Every Move You Make
See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life. Psalm 119:40
Longed For – How do you know what God wants you to do? Sure, some choices are obvious. The commandments, for example, spell out correct choices. But what about the hundreds of life choices that aren’t mentioned in some biblical passage, like who should I date, what job should I take, where should I live, how should I spend my extra cash? How do I know what God really wants me to do with all those kinds of choices? If I am going to be obedient to Him in all things, I want to do what He wants me to do every time. But how do I know?
The answer to all these questions is a divine paradox. Any choice you make is the right one as long as it is the right choice. Better read that again. As long as you are living in God’s presence, you are free to make any choice you wish as long as it’s the right choice. Any choice you make will be the right choice as long as you are choosing what God wants. So, the paradox of divine sovereignty and human free will is this: when you are listening and obeying God, every choice you make will be the correct one no matter what choice it is. Of course, the key is shema – listening and obeying. As long as your heart is truly open to God’s leading, you can’t make a mistake no matter which way you choose. The opposite is also true. Any choice you make, no matter how noble or virtuous, will be the wrong choice if it is made without a heart completely obedient to God.
So, date anyone you wish, as long as it is the person God wants you to date. Take any job you wish as long as it is the job God directed you to take. Live where you want as long as it is where God wants you to live. You get the idea. Everything is available, but only what comes from obedience counts. There are no limits on your choices and at the same time, there is only submission to His sovereignty.
This paradox creates a tension in the Bible that is not resolved. Our Greek-based perspective wants to have all the answers neatly tied down, but the Bible resists this kind of theological pressure. You are free – and you are bound. For those of us who want all the answers conveniently catalogued, this is particularly upsetting. But it just happens to be the way the divine economy works. God liberates you to do whatever you wish while you are limiting yourself to what He wishes. You can’t turn to the Bible for all the details of living. It isn’t that kind of book. The Bible demonstrates what happens to men and women who freely choose slavery. They learn dependence, one choice at a time. God’s plan is daily bread, not storage barns. It’s a hard thing to learn in a world that is obsessed with planning tomorrow. But it’s an essential lesson.
Think about the demonstration of this principle in the life of the Messiah. He wandered purposefully. He only did what the Father told Him to do. He only said what the Father told Him to say. Do you think that this means Yeshua had a kind of spiritual cell phone connection to the Father. Did He say, “Hold on a minute. I have to make a call.” Of course not. The point is that His very existence was saturated with obedience until what He did was perfectly in line with the Father’s will without even thinking about it. Only once do we see Yeshua struggle with this vital connection, and even then “Your will be done” is the solution. That’s where we want to be. We might have to start with baby steps, with deliberate “cell phone” calls to God, but the objective is constant, unnoticed communication. That’s when freedom and bondage are perfectly matched.
Topical Index: Obedience
