FREE WILL vs THY WILL

Have you ever prayed for something really hard? I mean, you got down on your knees for days… months… even years. You fasted. You cried. You sweat tears over it.

Then—hallelujah—God answered your prayer.

The Father gave you exactly what you had prayed so earnestly for. You were grateful. You shouted. You danced in the Holy Ghost. You called everyone you knew to testify about the goodness of God and His miracles.

But then… time passed.

The newness wore off, and suddenly, you forgot the miracle in what you prayed for.

Let’s say we prayed for a brand-new car. We called out the year, the brand, and even the mileage. God blessed us with it. We were enamored. We drove it everywhere. We kept it clean inside and out, shining like pearls. We changed the oil on time. We told the world about the blessing God had given us.

Then, after a while, we started taking it for granted.

We stopped cleaning it. We stopped caring for it. We forgot to change the oil. We started seeing it as used and old.

It was no longer a blessing—it was just a car.

We forgot that it was the miracle we once begged God for. We grew too comfortable with it and forgot the desperation that once drove us to our knees.

And we do this often—with things, people, relationships, and jobs. We pray earnestly for them, then forget their value once we receive them.

Maybe the problem is that we become comfortable with blessings too quickly. Maybe the problem is that we don’t really know what to pray for. Maybe the problem is that our attention span is too short, or that we are never fully satisfied.

Or maybe—just maybe—the problem is that we pray for our will, instead of God’s will.

Free will is the power to act without the constraint of necessity or fate—the ability to act at one’s own discretion.

Lately, I have been contemplating the idea of free will. I often wonder why God would give humans free will, knowing the strong pull of temptation and sin.

Sometimes, free will feels like a trap.

Think about it—we naturally want what we want.

We know the cake is fattening. We know we’ll feel guilty and uncomfortable afterward, yet we eat it anyway because it tastes good and looks good. Later, we complain about the stomachache and the extra pounds, forgetting that we had a choice—and we made it.

We know a relationship may not be good for us. We see the red flags clearly, yet we choose to ignore them for reasons we justify in our own minds. Nevertheless, we had free will, so we did what we wanted.

We know we have hurt someone with our words or actions, yet because our mouths are free to speak, out flies the offense.

Sometimes we excuse ourselves by saying, “This is just how I am. This is just what I do.”But is it really?Or is that the lie we have grown accustomed to telling ourselves?

When we enter into a relationship with God, He urges us to choose differently—to act differently and think differently. Not because He forces us, but because we choose to respond to Him.

Contrary to some beliefs, God is not a dictator who rules through authoritarian control. God wants to be chosen.

Isn’t that amazing? The Creator of all things—the Alpha and Omega, the Supreme Being—desires for us to choose to love, trust, obey, respect, and honor Him.

Much like a bride and bridegroom, He desires a real relationship, not a forced one.

God gave us free will so that loving Him would be a choice, not a command. Though this freedom allows for mistakes and suffering, it also gives our choices purpose and allows us to walk with God as willing partners, not forced followers.

If it is God’s intent to have a genuine, mutual relationship with us—one that is not forced or manipulated—then He must also allow Himself to be disappointed, hurt, or even rejected within that relationship. Yet unlike us, God already knows our capacity before we ever choose Him. He is not surprised by our failures or shortcomings.

Still, just like in our most valued relationships, there is a desire within us to please Him—to honor Him and bring Him joy. That desire makes Him quick to forgive our wrong choices and missteps.

When I love someone—a child, a parent, a family member, or a friend—I never want to hurt or disappoint them. I want them to be proud of me. I want my actions to reflect my love. And when I fall short, it hurts me too, and I seek to repair what I have damaged.

That is when it finally made sense to me. Choosing good over evil or right over wrong is not always natural for humans. But when we rely on the supernatural power of God as our source, we are able to do what we cannot do on our own.

When we pray, “Not my will, but Your will be done,” we accept the possibility that our desired outcome may not be granted. Surrendering to God’s will means trusting Him to help us resist our own wants and desires—because His will brings greater freedom, victory, and strength.

God is a strategic thinker. He understands that true loyalty is a product of what is stored in the heart. That is why He instructs us to guard our hearts. We all have the capacity for both good and evil. What we feed is what grows.

When we choose to love God freely—not because we are forced—our will continually brings us back to Him. Even when we fall, that choice sustains the relationship.