Divine Sovereignty and Human Free Will: The Divine Director Theory
How God fulfills prophecy through genuine human freedom—not despite it
Addendum: October 22, 2025
I've been spending too much time wrestling with free will lately, and it's been both depressing me and paradoxically leading to inaction. So this is a note to myself and to anyone else caught in this theological paralysis:
Act like God has destined you for an incredibly exciting, impactful, action-packed life.
Even if God is steering your ship, make sure you wake up every day with the intention to row diligently. Until you clearly sense God wants you to stop or redirect, keep rowing with everything you've got.
Don't let yourself be paralyzed by the notion that your days have already been predetermined. Even if they are, assume your days are mapped out to be exceptional, action-oriented, high-impact, and full of faith, signs, wonders, miracles, and great works advancing the Great Commission.
If you're reading this niche theological document buried in my Faith Walk OS, just assume that you have been chosen. You've been called. You ARE chosen. Stop wondering about it and start acting like it.
The theological complexities below are worth exploring at some point if you're nerdy like me and questions of free will eat at your mind, but whatever you conclude about free will should never become an excuse for passivity.
Act like your predestination, if you want to think about it that way, is toward greatness in God's kingdom. Now go live like it!
For a practical letter about converting this theological understanding into marketplace action, see Letter to Myself: The Wealth Already in Your Hands.
This piece is a starting point for discussion with people smarter than me about how God works, touching on themes theologians and church fathers have debated for centuries: prophecy, God's sovereignty, free will, and love.
What follows explores: how God might orchestrate prophecy without violating free will (the Divine Director theory), why predestination shouldn't lead to despair, how the Holy Spirit coordinates billions of free actors in real-time, and why institutional Christianity's tendency to replace Holy Spirit guidance with denominational hierarchy is spiritually dangerous.
The Puzzle That Started This Exploration
I've been puzzling over something fundamental: How does God ensure His prophecies come to pass while giving us genuine free will?
It's not explicitly written in the Bible, but I connect God's love with the fact that He created us—even though He didn't need to—so we can experience free will and ultimately choose to come to Him, follow His Son, and be in right relationship with Him. He gave us the choice.
I think that's incredibly loving.
When I think about a loving father, I think about one who allows his child to repent and come back into right relationship. Not unconditionally, but with abundant grace.
At the ultimate scale, you can be a mass murderer and still repent and be in right relationship with God, through his grace. That's actually beautiful.
The Prophecy Problem
But how do I square this with the fact that God seems to have perfectly ordered everything?
For example, why does it feel like everything prophesied about the Jews (many consider modern Israel to be the Israel of the Bible—descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) is coming to pass? Why does it feel like God always makes sure these prophecies are fulfilled?
How can He do that if we're not just robots being coerced to do exactly what He needs us to do?
The Divine Director Hypothesis
Here's my theory: God is like the director of an epic immersive theater production on an infinite stage where He gives all the actors the ability to say their lines—or not. The Holy Spirit is literally giving us our lines, our cues, telling us exactly what to do and when.
We have genuine freedom to follow our script or improvise, to stay on God's stage or wander off. When we go off-script, God doesn't force us back. Instead, He'll recast the role, rewrite scenes for other actors, redirect the action—but the production always moves toward His prophesied finale.
If you're willing to re-enter the production after walking away, He'll write you back in. But He reserves the most epic roles—the starring parts in His grand narrative—for people who consistently follow their cues, who listen to the Holy Spirit's direction moment by moment.
The Holy Spirit serves as God's stage manager across this infinite theater—whispering lines to one actor here, cueing an entrance there, orchestrating simultaneous scenes across the cosmos, all while respecting the genuine freedom of each actor to perform or exit the stage.
A Human Microcosm: Sleep No More
There's an immersive theater production called "Sleep No More" that serves as a fascinating, if imperfect, microcosm of what I'm describing at a cosmic scale.
In Sleep No More, audience members wander freely through a massive warehouse experiencing different scenes of Macbeth in different orders, following different characters. Actors perform whether anyone's watching or not. The story unfolds simultaneously across multiple floors and rooms. Yet despite all this freedom and chaos, every performance ends the same way: Macbeth is hanged in the ballroom. All paths lead to that prophesied conclusion.
The production also features intimate one-on-one moments where actors occasionally pull individual audience members aside for special scenes—moments of particular calling that not everyone receives. The interaction is always initiated by the performers, never demanded by the audience. You can't force these moments or interfere with others' experiences; you can only respond when chosen.
Now, this analogy isn't perfect. In Sleep No More, the audience members are mostly observers with limited participation, whereas in God's production, we're all actors with real roles. The human production has boundaries and closes each night, while God's theater is infinite and eternal. And obviously, Macbeth's tragedy isn't the story God is telling—His narrative is one of redemption, not inevitable doom.
