Adjustment Bureau

Note: "bureau" is a difficult word to spell.

On the plane home from China this time around, I spent most of my time listening to Dracula and cross-stitching. When I finished the book and had almost killed my iPod, I started paying attention to the movies to see if anything was worth watching. First up: Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son. Wow. Dozed through that.

Eventually it came to "The Adjustment Bureau" with Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. I had never heard of it, but it looked interesting, so I watched. It's like a romantic action blur...romanction? That alone made it unique to me. But then I started analyzing it and pondering the worldview of the movie. It is about the presence of angels in our world, and their place in keeping us stupid humans in the will of God. One of them tells Matt Damon's character that we used to have free will, but we didn't know what to do with it and ended up almost ruining the entire world. Matt Damon's character has gone "off book" and so the angels spend the whole movie trying to keep him away from the woman, which of course makes him want to be with her all the more. In the end, he tries to get all the way to God to plead his case to keep the woman in his life. It ends with God re-writing His will to let the two stay together. Aw, for cute! He fought for her and won! The prince and his princess get to be together, happily ever after!

Wait, what?

The worldview of this movie is one where God is some High Power which sits on High, uninvolved, waiting for his puny stupid creations to mess up. He took away our free will because we couldn't handle the freedom to make our own choices, and sends his angels to make sure we follow the book. Also according to this worldview, if we fight it enough, God will change His will to give us our way.

I am not about to claim that I understand God. His ways and thoughts are higher! (Isaiah 40) But there are some Truths which cannot be denied. One is that yes, God has a will--a plan--for each of our lives. In fact, that plan was written by Him long before each of us existed. That plan is one for His glory and our good. The other Truth is that humans were indeed created with free will. Each and every one of us has the ability to make choices for our own lives. We can choose to walk in the path God has set before us, and in so doing choose the best life we could possibly imagine. We can also choose to walk away from God, and in so doing write our own life story. But let me give you this guarantee: the life you would write for yourself may be wonderful for awhile, but it will end in misery. Not because God wants you to be miserable, but He will allow you to live in sin if you so choose. He will continue to pursue your heart until the end, but if you continue to choose to live for yourself instead of for Him, then the consequences are all yours to bear.

Summary: Predestination and Free Will are both True. Choose Jesus.