It is God's Will that we have free will, so that we may choose him on our own, which demonstrates that he does not Rule by 'force'. One cannot express Love by control and manipulation. God only provides setting and opportunity, from which we are free to go about the way we choose, within the limits of the mortal domain. Human's are not only physical beings but spiritual ones as well, which gives us the power to transcend the material aspects of our existence. It is the inheritance and acceptance of the human ego that makes us forget our Original Identity, and fearful to have faith in what appears to be "fantastical".
To even begin to understand "God's Plan" requires the maturation of the ego, and eventually it's transcendence, in order to be receptive to it in the first place. The ego is a survival mechanism for the mortal plane that starts off as "animalistic" and progress through stages of infancy, sophistication and domestication, before it is no longer needed to explore the world we find ourselves in. Most egos do not develop past the infancy level, because the attachment to and identification with the material world becomes so strongly ingrained in us at a young age, that we tend to grow up believing the realm of tangibility is mostly or completely all there is to existence.
The idea that the physical signifies reality is a misconception that makes us prone to error, or 'sin', which is another word for 'ignorance', as Christ and the Buddha taught (Both are considered to have been born of immaculate conception, without sin or ego). Without free will, we would not have the option to advance past the level of awareness we're presently at. Free will is how 'we' make the world into the physical realm we observe reflected in consciousness. The physical is always a result of the nonphysical. Without the formlessness of the 'sky' the 'clouds' would not appear. Silence and stillness are only detectable because of the ever present background of silence and stillness (The Zen of 'No Mind').
We live in a "holographic universe" where what is seen is dependent on the point of view. How we regard and frame our reality determines what is possible within it. All choices are driven by 'intentions', which is a nonphysical expression that lead to the physical expression of 'action'. Even science demonstrates that observation influences the outcomes of results and that every action has an equivalent reaction that arises and affects the entire matrix of exchanging energy (collective field of consciousness, or 'Mind of God'). Every choice inherently comes with it's range of consequences built in before we choose them, and are dependent on the totality of all of existence up to the moment. The intellect does not have the capacity to calculate or the grounds to question it.
The mental game of "causality", is a projection of the mind's sequential observation of material form and 'content' (specifics and details), which is based off of the "appearances" of the limitations and flaws of perception. The imaginary paradigm we 'transpose' upon the world we observe becomes 'imposed' upon God, Who is wrongfully blamed for our misjudgments. The idea of "cause and effect" is the restriction we sense that imprison us in the constraints of "chance" or "genes". It is causality that operates by force, control and manipulation. God is a Total and Complete Being, and has no need to manipulate or control anything.
God Rules by, 'Power', which is profound and transformative. Power is sustaining, inexhaustible and effortless, whereas force is temporary, creates counterforce, and depletes itself, falling of it's own weakness. Man errors in believing "knowledge is power", which I think is a gimmicky catch phrase people easily accept because it sounds "right". What good is the power if it is based off the wrong knowledge? Knowledge is "empowering" but cannot 'belong' to humans and is only God's to possess. This is because the only way to 'know' anything means identifying with and being the known.
God is omniscient by way of being omnipresent, hence God is omnipotent. At best the mind and it's perception can only approximate and "know about" knowledge, because of limited and incomplete understanding. Knowing about China is not the same a going there or what it means to be Chinese. Everything, including knowledge, exists as a reduced aspects of God, being a 'universe' unto itself, and are meant to be regarded in their proper domain. The intellect does not register the nonlinear realm of formless 'context' (meaning and significance), expressed as "essence, which is the reason why the mind is always subject to asking questions with answers that lead to more questions.
People have a bad habit of mixing levels that do not apply to each other, like measuring 'weight' in 'inches'. The presumption that everything operates and progresses in a linear fashion, restricts the bounds of what is possible in reality. You do not have to be a person of faith to understand that the universe operates nonlinearly, and that making different choices result in different outcomes. Were everything predetermined to go about in a set path, what would be the point questioning it, unless it were possible to "alter" patterns of sequence? It is the nonlinear expression of inner choice to align with God/Spiritual Identity or the ego/material identity, that free will ultimately boils down to. The degree to which we're aware of them sets the parameters of possibility out of which the material world is an automatic consequence.