A Big Circle Or A Straight Path?

A friend said that our walk isn’t really a straight path, but more of a giant circle. We’re traveling in that circle in any direction and no matter what, we are still in Gods will. No matter what path we chose, even if it’s a horrible one, God will still have us end in the end where he intended us to be. Is this true?

Q. I grew up thinking that God and his infinite wisdom had a set plan for every single person. That there were a skinny little path, a perfect will that no body could possibly get. Now I knew I wouldn’t get it to be perfect, but I figured that I needed to get as close to the “Right Path” as possible. It really brings a lot of fear in me when I start thinking that I’m on the wrong path for Gods will.

A friend said that our walk isn’t really a straight path, but more of a giant circle. We’re traveling in that circle in any direction and no matter what, we are still in Gods will. No matter what path we chose, even if it’s a horrible one, God will still have us end in the end where he intended us to be. Is this true?

I know Gods will cannot be thwarted, but we can refuse to do what he asks right? If so, then he isn’t all powerful right? I’m slightly confused.

Also, what does “Angel of the Lord” in the OT really stand for? Some say that it can stand for Jesus. If this is so, then is it true that he killed 185,000 people in one moment?

A. If you’re talking about the world in general, your friend is wrong because according to 2 Peter 3:9 if everyone wound up right where God intended, then everyone would wind up saved, and that isn’t so. God is all powerful, but has given man the the ultimate authority to choose His own destiny. This is so man can freely choose whether or not to accept God’s love.

For believers it’s a little different. Our lives can be compared to the Prodigal Son, who against his father’s wishes took his inheritance and wasted it on a hedonistic lifestyle. As soon as he came to his senses and returned to the family, he was welcomed back as if nothing had happened. He may have left his father’s home and spent some time out of his will but never stopped being his father’s child.

So it is with a believer. I’m convinced that to some extent God withdraws His protective covering from believers who wander away so that we won’t prosper apart from Him. When we come to our senses and return we’re welcomed back as if nothing had happened. We may have left our father’s home and spent some time out of His will but we never stop being our father’s child.

Jesus promised us that He would never lose even one of those the Father had given Him (John 6:39) and Paul wrote in 2 Cor 1:21-22 that God Himself takes responsibility for our security when we become believers.

It’s a rule of thumb that in the Old Testament When the phrase “angel of the Lord” is preceded by “an” it means an angel. When it’s preceded by “the” it’s the Lord Jesus. According to Isaiah 37:36 It was The Angel of the Lord who killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night.