You Can Choose Your Fate But Not Your Destiny

God has appointed a destiny for you. He created you for that purpose. You were designed for it. Your life experiences and all the things that influence you are moving you in a certain direction that you are meant to go. Life would be meaningless without things working that way. It is true that the meaning of life is the meaning we give to it. But it is also true that the meaning of life is inherent in the existence of the universe and our destiny which God created it with. It is all a matter of aligning our thoughts with the thoughts of God in order to experience the perfect meaning of everything.

Some say we have power to create our own reality, that through belief and intent we can and should specify our personal future. And yet experience shows reality is already predicated upon a design more elegant than anything we can specify through our temporal desires. Cosmic ordering doesn't always work because what you believe or hope for doesn't always happen and you do not always get what you expect to get.

Others therefore say we should go with the flow and accept what comes. And yet experience shows that while some things are destined, more mundane things are left to choice. Abandoning the responsibility to choose invites the influence of other powers to decide over your life with often unpleasant consequences. Some part of the future is alterable and another is not.

There is destiny and there is free will. They coexist. Destiny is a straight line. Free will is like an oscillating wave above and below that line. You are not forced to live your destiny but you are tethered to it. You can imagine that time has you hooked on a fishing line. You can swim left or right, ahead or back away but you ultimately are getting reeled in. With that in mind, focus on the fact that ultimately you will live out at least some of your destiny. Now think about destiny as a process not a destination. Your destiny is an unfolding story that shapes who you become.

The bigger things in life we cannot change. The smaller things we can. Life is a river whose flow we cannot reverse, yet we have freedom to navigate within that flow. Near the shore we move slowly and roughly, near the center we move quickly and smoothly. We can humbly accept the bigger things and still actively direct the smaller things.

How do you know your destiny? By knowing your desire. Your desires were divinely placed within you. Your destiny is a natural extension of you being. You were designed for your destiny. When you look into your true feelings, you will find that your destiny feels right with you and feels right for you. Your destiny is where your heart is truly moving you towards. Follow your heart and you will realize your destiny.

Even though you have been given a destiny, was created and designed for it, you can still choose whether to follow it or not. We cannot choose our destiny which we were created with, but we can choose our destiny by accepting or denying it. Even if we do not choose to follow our destiny, we will still fulfill it to a certain extent because divine influence arranges circumstances to happen in such a way that our choices and actions still result in the fulfillment of our purpose. The difference is that we may not have been able to enjoy every single one of the blessings that we could have experienced if we had chosen to do what we were meant to do.

No one gets to choose his destiny but everyone gets to choose his fate. You get to choose whether your ending is good or bad, and whether your experience is good or bad. Everyone's destiny is always good. Choosing to follow your life's purpose will always bring you to a place of glory, happiness and perfection. As long as you are moving in that direction, watch the universe bless you with all the things you need in order to fulfill your dreams.

There is only one place where destiny can be changed. That place is at Calvary where Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins that all who believe in him as savior will be born of God. Their destiny will no longer be the same for it will be in Christ. Everyone's destiny is good in this world but not everyone's destiny will be good in the world to come. The effect of salvation is upon all people but only those who make the choice of believing in the Son of God in this world will secure eternal life, both in this world and for the world to come. Only when your destiny is found in Christ will it be a perfect destiny.

Why God Doesn't Answer Your Prayers and Other Puzzling Questions We All Have

Life is full of hard questions. Here's an answer to a few of them.

Q. How come God doesn't always answer our prayers?

A. God doesn't always answer your prayers because you may be asking for something unreasonable or that doesn't fit into the plans God has for you. God is like a good parent; he won't let you do something that is bad for you. Asking to win the lottery might sound like the solution to your money woes but it will probably cause you more harm in the long run than working hard for a living.

Another reason God might not answer your prayers is because you took the credit for the answer. Pulling off that big job or saving your marriage. The expression "all glory goes to God" means you have to give God credit for answering your prayers or he may not answer the next one. And, sometimes the lack of an answer is your answer.

