The Choice is Yours
Free will, hands down, is one of the best but most dangerous gifts that we as humans have ever received. The presence of free will negates the concepts of fate and destiny.
Religious beliefs aside, I've never been a fan of fate and destiny beliefs because they help the masses negate accountability and responsibility for the choices they make. Sayings such as "Everything happens for a reason," implies that there is some puppeteer that is pulling the the strings of our lives and he crafts situations in our lives to teach us lessons.
Yes, "everything happens for a reason," but have you ever considered that the choices that you have deliberately made or have allowed to be made for you are the sources of many of your frustrations?
Choosing to start a family by any means necessary is a choice that you have the right to make, but don't be fooled into thinking that there will not be life long consequences for both you, your child and the lives of those that choose to stand with you in that decision.
Not sure what to do? Sadly, many find themselves overwhelmed and paralyzed with fear and doubt that they make no decision at some of the most pivotal points in their lives. But get this, not making a decision is still making a decision. By choosing not to be an active participant, you are in fact choosing to relinquish your decision making powers. So be it. Those consequences though, they follow the act, not the person who made the decision for you. Whoever comes into contact with that action, they are forced to experience all of the consequences--good or bad. Take a young man that fathers a baby and later chooses to opt out of the parenting team for what may be very understandable, yet not justifiable, reasons. However, there are consequences that come with that. Your child may be raised to hate you, he may grow up feeling unloved, or may reject you once you attempt to return.
Or how about the pedestrians that choose to flout all traffic laws by walking at night in the dark wearing all black (that must be the official wardrobe of choice for pedestrians) and crossing wherever the mood strikes--always outside the confines of a cross walk. It's risky behavior, but it is a risk they are taking unnecessarily. People who can't afford not one more thing to go wrong tend to take the biggest risks. Getting hit by a car while running across the street to grab something from the convenient store could put a carless person flat on his back with a mountain of medical bills that may not be paid by the driver being that you're at fault, So yeah, you can cross the street wherever you choose, but you're not free from the consequences.
Free will belongs to all of us. God doesn't put things in our path to test us. He teaches us through his word, he proclaims the blessing and the malediction from the start. Your choice to abide by his principles or to follow your own desires are up to you. You are free to choose, you are not, however, free from the consequences of your choices.
