![]() Return to Q & A God's foreknowledge and choosing of man's salvation is not a cause to consider one's self a robot. For how do any of us come to know of Christ in the first place? We come to know Christ, obviously, because of the call He gives, but is there not usually a person who comes into our lives at a specific point in time when we are primed and ready to hear the truth? Are these people or points in time happening by chance? Not remotely. God places people where they need to be when they need to be there for the cause of His will. Consider Acts 9:10-12 "And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight." Acts 9:10-12 Our Apostle Paul began his journey because of two reasons.1. God knocked him upside the head (for lack of a better phrase ) with a bright light. Saul immediately knew WHO it was that got his attention, but didn't thoroughly know where to go from there because it was his first experience. So the first piece of Paul's journey involved God making the first move. 2. God strategically put someone INTO Saul's life who did not immediately have it as his intention to be in Saul's service. It's not as though Ananias was jumping for joy at the thought of helping this man who had been doing so many drastic things to the church. So why did He go at all? Because God used Ananias to carry out the furtherance of His will toward Saul. Each of us are on a path that the Lord has set for us and each stop leads us into the path of someone else (another potential Body member) who ALSO is on a path that the Lord has set before them. Such is evangelism. Ananias was not necessarily an evangelist or a teacher, but he became somewhat of one simply by "going" to someone who he might not otherwise have gone to without the Lord's upper hand of persuasion. God's persuasive tactics are sometimes blatant and clear... yet sometimes they are subtle and indirect. But no matter which format He persuades us to be in a particular place at a particular time, He still gets us where He needs us to be. Consider that there is never a point in your life when God says, "Wait, I didn't see that one coming! What the am I gonna do now?! They took a different path from the one I already knew they'd take!" Of course, that would be illogical and disregarding to the Almighty if we concluded such. Our God knows all and is far above all things that we see on our limited level. So does a knowledge of HIS knowledge and choosing change our path of evangelism, teaching, or preaching? Not at all. Why? Because even if one is struggling to accept or comprehend the concept of His foreknowledge and choosing, did He not already know that this individual would go through a period of processing? God knows each and every thing that you are processing, studying, and coming to know because He only allows you to see, process, experience, study, or come to know what He believes you are ready and prepared to see at whatever point in time that you see it. "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" Philippians 1:6 He doesn't just begin a work in us. He finishes a work in us. But the beginning and end of that working is the course of our lives through which we will only see what He allows us to see. Otherwise, if we saw everything by our own efforts, what need would we have of Him at all?
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