But the structural parallel is illuminating: genuine freedom of movement and choice coexisting with a predetermined ending, special callings given to some but not all, and a master director ensuring the finale occurs regardless of individual choices. Humans created this theatrical form as if unconsciously modeling what's happening at the cosmic level.
A Real-World Example: Trump and Jerusalem
Now let's move from the human theater of Sleep No More to God's cosmic production and consider a real-world example.
In 2017, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the U.S. embassy there—a move many see as fulfilling prophecy about Israel's control over Jerusalem before the End Times.
Many believe Trump was chosen (or cast) by God for this specific role in ensuring Jerusalem remains under Israeli sovereignty, which numerous prophecies suggest must happen before Christ's return. (Scripture points to Jewish control of Jerusalem in the End Times—Jesus himself said in Luke 21:24 that Jerusalem would be "trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled," implying Jewish control would be restored. Zechariah 12:2-3 describes Jerusalem as a "cup of trembling" and "burdensome stone" for all nations when God defends its Jewish inhabitants. Many interpret these passages, along with the temple prophecies in Daniel and Revelation, as requiring Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem.)
But what if Trump had decided not to run for president? What if he didn't want to accept this lead role?
- Would God have allowed that?
- Did God give Trump genuine free will to make that choice?
- Or did He give Trump only the illusion of free will?
- Is the illusion of free will actually loving?
If Trump hadn't run, would God have found another way to ensure Jerusalem remained in Israeli control and recognized internationally?
I suspect yes. If God wills Jerusalem to play its prophesied role in the End Times, maybe in a scenario where Netanyahu didn't win the Israel prime minister's seat and someone other than Trump was in office, God would find a whole different way—a whole different cast of characters—to bring about (or perhaps, act out) the prophecies concerning Jerusalem.
Why This Matters: Wrestling With Predestination
Much of this theorizing comes from wrestling with the doctrine of predestination—something brilliant theologians have debated for centuries. I don't claim to have the authority or wisdom to settle this debate. Scripture clearly speaks of election and predestination. Paul writes that we were "chosen before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4). Jesus himself said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (John 6:44).
Many faithful, intelligent Christians throughout history have affirmed predestination. And they have strong biblical grounds for doing so. I respect that position deeply.
What troubles me is when predestination becomes fatalism—when it leads people to passivity about their salvation or, worse, despair about whether they're among the elect. This is where I think we need crucial nuance.
Here's what I know with certainty: If you're wondering whether you're among the elect, stop wondering and act as if you are. Take it seriously. Choose Christ with your will. The very fact that you have any interest in God, any concern about your salvation, any drawing toward Christ—that itself could be the evidence of God's calling.
Consider this paradox that even strong predestinationists acknowledge: We're commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, yet it's God who works in us (Philippians 2:12-13). Both human responsibility and divine sovereignty are true. How? That's the mystery. But the practical response is clear: Come to Christ.
As one reformed pastor wisely put it: "You're not going to have an 'E' stamped on your back marking you as elect. The way you know you're elect is you repent and come to Christ."
The danger I see in certain interpretations of predestination is when they become:
- An excuse for inaction ("If I'm elect, it'll happen; if not, there's nothing I can do")
- A source of despair ("What if I'm not chosen?")
- A reason to treat faith as purely passive rather than an active response
But here's the powerful truth: Everyone who comes to Christ in faith discovers they were chosen. The elect aren't a secret list—they're those who respond to God's call. And if you feel any pull toward God, any conviction of sin, any desire for Christ—that's your call. Answer it.
Don't let theological complexity paralyze you. God "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). Christ's invitation is universal: "Whoever comes to me I will never cast out" (John 6:37). These aren't empty words.
The Divine Director theory I'm proposing doesn't dismiss predestination—it tries to understand how God's choosing and our choosing work together. God orchestrates situations where people freely choose Him. He knows who will respond, but the response is still genuine, still ours to make.
Maybe I was preordained to have a heart for Christ. Maybe you are too. But you'll only know by coming to Him. The elect aren't identified by special knowledge but by their response to the Gospel.
So if you're reading this: Act like you're chosen. Come to Christ with whatever faith you have. Let Him sort out the theology while you respond to His call. Because ultimately, the only way to miss being among the elect is to refuse the very invitation that proves you're being called.
The Paradox of Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
How do I reconcile eternal consequences with the Divine Director theory? How can people be eternally damned for playing roles in God's cosmic production?
The answer is a paradox I can't fully resolve but must accept: People are genuinely responsible for their choices even within God's sovereign orchestration.
