Power: the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. (Google English dictionary provided by Oxford Languages).
Sometimes, it’s easy to feel crushed, powerless, unable to change the reality of life. Some people believe in fate, and that they are puppets of one or many gods. Others don’t believe in the supernatural and/or think that with enough effort they will be able to control most of their life circumstances, as if we were our own gods. However, God teaches us something differently through His Word. God tells us that we are indeed unable to control many external aspects of our lives, but that we have the power to control all internal aspects and indirectly affect many external aspects through the gift of free will.
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
Luke 12:25-26
There are many things out of our control: natural disasters, some illnesses, the laws established in different nations (or even in our own), the laws of physics, etc. Except for those who are conning and manipulative and learn to exert influence on others for their own benefit, we can’t truly control others, their thoughts, feelings, or whether they will choose to betray us or be loyal to us. Our Lord Jesus Christ, being the Son of God, respects human freedom to the point of having allowed Judas Iscariot to betray Him (Our Lord), out of Juda’s own free will.
Our Lord, rather than trying to manipulate us chooses to set us free with the Truth so that we can make our choices based on the Truth rather than deceit. Like Our Lord, we can only share the Truth with others, and pray for them to be set free from the lies they might believe so that they can freely make the best choices for their lives.
The Lord God said to the woman, ‘What have you done?’ The woman answered, ‘The serpent tricked me and I ate it.'”
Genesis 3:13
The Value of Free Will
We need to recognize how valuable and powerful free will can be. It might seem to be a very humble power but think about how many times you’ve made mistakes or imprudent choices in your life and the profound effect of those personal choices. Other times, we make wise and beautiful choices that lead us closer to God and toward amazing blessings, peace, and greater joy. Free will allows us to make choices, to make mistakes, and to learn from them! Free will allows us to slowly grow in wisdom and to become much more prudent and better when exercising our freedom. It increases the value and merit of our good actions because we are freely choosing to act or think with honor (inspired by God), but also pushes us to be responsible and accountable for our actions when we are wrong (inspired by our spiritual enemies, fears, selfishness, etc.). Given our imperfect state and our mistakes, thank God we don’t have other powers! Free will is enough for us at this point of our spiritual journey, and it would be in our best interest to learn how to use it wisely first, because when we are unable to properly use our free will, how can we expect more spiritual gifts? In addition, free will reflects God’s love for us, which begins with Him giving us complete inner freedom. By learning to exercise our free will wisely, we can grow spiritually, and eventually, God can give us additional spiritual powers.
Amen, amen, I say to you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and indeed will do even greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.”
John 14:12
For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Matthew 25:29
If we are not aware of our powerful gift, we can easily become the target of manipulative people, bad spirits, and even slaves of our ignorance. When we don’t acknowledge our free will, we can be deceived and robbed of it, waiting for constant signs that may or may not be from God, and basing our choices on external influences (ex: mass media, toxic societal norms, etc.) that disregard our well-being. God should be our focus, the love and care that Our Father has for us should be our strength and motivation.
Wisdom and good discernment are more important than receiving signs because not all signs come from God. Even “our” thoughts might not be our own, as the voices of friends, family, spirits, and even mainstream media can be internalized as “ours” if we lack discernment; but even if we are certain that a thought is ours, it doesn’t mean that it is true. Truth only comes from God, and to discern the Truth one must seek God and discern which inspirations come from Him.
Free will, even if it seems little, can affect how we face the challenges of our lives. For instance, you might not be able to cure yourself from an illness, but you have the power to choose to see a doctor or decline treatment, to pray for a miracle or turn your back on God, and to be extremely sad about it or motivate others with a positive attitude.
Nick Vujicic is a man born with no limbs who at some point dwelled on his misery but later chose to trust God and became a world-renowned Christian (Evangelical) speaker, got married to a beautiful wife, had children, and has been able to travel the world and live life at its fullest. Or Albeiro Vargas, a Christian (Catholic) man who grew up in extreme poverty, but when he was only 7 years old chose to help and feed the elderly men and women from the slums where he lived. Albeiro’s love led him to make choices of faith despite poverty, and by age 9, he was feeding the elderly, bathing them, and taking his little friends with him on his adventures. Now in his 40s, Albeiro not only escaped poverty by giving to others with love, but he founded an entire not-for-profit organization that houses many “grandpas” and “grandmas” and helps impoverished youth. Or Pablo Piñeda, a man with Down’s Syndrome who didn’t allow external ideas to stop him. He became the first man with Down’s Syndrome to obtain a university degree in Europe and eventually became an actor, and the inspiration for the film “Yo, también” based on his real life.
God’s Perfect Will vs God’s Permissive Will
Many Christians often confuse God’s perfect will with God’s permissive will, and call anything that happens part of “God’s will”. This mentality is just a Christian version of the belief in fate, where the term “God’s will” is a euphemism for the word destiny. God indeed has a plan, He also has a purpose for all of us, and He wants to lead us toward the path that is best for us. He cares for every detail of our lives and can intervene in our affairs when we pray to Him and have the patience to wait for His answers and His guidance. However, many of our choices and the impact of our choices are not part of God’s original plan for us, but He allows these choices to protect our freedom and eventually exercise love and justice. He can redeem pain and suffering. It’s not necessarily what He wanted for us, but He won’t allow suffering in vain.
