"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will..."
Ephesians 1:11
According to my Spirit-Filled Life Bible note, "Predestined does not suggest a fatalism that excludes some while including others, but assures an appointed plan and guaranteed destiny for all the redeemed." I'm not sure that I've ever quite heard it put that way before, but I like that. The idea of predestination is subject to much debate, a debate I will not get into here. There is, of course, a mystery to God's will. There is a courtship between God's will and destiny and our relationship with Him.
A friend and I were hiking yesterday and, at one point in the conversation, we talked about how you can't place God in a box. God is a God of order and structure. However, in many ways, life is fluid like a river. The river has banks and a clear channel it flows through, but it is not a rigid, immovable, unchangeable box.
Much of the reason life is fluid, I believe, is because God wants relationship, not formulas. Recently one of our guest speakers at church said that the reason knowing God's will can be difficult is because God wants us to seek Him, and in seeking Him we find His will. I find that in seeking Him the plans and purposes He has for me begin to come alive in my heart. His destiny for my life is most fully realized in His presence.
That seems to agree with Jeremiahs 29:11-13, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'"
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