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In response to Dr. Paul Brand’s statement, would you exchange your freedom to choose in order to enjoy freedom from pain?
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This is an interesting question. While I enjoy the freedoms of choice, I often feel like I just want God to tell me what to do..I want to know the future and that it will be what is best. I also know that through our free choice we grow. Without free will we would not truly love God because we are obeying because we have no choice. True love comes from the freedom to choose to love.
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This makes me think of when I came to Christ and how in that moment I was asked by a friend (a coworker actually who happened to be a pastor) why I thought that I had managed to be successful in life even though many of the things I described to him from the first 20 years of my life were painful. I see so much good coming out of that pain now (but I did not see it then, of course). Without that pain and trouble I would not be who I am (sounds like a cliche, but it is true). I would not be the leader I am. I would not be as fit as a I am. I would not be the father that I am. I would not be the husband I am. Was the pain and suffering hard? Of course. Did I enjoy it? Of course not! But the freedom I had that led to the pain has allowed me to appreciate all that God has done for me that much more. So, no, I would never trade my freedom to choose in order to enjoy freedom from pain.
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I can agonize over a decision on what to buy at McDonalds. So at times I have wished for someone to make any decision for me so I don’t make a wrong choice. Yet I suspect that ceding such control to another person would lead to conflict and a desire to rebel. Ultimately, I think we all want to be like Pinocchio when he declared, “There are no strings on me.” Free will includes the freedom to choose unwisely, yet it remains the only way we can truly choose to love God freely and unforced.