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A random subject that has been rolling around in my head the past few days... does God have every detail of our lives, from birth until death, spelled out?

Or does God have basic plans for us but allows random events to take place in between?

Or both?

And sorta related: Did you ever look back at your past and understand why God allowed certain hardships to happen? Like maybe 5, 10, 20 years or more??

i believe it when scriptures describe how we do not see in full, that our ways are not God's ways, that we are called to live in faith and trust of God's plans.

i tend toward worry, so, it may not seem as though this is my belief! but, it is.
at the end of the day, and the beginning of the day, i try to live with my trust in our Lord.
when i do, i find peace.

so, whether God has every word and act in hand, or not, it's His to know, not mine.
we are called to faith and trust. for me, that means, "not knowing, as humans understand knowing in full."

as i review my life, i have no doubt God has been in control, and is in control, no matter how far away i might have "felt," or, how "in control," i may have believed i was. i don't believe this is unusual. many people look back over their lives and realize God led, in all circumstances.

after reading Hosea many times, i realized, God allows hardship with one purpose: to bring us closer to Him. He wants each of us with Him. he knows our rebellious nature, He knows pain is a sure means to put us on our knees before Him. this is not His hate for us, but His grace and love for us.

i don't have time to cite scriptures just now, but i can, if you like.
they are familiar passages, NT, nothing obscure.

in the OT, God's response to Gomer provides many insights to questions like, "why does God allow pain?"
Hosea consistently responds to God and Gomer in Christ-like ways, i understand this to be the OT "preparing for" or proceeding, the NT.

others on this forum have better words for what i'm fumbling to describe.

Maybe some will say I'm a bit too "predestinarian" in this, but 'random events', I don't tend to think so. God cannot be taken by surprise by our choices, and He must have lots of back-up plans. Maybe I'm already up to Plan ZZZA. But I also think that choices we make do affect the end result, as do the choices of others around us. Like maybe one of God's higher level plans for a certain guy was that a certain girl marry him, but she can decide not to. That does not, however (in my understanding), thrust both of them 'out of the will of God' for the rest of their lives.

Neto wrote:Maybe some will say I'm a bit too "predestinarian" in this, but 'random events', I don't tend to think so.

God cannot be taken by surprise by our choices, and He must have lots of back-up plans.
Maybe I'm already up to Plan ZZZA. But I also think that choices we make do affect the end result, as do the choices of others around us.

Like maybe one of God's higher level plans for a certain guy was that a certain girl marry him, but she can decide not to.

That does not, however (in my understanding), thrust both of them 'out of the will of God' for the rest of their lives.

interesting. frequently, we hear words like, "what if (this human law, or, that one) had never been passed?! - inferring that there was only one acceptable outcome or plan for any given problem!

as a Christian, i find this .. let's say, annoying.
it's grossly underestimating the power of God to respond in any number of ways, which He can!

for me, there would be a question, "what would God have done, had this human law not been passed?"

He would have done something! it may have been so much better-than that particular choice deemed "critical," or, "the only choice," etc.

those kinds of statements (to me) show lack of faith that God really does provide in all circumstances.
we may think we know what gained, but, will we ever know what we lost?!

of course, these statements are, also, very convenient PC statements that work to ensure "victors" control the public treasury on these stated matters. when it comes to government: follow the (taxpayers') money.

this is just one example. it's not always about politics. it's about every choice we make.
are we truly choosing God's will? it's often hard to know, our willfulness is strong. and, tricky.

Just off the top of my head your question reminded me of [bible]Jeremiah 1,5[/bible]
[bible]Psalm 139, 13-16[/bible]
[bible]Matthew 10,30[/bible]
and
[bible]Luke 12, 7 [/bible].
I'll let you discern these passages for yourself.