When we view things through the prism of the foreknowledge of God, we are able to see that He was ever-present, albeit invisibly. Yes, it was our choice that determined our destiny, but He foreknew that choice. He knew where we would go, when and how we would go, and what we would do when we got there. He knew the outcome of everything. He is the Eternal, the God who, although outside of Time, works ever patiently through Time to fulfill His purpose in the life of every person.
Some people have been kept alive through terrible events because God knew that they would one day yield to His will and submit to Jesus as Lord. We should not think of this fatalistically — as though we have been borne along on the endless current of the Divine Will regardless of what we might have done in our own will to circumvent the will of God.
His Spirit might whisper, “Don’t parachute today” or “Don’t leap across that gap”, or “Don’t jump into that surf”. God is invisible but not impartial or uncaring about the choices we make; nor is He unaware of issues relating to our personal security.
Next time you see a video clip, think of God as the ever-present but unseen and often unrecognized Recorder of Everything. Whatever we do, wherever we go He is there already, waiting and watching. Nothing surprises Him because everything was known to Him from the beginning, yet nothing was inevitable, which eliminates the idea or involvement of Fatalism.
As for things recorded that you wish hadn’t been, Jesus edits them out when you turn away from them and ask God for His forgiveness.
Better to voice your heartfelt repentance for sins now than to have the shameful details released and screened before a worldwide audience live at a date yet to be disclosed — with maybe everyone you knew viewing them in detail.
I once wrote “From Gutter to Glory”, the biography of Thomas Varney, a convicted arsonist and would-be cop killer who came to know and accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. The then Victorian Attorney General investigated the validity of the change in Tom’s life and approved his pardon. Tom told me that when pardoned, a criminal’s past record is not just overlooked but burned — literally. (Nowadays it would be deleted.) Which means that it no longer exists and so never can be remembered, much less be brought up ever again.
This is what God promises every person who surrenders to Jesus and confesses his or her sins. Not because they promise not to repeat their sins — that would not be a pardon but a probation. In the latter case, any repeat of the offence would bring the penalty owed for the original offence down upon them.
God’s pardon of our sins is based on our willingness to yield our lives to His Son, Jesus. No bargaining, no promise of trying not to repeat them and offending Him again. Just the acceptance that Jesus died for sinners — and that’s what we all were until asking God to forgive us because Jesus paid the price for us by shedding his blood on the Cross. You might say, “I’m not like Tom Varney was. I’ve tried to live a good life.” Maybe you have but your good is not good enough by God’s standard of holiness (spiritual cleanliness). “All have sinned and have fallen short…”
So, get a life! Not one that you can get, but one that Jesus got for you by bearing your sin in his own body on the Cross. Anything else — however good it may be — falls short of God’s requirement of human perfection and so is unacceptable to God. Any refusal of God’s invitation will damn you forever. Tough but true. Now it’s up to you.