Q. Why do people kill in the name of God?

A. Unfortunately there are people who lose the meaning of what God is saying to us. The Old Testament in the Bible has stories about God helping the Jews fight off their enemies. They win because God is squarely on their side. The problem comes when people today think God is telling them to fight for him. God can fight his own battles. He can win them too!

After God made a new covenant or agreement with us, each of us became responsible for our own outcome. We win the battle by choosing to follow God, and conversely, lose it by not choosing God. And if we don't choose God, by default we've chosen to follow the devil. Scary thought isn't it?

Q. If God exists, why is life so difficult and why is there so much suffering in the world?

A. God is not the one who makes us suffer. God is the one who saves us from the suffering. It's ironic how most people wait until their lives are so bad or they are so miserable they want to end it all before they even consider that God might be able to help. God is available to us 24 hours a day, every day of the year, even on holidays and weekends. God will help you when you call on him, but he won't step in unless you ask.

The devil is the one who brings suffering. His only job is to literally make our lives hell so we'll turn away from God. The devil also tempts us with all sorts of pleasures too but as many people soon find out, those pleasures ruin their lives and bring suffering through loss of jobs, relationships, dignity and even our lives. Once God banishes the devil, all suffering will end.

Q. Why doesn't God just banish the devil right now?

A. As bad as this sounds, God and Satan entered into a kind of bet and we are the prize. Thousands and thousands of years ago, Satan bet God that he could turn us away from God, so God decided to give him a little time to see what would happen.

If you look at what's going on in the world, you might be convinced Satan has won. But more people than ever are turning back to God after trying Satan's pleasures and finding them lacking the one thing every human craves–love. I think we have a God hunger that cannot be satisfied by anything else and that all humans will eventually come back to God.

Q. Why does God cause bad things to happen to good people?

A. God never punishes us. The bad things always come from the devil–Satan. Satan's whole job is to get us to turn away from God so he uses the things that work the best–suffering, pain, tragedy, loss, death. All of this suffering wears us down if we don't have any help. God is there to help.

Your suffering may not end right away but suddenly there is someone else sharing the suffering with you. This is a difficult concept for most people to understand. Why doesn't God just fix it? Mostly God doesn't fix it because we don't learn anything from it. It's like a child who gets in trouble, if the parents always swoop in and fix it right away, the child doesn't learn the lessons. We are the same way.

If you've never had severe financial struggles, how can you have sympathy for someone who does? God wants us to be available to help others so we all have to struggle with something in order to be there to help someone else. Usually the most compassionate people have had the most suffering in their lives. Be thankful for whatever suffering you are going through because it prepares you to help someone else.

Q. Why are some Christians so judgmental? And why do they act so holy but aren't?

A. On the whole, most Christians are less judgmental than the average person is. Some people run into Christians who are not really saved or who are early in their journey with God so they appear to be very judgmental. Just like any other person, there are Christians who are kind, compassionate, smart, funny, goofy, serious, plodding, fussy, messy, quiet, loud, fair and yes, judgmental. Everyone travels a different road to being a better person. Some people take longer to get there than others. Some of the most judgmental Christians are actually much less judgmental than they were before being a Christian. That's all we can hope for–that they'll get less judgmental with every passing day.

A Gnostic theodicy?

For some time, I have been working on a Gnostic theology. My plan is to produce a book (at this point it is not much more than a brief article) that would provide a systematic overview of a Gnostic Process perspective. I thought that it might be interesting to reproduce a little taste of it here for some feedback. Again, this material is very rough. In its current form, it presupposes a significant amount of theological familiarity. So if you get lost, I apologize.


*Please remember that others and myself posses a copyright on the following material. So, please refrain from utilizing this material without my permission.