Consider Judas. Jesus said of him: "The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born" (Matthew 26:24). The betrayal was prophesied and necessary for salvation's plan, yet Judas bore full responsibility for his choice.
This is the mystery: God's sovereignty doesn't eliminate human responsibility. Those who reject God make genuine choices to embrace evil. That they serve a purpose in God's larger narrative doesn't absolve them of accountability.
The Holy Spirit's Role in Divine Coordination
I absolutely believe God is actively orchestrating things on a broader scale.
The Holy Spirit isn't just giving vague impressions. As I've written extensively in The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, He provides specific, daily guidance to believers. He's the "executive director" of this dispensation, actively coordinating Kingdom operations on Earth.
And here's the beautiful paradox: The Holy Spirit gives specific guidance while preserving genuine free will. How?
The Holy Spirit as Stage Manager:
- He gives different actors their lines and cues at precisely the right moments
- He responds in real-time to who delivers their lines and who freezes or exits
- He adjusts the staging based on billions of actors making free choices across the infinite stage
- He orchestrates "divine appointments" where multiple people's paths converge at exactly the right moment
Think about it: If millions (or billions) of believers are receiving their lines from the same Holy Spirit, He can direct this massive production in real-time, responding to each actor's choices as they genuinely decide whether to take the stage.
I've felt this personally. The Holy Spirit has given me specific lines—sometimes exact words to say or precise timing for my entrance onto a particular stage. But I always had the choice to deliver those lines or remain silent, to enter on cue or miss my mark. When I've followed His direction, I've often discovered later how my scene intersected perfectly with other actors' storylines He was orchestrating.
Here's a recent example: A highly gifted pastor had, during prayer, the Holy Spirit put a woman's name on his mind. A couple months later, my name came to her mind during her prayer time. Now the three of us are working together on shared missions. This isn't coincidence—this is the Holy Spirit directing three different actors in three different locations, giving us each our cues at precisely the right moments to bring us together. We all had the freedom to ignore those promptings, but we chose to follow them, and now we're part of the same scene He was orchestrating months in advance.
As you can see, this isn't just individual direction—it's divine production management on an infinite stage. The Holy Spirit is simultaneously:
- Giving lines to actors across the globe
- Recasting roles when actors refuse their parts
- Advancing the Kingdom narrative through willing performers
- Ensuring the prophesied finale occurs through freely chosen performances
This is why following the Holy Spirit's direction is so critical. When we deliver our lines as given, we become part of His grand production. When we walk off stage or go off-script, He rewrites and recasts—the prophesied ending still happens, just with different actors playing the parts we refused.
A God Who Works With Freedom, Not Against It
I believe God's sovereignty is dynamic, not static. He's the divine director of an epic production where actors have genuine freedom to follow the script or improvise, to stay on stage or walk off.
The Holy Spirit is constantly giving us our lines—whispering exactly what to say, when to enter, how to move. But we always have the choice to follow His direction or ignore it. When actors go off-script, God doesn't stop the play. He adapts, recasts, rewrites—always ensuring the story reaches its prophesied conclusion.
Those who consistently follow the Holy Spirit's direction get the lead roles in God's grand narrative. Those who occasionally listen get supporting parts. Those who walk off stage entirely? God finds new actors. The play goes on.
Every fulfilled prophecy testifies not only to God's sovereignty but also to the reality of human freedom—a freedom so genuine that God works within its constraints, using the Holy Spirit to guide willing hearts rather than overriding unwilling ones.
This makes His accomplishments more impressive, not less. Anyone can stage a puppet show with strings attached. But to direct a perfect narrative finale while giving every actor genuine freedom to perform or walk away? That requires infinite wisdom and skill.
The Danger of Institutional Christianity: Outsourcing Your Stage Direction
Here's where institutional Christianity often goes wrong—and why it's deeply dangerous.
Many denominational structures essentially function as mini-dictatorships where people delegate their thinking about who they are in Christ and what their callings are to institutional hierarchies. They're outsourcing their discernment of their divine roles—their lines in God's production—to human institutions rather than maintaining direct relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Think about the absurdity: God provides the Holy Spirit as our personal stage manager, whispering our exact lines, giving us specific cues, directing our unique performances in His grand narrative. But instead of listening to Him, millions of Christians hand over that authority to pastors, bishops, the Pope, etc. They're essentially saying, "I don't want to hear from the Divine Director directly—let these human intermediaries tell me my part."
This is like an actor in Sleep No More refusing to follow the production's actual stage direction and instead asking random audience members what they should do. It makes no sense.