Part of God’s perfect will is for us to be free to make complex choices. Sometimes, our choices might not lead us to what is best for us in the long term. For example, entering an abusive relationship and staying there is not part of God’s will for us, but eventually, that relationship might end by our own choice or by the grace of God when we were too blinded to leave. The opposite is also true; we might reject a blessing or a good relationship that God placed in our path and miss out on a beautiful gift, but God can help us restore what is broken or help us to mature from our errors. God’s permissive will allows us to make bad choices to preserve our freedom, and He is ready to deal with our mess and to use good and evil to advance His Kingdom, so that one day we might finally truly live in plenitude.
For example, it was not God’s perfect will for Christian martyrs to suffer persecution, torture, and be executed. God wants the best for every one of us! However, He gave free will to the persecutors and the persecuted to allow humanity to freely love or reject Him. He also allowed the suffering of the martyrs because He knew what He had in store for them for eternity, a reward much greater than anything we can imagine, and that their sufferings would pale and appear insignificant next to the compensation they would receive eternally. The souls of the martyrs were not only instantly elevated to Heaven and will be exalted above other souls for their faithfulness, courage, and sacrifice, but also, the heroism of the martyrs led to an exponential growth of the Christian faith, despite violent attempts to suppress it through fear.
Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and utter all kinds of calumnies against you for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. In the same manner, they persecuted the prophets who preceded you.”
Matthew 5:10-12
A biblical example of God’s permissive will is the story of Job, a righteous man who didn’t deserve suffering. God’s perfect will for Job was a life full of peace, abundance, and love. Yet God’s permissive will allowed Job’s spiritual enemy to torture him and bring extreme misfortune to his life. What’s very interesting in this story is that it shows us the value of free will even during suffering. Job had very little control over what was happening to him; it was not his own choice, and it was not a consequence of any mistakes he had made. However, Job had the power to choose to remain faithful to God or to curse Him. After such terrible tribulations, Job was rewarded for freely choosing to trust and love God despite his external circumstances and the injustices he endured. His free will indirectly led to a change in his external circumstances in God’s perfect timing, and he was rewarded with more happiness and abundance than ever before, making the second part of his life better than what he had ever experienced.
So the Lord blessed the second part of Job’s life more than the first.”
Job 42:12
Even if we lack the power to change the external circumstances of our lives with our actions alone, nothing is impossible for God, and by choosing to have faith, we can indirectly participate in changing our lives. When we lose faith, desperation can lead us to self-harm (like Judas Iscariot, who chose suicide over humility and faith).
Repentance is an Act of Holiness
The Pharisee stood up and said this prayer to himself: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and pay tithes on all my income.’ The tax collector, however, stood some distance away and would not even raise his eyes to heaven. Rather, he kept beating his breast as he said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ This man, I tell you, returned to his home justified, whereas the other did not.”
Luke 18:11-14
One of the most beautiful aspects of free will is that God doesn’t expect us to use it perfectly and wisely right off the bat. Our free will is a gift that allows room for mistakes and for sincere change, growth, and improvement.
In the parable of the prodigal son, it is not the will of the father for his son to reject him and go away, but he lovingly allows it because he loves his son and wants him to be free and pursue whatever it is that he desires at that moment (which the son at that moment truly believes is the best for himself). Ultimately, the prodigal son realizes that his choices haven’t led him to the best circumstances, and he finds himself starving, taking care of pigs (an impure animal in Judaism and other cultures), and wanting to eat from the scraps left from the food given to the pigs. The prodigal son had rejected his father’s original perfect plan for his life, but he recognized this and humbly returned home with no expectations, only to be surprised by his father’s most loving welcome, being dressed honorably, and given a banquet to enjoy.
Freely Accepting God’s Perfect Will
We need to understand that God does have a perfect will for us, but that we have the power to reject it or accept it! Judas Iscariot chose to betray Jesus, but after his mistake, he could have chosen to repent and ask for a second chance and be blessed as St. Peter and St. Paul did.
Why is it so important to understand the power of our free will? Because if we don’t, we can easily be deceived, walk further away from God’s perfect will for us, and lose many blessings that could turn around our entire lives and bring us greater peace, a stronger relationship with God, grow in holiness, and maximize our happiness in the long-term (and for eternity).
Some of the most powerful choices we can freely make today are:
- To love God.
- To have (ask for) faith in God.
- Follow God’s commandments.
- Follow biblical* advice (*assuming we are not taking Sacred Scripture out of context and have a correct interpretation).
- Repent and choose to change when we recognize that we have acted wrongly.
- Forgive ourselves.
- Forgive others.
- Seek God.
- Pray.
When we don’t realize the power we have in our free will, we might:
- Blame God for everything, even for the consequences of our own bad choices, rather than giving ourselves the chance to learn from our mistakes and move forward with God’s guidance.
- Hide from God when we feel guilty, rather than humbly repent and seek forgiveness and conversion.
- Give our past the power to control our future.
- Give manipulators the power to control our choices.
- Allow thoughts or emotions that don’t originate from God to control our choices.
- Lose all hope and faith during tribulations, and when we experience great suffering at no fault (like Job), making us lose faith in God’s love for us, increasing our suffering, and leading us away from God.
The choice is yours!