle school.  I’ve grown up in church with a firm belief in God, although the transition into college can make keeping that personal relationship with Him more challenging.  I used to ask my Sunday School teachers why prayer worked if God already knew what was going to happen.  I wondered why we weren’t all born already believing in God, why we did things to hurt other people.  Wouldn’t that make everything easier?  Wouldn’t the world be a better place?

I was always given vague answers on how no one can understand the will or plans of God.  And while I believe this to be true, it didn’t answer my questions, and it certainly didn’t strengthen my faith.  God is good, so why does He let bad things happen?  And isn’t that the universal question we all have, whether or not we are believers?

One day someone finally gave me a straightforward answer: free will.  God didn’t create us as mindless servants, forced to obey him and walk around as robots in a predestined, unchangeable storyline.  He gave us the ability to make our own choices, be our own people.

Ever since that conversation, I’ve based my faith and how I talk about it around that principle.  I believe that God has a plan and a purpose for each of us.  Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

However, it’s pretty clear none of us are anywhere close to perfect.  We make our own decisions.  When we’re rooted in faith, they can take us on the path He has for us.  Other times, we mess up.  But another thing I’ve always believed is that everything happens for a reason.  God can use every mistake and every wrong choice to guide us through life, and bring us - and others - closer to Him.  We are working together with God to write the script of our own lives, and each of our scripts intersects with one another’s.  I believe that’s all a part of His plan.

Who’s to say what’s right?

This has always been an easier question for me to answer.  For me, it’s always been God.  If none of us are perfect, who are we to decide?  The most we can do is to follow what we know He tells us.

It seems simple to me because this is what I’ve grown up believing.  However, that’s not everyone’s situation.  Everyone has different interpretations of the Bible and different experiences with God.  Some are newer to a personal relationship with Him, and some don’t believe He exists.  Despite this, there are still fundamentals of human decency.  There are laws and debates and controversial articles written on what is right.

Regardless of what we as a society believe, we have to trust what is right based on our own consciences, because we all have different faiths and upbringings.  For me, my conscience is communication from the Holy Spirit.  It’s also human nature.  Because of the variety of human opinion, our consciences don’t always line up.  The most we can do, then, is to believe what we believe, and treat one another with kindness.

Throughout all religions is a principle we’ve all learned, no matter our faith.  In the Bible, it’s expressed in Matthew 7:12.  “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”  All in all, this is the most basic idea of what is right.  We may all differ on whether God or man created this principle, but it’s something we can all strive towards together.