When institutional Christianity tells you "to be a good Christian, you must do X, Y, and Z"—creating a factory model of identical performances—they're replacing the Holy Spirit's creative, personalized direction with human-made scripts. God is an infinitely creative screenwriter. He doesn't cast a million people in the same generic role. He has unique parts for each of us, specific lines only we can deliver, particular stages only we're meant to enter.
When humans insert themselves between believers and the Holy Spirit, they inevitably corrupt the message. They add their own agendas, their own interpretations, their own power plays. Suddenly God's dynamic, living direction becomes rigid dogma. The Holy Spirit's whispers get drowned out by institutional pronouncements.
Jesus confronted this exact problem with the Pharisees, who had created elaborate systems of rules and hierarchies that blocked people from God. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces" (Matthew 23:13). They had replaced God's living guidance with human traditions, making themselves intermediaries who "tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders" (Matthew 23:4). Sound familiar?
You cannot cut out the Holy Spirit as your stage manager and hand that role to human institutions. The Pope, or any spiritual mentor of yours, no matter how devout, cannot replace the Holy Spirit's direct guidance in your life. Your teacher, no matter how gifted, cannot tell you your unique lines in God's production. Denominational structures, no matter how historically rooted, cannot substitute for the living relationship with the Spirit who actually knows the Director's intent.
This doesn't mean community is unimportant or that we can't learn from spiritual mentors. But there's a massive difference between iron sharpening iron—believers helping each other hear the Holy Spirit more clearly—and institutional replacement of the Holy Spirit's role.
When you delegate your spiritual discernment to institutional structures, you're not just missing your cues. You're refusing to even listen for them. You're walking off God's stage while thinking you're still in the production because some human institution told you that sitting in their building counts as performance.
How Does God Know If We Will Say Our Lines?
One question you might be wondering is: "How does God know that any particular path at any point in time—given all the lines He's giving to believers, plus all the independent factors happening in the world, including the actions of non-believers—how does He know there's even a path to fulfilling the prophecies He most cares about?"
Think about the sheer complexity: billions of free agents making choices, spiritual forces at work, natural events unfolding, non-believers acting independently. How can God be certain His prophecies will come to pass when so many variables are genuinely free?
I think the key is that God regularly orchestrates situations where He places people in circumstances where they will freely choose to follow what the Holy Spirit says. This dramatically limits the possibilities and makes this overall a much more solvable problem. By continually nudging willing hearts through the Holy Spirit's guidance, He maintains countless pathways toward prophetic fulfillment.
When the Holy Spirit prompts that pastor to think of a specific woman's name, and months later prompts her to think of mine, God isn't forcing anything. He knows that in those particular moments, given our spiritual states and circumstances, we would freely respond to those promptings. He stages the scenes where our genuine choices create the divine appointments He desires.
But ultimately, how does God know that from any state—with all the different free agents, particles, elements in the spirit realm—there's always a pathway to prophecies being fulfilled?
I have no idea. But I suspect part of the answer has to do with Him really knowing us deeply—knowing our character, our tendencies, our hearts. Really knowing the nature of demons and all the different agents in the spiritual realm. Really understanding every force at play with perfect intimacy.
God knows God. His infinite knowledge and wisdom transcend our ability to fully comprehend. He doesn't just see all possible futures—He actively orchestrates situations where free choices align with His purposes, always maintaining pathways to His prophesied ends.
A Starting Point, Not a Conclusion
I'm not claiming to have solved millennia-old theological debates. This is my attempt to make sense of the tension between God's absolute sovereignty and our genuine freedom—a tension I feel every day as I experience both the Holy Spirit's specific guidance and my own genuine choices.
What I'm certain of: The God who numbers every hair on our heads exercises His sovereignty not by pulling our strings but through the Holy Spirit's active, real-time direction—orchestrating a production where our free performances accomplish His perfect script.
The Holy Spirit is the key to this mystery—He's how God remains the intimate Director without becoming a puppeteer. Every day, millions of us receive our lines, our cues, our stage directions, and choose whether to perform them. Through this vast ensemble cast of Spirit-directed (but not Spirit-forced) performances, God produces history's grand narrative toward its prophesied finale.
That's a Director worthy of worship. That's a love that preserves our dignity as genuine actors while ensuring His story reaches its destined finale. We're not marionettes—we're performers invited to play meaningful roles in the greatest production ever staged.
And remember: If you've read this far, if something stirred in you while reading this—don't wonder if you're among the elect. Act like you are. There's a reason you're reading this piece. The Holy Spirit doesn't waste His whispers. Your cue has been given. Will you take the stage?
This is an exploratory piece meant to start conversation, not end it. I welcome dialogue with those who have thought deeply about these questions.