Proving Ourselves

I have a problem with the logical relationship between Agency and Omniscience. The problem goes something like this: If God knows what I'd do or how I'd act under specific circumstances, and if He can manipulate the circumstances under which I make decisions, then couldn't He manipulate my choices, overriding my agency? This would worry me (and make me doubt the effectiveness of this "test") if not for the fact that, regardless of our circumstances, we each make our own decisions. God may try to influence us to make good decisions, just as Satan tries to influence us to make bad decisions. One certainly has more power than the other, but that doesn't mean that He always wins, because no matter how much either side pulls on us, we're the one that makes the choices.

Well, okay, we make the decisions, but God influences the choices we make by restricting what options we're given. Like a teacher assigning their students a multiple-choice test; He could simply give only one choice for each question, and we'd be forced to answer all of the questions correctly (or incorrectly) at His will, not ours. But life doesn't actually work like that. In life, we don't just have four or five options. We have COUNTLESS options. It'd be hard to eliminate all options expect for one. Even in the Multiple (No)-Choice Test Scenario, a person could simply put the pencil down and not take the test at all. They could write or draw on the test paper, or even eat it, if they wanted to. We're never out of options, and the choice is always ours to make.

Sure, but even if we're the ones making choices, God already knows which choices we'll make, so why even set up the test? As I understand it, God knows us better than we know ourselves. He may know what we'd do under certain circumstances, but we don't always. We might say that we'd make the right choice, no matter what, but would we really? When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, God didn't actually want Abraham to kill his own son, nor was He trying to see if Abraham would be willing to do it if God asked it of him; He already knew that he would. The test was to prove to Abraham that he was willing to be faithful to the Lord, no matter what.

Maybe this test isn't to find out what kind of people we are, but rather to prove what kind of people we are. And not just to God, because He can already see into our hearts and know what kind of people we are, but for our own sakes, we're given the opportunity to prove it. Through this Earth life, we're given the opportunity to prove where we belong among the kingdoms of heaven. God may influence our circumstances, and I'm certain that He does- Trying to give us the best possible chance of success, or the hardest tests we are capable of passing, just to prove to us that we can pass them. So, when it's difficult to make the right decision, I don't think God's trying to make it impossible for us to succeed - I think He's trying to make it incredible when we do succeed. He might be making life difficult for us just so we can prove how strong we really are.