Dealing with the theological question of theodicy, this particular mix of Process and Gnostic thought leads to conclusions which some might find shocking. Traditional approaches to the problem of evil invariably prove to be a logical knotwork focused on eliminating God from any possibility of casual responsibility. In this particular case, no such knotwork is even attempted. This is not because such work cannot be fruitful or cannot serve any purpose. Rather, the perspective represented here reflects a shift in perception from more traditional viewpoints. Briefly stated, utilizing the Process construction of a dipolar God with its Primordial and Consequential poles and a Gnostic sensitivity to trans-rational experiences, one is free to explore other possibilities from the traditional viewpoints. One such possibility is outlined below.

As was discussed earlier, the Process dipolar construction marries well with the teaching of the Catechism on the nature of God. In the Catechism, God is described as essentially “potential Being” and “Being in activity.” In the first case, this is can be understood as reference to the Primordial pole of God. In the second case, it can be understood as reference to the Consequential pole of God. Also earlier in this discussion, it was shown how the Initial Aim (a guiding principle toward beauty and complexity) originates within the Primordial pole of God. Hence, one could describe the Primordial pole in a generative way and the Consequential pole (made up of the total sum of the consequential actual occasions) in a managerial way. Lastly, it will be remembered that the Consequential pole of God was demonstrated to evolve and develop along with “creation.” Thus, one is lead to the conclusion that there exists no teleology (much to the disappointment of the historicist) and no omnipotent capacities on the part of Consequential pole. With this reminder in place, we can now turn to answering the question of theodicy directly.

As the demiurgic system is part of the Consequential pole of God (as was established earlier), it stands to reason that it should come as no surprise that the source of evil should be located in this pole as well. It may be recalled that the demiurgic system is the totality of occasions (especially the more primitive and chaotic), developed through the ongoing process of the Cosmos, which rejected the Initial Aim from the Primordial pole. But, the question in particular, is who or what is the source for the initial concrescence of the demiurgic system. And, the answer is simple: God. From within this particular perspective, the Consequential pole of God is the source of evil. In other words, the “Fall” refers to something that occurred within the development of the Consequential pole of God and not to a specific moment within time-space.

It is important to remember that the Consequential pole of God is undergoing development toward “individuation.” And, it is in the very beginnings of this process that we find the first occasion to reject or disregard the Initial Aim from the Primordial pole. Not only was this disregard the source of the Dissociative Identity Disorder of the triune personality (discussed in the chapter on God) but also the source of evil. It is this reason why the “Father” personality could be the chief exemplification of the demiurgic system and receives so much attention from Jung. At some point, as an occasion was processing through concrescence, it utilized it’s freedom to disregard the Initial Aim in compiling its subjective aim and was then shaped into something that lacked the realized beauty and goodness reflected in the offerings from the Primordial pole. Hence, the Consequential pole of God is the source of evil. But, while this has established an origin, it has not answered the question of culpability. And, the question of culpability is the real root of the problem of God’s justice.

To answer the question of culpability, it is important to remember the discussion on consciousness. It was established that there are four basic types of consciousness and that it is possible to develop through each type. Also, it was established that the Consequential pole of God, like us, does seem to be developing through each type. Briefly put, the course of Consequential development could be mapped as follows: (1) without sentience or subjectivity, (2) with sentience and subjectivity, without a state of awareness, (3) a developing state of awareness, and (4) total awareness.

With this in place, the question of culpability is easily answered. While the source of evil is the Consequential pole of God, the point of departure took place within the first phase or while the pole could be described as belonging to the first type of consciousness. It is clear from the subsequent development of disorder in the Consequential pole, as evidenced by the animalistic, primitive, and cthulonic qualities that seemed to manifest, that such an early date is quite reasonable (cf. Jung, Answer to Job). Therefore, the Consequential pole of God is not culpable. In fact, based on this construct, it would be absurd to imply any level of responsibility as the Consequential pole of God possessed no sentience or subjectivity.