Destiny vs Freedom of Choice

I've always been a destiny type of guy. That whatever we do as already been pre-determined by God...that everything happens for a reason and everything that has happened has happened for a reason. Of course this raises the question: Then what is the point of making choices, or even living if everything is already determined. My theory was always that while everything has been pre-determined, the choices we make give us different interpretations of the end result.

For example, say our end result was that an uncle was supposed to past away later next year. The common thing to think is that a relative uncle will past away, but perhaps the choices we make in life will allow us to meet someone who becomes really close to you that you actually call them "Uncle"...and they are the ones who end up pasting away.

Sounds like a silly theory, but I honestly always thought that was the way things were. Until tonight. I had a very intriguing discussion with the pastor of my church regarding his view on destiny. One of the main reasons I was so interested in this discussion was because the last two months have been really tough on me. There has been many issues on my mind that have mentally, emotionally, and physically drained me...that I just didn't want to have to deal with...and what I really wanted to know was whether I had the choice in what I was doing in life. Was all this dwelling and frustration I was dealing with something I had no control over or what?

After talking with my pastor, things really seemed to clear up. Here is what he thought of destiny:

No, I don't believe in destiny. I believe that humans have the freedom of choice, but God knows of all the choices we will make.

Sounds like a paradox...if we have the freedom of choice, but God already knows of all our choices...isn't that just the same as saying God knows exactly what we will end up doing? Not exactly:

Knowing does not entail determining

Just because God knows of the choices we will make, it does NOT mean that God has determined them for us...only we can do that. I still find it hard to comprehend, but my pastor presented an example that helped bit. Imagine a graph that contains space and time. All the choices we make in life will be plotted on this graph at a given space and time. God already KNOWS of all these choices. But are the ones who determined these choices, not him.

This has really put a whole new perspective on my life and my current state in life. Currently, I've been dwelling on some matters that have just been tearing me apart...matters that I continued to dwell on because I honestly thought that this was destiny...something I couldn't avoid. But I really shouldn't...I control my own fate...I don't have to put myself through this ordeal. And I am not anymore. My pastor said it best:

Just let go. Cut the thread that is clinging to your heart that is hurting you emotionally, mentally, and physically. Do it for your good.

And he is right...I've been allowing this thread to torture me for the past two months...trying to hang onto something because I still hope to turn something good out of it. But by doing so, I've only dug myself a deeper hole. I am going to do what my pastor said, just let go and concentrate on myself. Maybe down the road in my life, there will be a fork in the road for me to make a choice to perhaps try to deal with this thread/issue again...or maybe not...sometimes that's how life goes and I can do nothing but accept it.

I am thankful for tonight and the discussion I've had with my pastor. I truly hope this will stop all the dwelling, frustration, and pain I've had to endure for the last two months.