Let me try a story in zen style.

There was a very famous self realized guru who was visited by so many disciples from all over the country. Most of them came to him seeking material benefits and however, few of them were aspirants of Self-Knowledge. This sage was famous for removing the doubts of those aspirants but he always insisted on answering them in private and there were never been public speeches. However, He allowed his dearest student to observe the conversations.

Once a merchant asked a question in karma yoga, “Bhagawan, if everything that is happening to me is based upon my previous karma, what is the use of trying for anything? “. The Guru said, “Your Past Karma is like a nail on the wall. You can only see its head which is your current state and you cannot know what exact length it went inside the wall. Let us assume that you want to remove the nail through your effort and if you find it difficult, that means the nail is hit deep inside the wall and you need to put more effort. Similarly, if your fate has put you in a situation, there is always a free will that can change it. In the event of failure, please know it is because of lack of effort. The theory of karma always provides lot of hope about the future in contrary to what you say”. The merchant felt this answer satisfying and departed.

Next came a sadhu, who has performed much of austerities, asked the sage in private “Bhagawan, is everything fixed by fate or karma?” The sage replied “Yes”. The sadhu continued, “I can understand that bigger events in ones life, like marriage, job, and place of living could have been controlled by fate. Do you say, even if trivial things like my raising hands or putting down when I talk are also pre determined?” The sage replied “Yes, they are, you do nothing new, everything is already done”. The sadhu got his doubts cleared and left the place.

Then the Sage looked at his student and the student said "I know Lord Krishna danced with each of the gopikas seperately by taking several forms and he was different krishna for different gopikas". Guru Replied, "Well Said".