the potter and the clay

Last week in my Bible study with a friend, the topic of predestination/election came to light. Well this is where I have come to realize how I take for granted the Church. I don't have a clue which stance I personally hold to in this 'debate.' A. I have been turned off in the past to believers arguing over something and more-so, B. I have taken for granted that I will always be surrounded by sound doctrine teaching so why would I need to decide something for myself when I can just read a book by someone I trust, like what they have to say and just be like, "yeah, what they said."

So I am just starting to dive in a little deeper on my own and the more I verses I read, the more I keep saying, "wow, I definitely can see a debate justified." I mean you have all these verses talking about 'the elect of God' and verses that say,'God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation.' Then you have all the verses we memorize in Awana: '...whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life,' and Jesus says, '...the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out.' Or even, 'everyone why asks receives, everyone who seeks finds.' I'm totally going back and forth here. I want to believe that the God of the universe would give everyone a chance and a choice but then what about all these election verses? How do I justify those? Am I going to be able to study enough to feel confident in believing one over the other? Do I have to choose one over the other? Is it just taking the easy way out if I end with a solid belief of 'God is God and who am I to question His ways'? Either way I will continue in this study and either way, I already know more about my sometimes confusing, all-powerful God than I did a week ago.