Regarding the Dec. 3 letter “Part of God’s plan?”: God has a perfect plan for every person’s life, but he doesn’t make us walk that path. We are free moral agents with the ability to choose. He has told us what the right choices are, but he doesn’t make those choices for us. God gave us the power to control our destinies.

Man has been given the authority over his own life, but he must have the Lord’s direction to succeed. Jeremiah 10:23 says, “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”

God created us to be dependent upon him, and our independence is at the root of all our problems. As if it weren’t bad enough for man to try to run his affairs independently of God and his standards, it has been made even worse by religion teaching us that all our problems are actually blessings from God. That is a faith-killer. It makes people totally passive.

If a person really believed that God is the one who put sickness on them because he is trying to work something for good in their life, then they should not go to the doctor or take any medicine. That would be resisting God’s plans. They should let the sickness run its course and thereby get the full benefit of God’s correction. Of course, that is absurd. It is even more absurd to believe that God is the one behind the tragedy.

This is a fundamental doctrine of Christianity that must be understood properly if you want victory in your life. Believing that God controls everything renders a person passive. Why pray and believe for something better? Whatever God wants will come to pass. That simply is not true.

Staff Sgt. Mark JennrichCamp Humphreys, South Korea

Migrated