Predestination is one of those tricky concepts that a lot of people choose not to think about, because if you do, your brain just might explode. Do we make your own choices or not? It sure feels like it.

But we read in Ephesians, … He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will… (Eph 1:4-5)

God definitely chose us before the He even made the world. He knew who would serve Him and who wouldn’t. So how are we predestined, if we make have a choice?

Here’s how I figure it. We all have a destiny. That means that we all have a plan that God made especially for each of us. It’s tailor-made to suit our personal gifts, hopes, and dreams. It lines us up with God’s plan of redemption and how we should live in His kingdom.

But here’s the thing — we choose whether to accept it or not. The plan was designed for us before the world was made, but we are not forced to live it. If we decide to ignore this amazing blessing, then we are free to do so.

Predestination doesn’t mean that we are forced to live without personal choice, it means that God thought of how He wanted to bless us long before we ever created. That destiny lives in every one of us. All we have to do is receive it with grateful thanks.