Is There Fate or Free Will in This Awesome Universe God Has Made?

How to reconcile our beliefs on freedom and destiny

I have to admit it. Sometimes I want to believe in fate. There is something about fate that feels good, that feels right. To think that some wonderful events were meant to be. To believe that there are people that were meant to come into your life.

Believing in fate helps you go through difficult moments. It gives you faith that there is some unseen force working in your favor, that wants the best for you, and that will make a way somehow so that you could have your happy ending.

What a comfort to know that you are being taken care of and that things are under control even when they don't seem to be.

Ah, there is still hope even when you could no longer see how things could still be right. There could yet be a happy future despite the darkness that you see today.

Such is fate. Positive fate. Who wouldn't want a happy ending? Who wouldn't dream of a life filled with meaning, whose every crisis was woven to bring you greater joy?

But what if your fate is not something that leads you to a happily-ever-after? What if sorrow and tragedy await you in the end?

When I think about that, free will seems to be a more comforting thought. Being given the choice to do as I desire. To turn my life around and not wait for anyone else to take charge of things.

I will decide. I will pursue. I'd dream my dreams and work hard until they become a reality.

Why should I wait for someone else to make things happen for me?

Free will should have won it all. Free will should have ended my search for answers.

But free will is also tiring. Free will can be unforgiving. When you think that everything depends upon your powers and your hard work.

Because the truth is that I could never do everything. And as much as I’d like to, I can’t always make things happen the way I’d want them to.

There’d be times I’d fall. Times when I get so tired I’d wish there was someone who could tell me, “It’s okay. Things can still turn out better in the end. Not everything depends upon your efforts alone.”

But then again, if I start to believe in that, I’d merely go back to wanting to believe in fate.

Could it be that there is something beyond these choices I think I’m making? Is it possible that in some mysterious way, both fate and free will could accomplish what is best for us?

Somehow I think that it is. Just like joy can sometimes mingle secretly with sorrow. Just like the rain can sometimes greet the sun.

In a hidden way, there is a force that reconciles the two, allowing us to live in freedom while giving us peace that all things can still be well. In a magnificent mingling of realities, there is a force that abides and sets us free.

There is a power that holds this universe together and weaves both free will and fate into a tapestry of beauty, wisdom and of truth.

Predestination

We can’t help but recall the term “predestination” whenever we talk about fate and free will. The Catholic Encyclopedia defines it as follows:

“Predestination (Latin præ, destinare), taken in its widest meaning, is every Divine decree by which God, owing to His infallible prescience of the future, has appointed and ordained from eternity all events occurring in time…”

In a way, predestination can easily be mistaken for fate, something that has been planned to happen from the very beginning. To avoid this, the Catechism of the Catholic Church clarifies:

“To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of ‘predestination’, he includes in it each person's free response to his grace…” (CCC 600)

As we can see, predestination involves both man’s free will and the unfathomable designs of God.

Each person, therefore, is bestowed one’s God-given free will. No one can ever say that he or she is a mere puppet being moved against one’s will. At the same time, we know that there is a force of love, power and wisdom that moves in our lives, designing all things out of beauty and truth, and supporting all that is good. Yes, we have been given freedom. But we have not been left alone. By God’s grace and mercy, there is a Hand that will help us and save us by faith even when we fall, even when we become too weak to carry on.

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn amongst many brothers. Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified.” - Romans 8:28-30, WEBBE

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