Free will is cast aside the moment we are born. Being born is like waken up out at sea...you have no say to being out there and you are immediately FORCED to rely on your parents or carers. As you become responsible for yourself you are then forced into the choice of sinking or swimming. The direction you swim is based on the information you have gathered in your life. And everybody needs a reason to sink...which is mostly depression...when has a person who is pleased with their life and knowingly has everything to live for chosen to sink?
Those who believe in free will mostly confuse "will" with "choice"...yet, even our choices are influenced...because our choices are subject to our will...our will is subject to our reasons....our reasons are subject to our circumstances...and our circumstances are subject to?
I always tell people instead of asking stupid questions like do humans have free will, the question should be who or what determines our circumstances?
I find it ironic that we humans live in houses to be personal and comfortable, we have beds to sleep, transportation to travel, fridges to store food in, freezers, keys, etc, etc, everything we have created in the man made world has a particular purpose, even all parts of the human body each have a particular function and yet despite this, many believe our very existence is by "chance" (for no particular purpose). How ironic and cruel would that be?
Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Easier said than done - But after a trial we can usually see the benefit in how it changed us.
I like this verse a lot. I always tell friends and family...so many people want to get to a stage in their lives where they no longer have any problems and where they are always "happy".
The truth is, life IS problems. If anyone ever gets to a stage in life where everything is "rosy", I suggest they check their pulse...because it's either that or they have stopped growing.
An analogy would be a bodybuilder. Would he get strong if he didn't lift any weights? Muscle grows when it is under stress...but of course growth is achieved bit by bit, as a bodybuilder doesn't immediately lift the extremely heavier weights, he gradually lifts heavier.
As a general rule, people who grow up to make use of themselves in "tough" backgrounds are much more resilient than those who were born with "silver spoons" in their mouths.
I don't know about the States, but in the UK most people in positions of power are Upper Class. Again, I'm generalising but I'm of the opinion that many Upper Class people are brought up with little backbone. Many were brought up use to borrowing money when they needed it (namely from mommy and daddy) rather than earning it. So it's no surprise the economy is the way it is...they have little experience generating wealth, only borrowing money from others.
Getting back to topic, what I'm saying is trials and tribulations are our friends not our enemies, they make us better.
This is why I don't tend to measure a man by his successes, I measure him by how he responds to failure. EVERYBODY fails, EVERYBODY struggles, NOBODY is consistent...but one day things will change...and THAT DAY is all that matters....the past is merely the groundwork for the PRESENT.
After all, nobody is born righteous. And everything is hard until it is easy...
This is why God asks us to repent...the past will be pardoned.
I also like to remind myself daily of what Paul said in 1 Cor 10:13:
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." In this age, what good is hope without despair? Good without evil? And finally, a problem without a solution?
God isn't molding the elect into clowns, He is molding the elect into Kings and Lords...they will pave the way for the rest of humanity.
I have come to understand, If we follow a path long enough, we will eventually see that the obstacles, obstructions and resistance were internal all along, and they will continue to be and they will always be. Nor are we following a path...we ARE the path.