I have a decent grasp theologically on the role of free will. It is a necessary aspect of our humanity and God desired us to choose Him rather than to be forced into being with Him.
I wouldn't have done it this way.
Which is yet another reason (if you needed one) that you can thank God that I am not God.
I am not that generous or that loving to create all of everything and then simply let them choose me or not choose me. With all power and perfect knowledge, I think I would be a bit more forceful than God.
Currently, the Lord is allowing me to see how little power I actually have. It should be simple for me to grasp it, but it is taking a while for it to sink into my dense brain. I cannot make anyone do anything. Even with the best reasoning, the most loving disposition, and gentle truth, I cannot push someone to do something they don't want to do. Or, at least, I cannot make them desire it. The choice may be clear for me, but if it is not for them, then nothing I do or say can change them.
A brief survey of the culture and the world and I am mentally snatching free will from others, those who don't use it correctly. (Of course, I would be one of the first to admit that I would also need my free will revoked on many, many occasions.) I think I am solving all the problems by removing the ability to choose the wrong. The multiple choice questions seem to be tripping humanity up, and so I cleverly devise a test they cannot fail: choose A. No questions, no other options. Wouldn't that be perfect?
Obviously, God had something else in mind. What if it was better to give humanity choices, so that rather than all choosing A (purely for lack of another option), some would choose A because they desired it? That must yield greater glory to God. Not a mindless group of robots, but living, breathing, willing beings who follow God because they choose it.
Regardless, my heart still revolts against the reality that I can do nothing to make someone want something. Perhaps this cardiac revolution is a good thing. It can teach me that I am little and must always remember that. It can teach me that my will is the only thing I can actually control and to seek to make it in complete accord with God's will. It can teach me that rather than constructing perfect arguments or dwelling in frustration, I can turn to prayer, something that slips beyond the bonds of time and is mysteriously used to further God's plan.
The gift of free will is a mystery. As a mere human, I cannot fully grasp why God saw it best to give these finite beings such a gift.
"Here the will of God is done, as God wills, and for as long as God wills." --St. Gerard Majella
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