In the New Age community, there is a belief shared by many well-known authors that says that God gives us everything we need.
Does He?
How and to accomplish what?
If you ponder it for a little while, the statement suggests that a path for our life exists, which means that everything that happens along that path was……intended, or at the very least, offered.
When you’ve suffered a lot of trauma, the idea of predetermined fate implies that God has decided we deserved punishment and happily doled it out, but that perspective comes from the wounded child. The idea that we are given everything we need begins to make sense after the wounds have healed, and you can see the world from many different perspectives.
In my early 40s I decided to go back to school. I wanted to change the course of my life drastically and believed at the time that university was the only way to do that. Returning to school when you’ve already been in the workforce for over twenty years and had some significant accomplishments without needing formal education is very different than when you enter university directly from high school.
For example, I learned operational accounting on the job and became extremely good at it. So much so that the fraud case I ended up working on after I had been forced to change jobs and submitted to the Crown resulted in a conviction. I wasn’t formally trained in forensic accounting, but the knowledge I gained on my first job and the analytical mind I came into this world with gave me everything I needed to get the job done.
I spent decades trying to prove myself to people I thought were better than me. By better, I mean smarter and more confident. Every single time, I learned that who I thought they were wasn’t who they were and that I might not be who I thought I was, either. The question of who I am became much more important to me.
If we take this Mind File and apply the everything you need comes to you at the right time, space, and sequence belief, then I could say that the opportunity to realize my capability, which contributes to self-worth, found its way to me at a time when I most needed it.
For years, I was drawn to people who were more than eager to criticize my every move, thought, and action.
I married an alcoholic.
Our circle of friends was equally as co-dependent as I was.
I worked for a boss who was the female version of my dad, except there were times when she did voice her respect for certain accomplishments and offer praise. My dad’s ego and insecurity didn’t allow him to be respectful or offer praise because you can’t give away what you don’t first possess.
My co-workers, mostly male, were jealous of my success and of the respect I received from upper management. They took every opportunity to criticize and belittle me and eventually participated directly and indirectly in sexual harassment. The cumulative stress from years of bullying eventually forced me out of that job.
When I started the new job, I didn’t enter it from a genuine perspective of being capable. I knew I was good at my job, but I didn’t believe in myself.
It was impossible to gain self-worth surrounded by hyper-critical people, but I would have never found it without them. Had I not been so pressured that I finally quit that job, I would have never accepted the new job offer. I wouldn’t have been immersed in a fraud case, and without that fraud case, I wouldn’t have learned how capable I really was.
What if we didn’t have to try so hard to be or do?
What if all we had to do was travel down the path laid before us and make simple choices? Would that be having faith in God’s plan?
Well said! The balance between our choices, and God allowing everything that happens to be something we need in our life is a delicate one. For me, the discovery of the combination of the laws of the universe, and how things work, and our coming to earth with a specific purpose, mission or reason has provided a healthy tension between the two. When I discovered that everything is working for me rather than to me, I begin to realize that no matter what I chose I would get a result that was what I needed in that moment to reveal a pathway that led in the direction of the reason I was alive. I’m not so sure we are victims in a fatalistic plan, but I am convinced that everything that comes into my life has the potential to move me in the direction of Destiny!
Each one of us has a different path. For those like you and me, it may be rather rugged and immersed in suffering. For others, everything seems to go right and nothing bad ever seems to happen in their lives.
No one knows why this is so.
For those who never seem to suffer, perhaps they don't have much to learn or they aren't used to push back against anything much. Their sword may be sharp, but it is never used. Or perhaps it is dull, but again, it is never used. If and when they need to really use it, they may not know how to be effective.
For those who seem to suffer for a living, perhaps they have much to learn and/or they are used for mighty purposes. Their swords are either always sharp, or they are using or sharpening them. And when they need to really use it, they're leap years ahead of others- precisely because they have always been on the front lines, they have fought.
These two scenarios are not juxtaposed, nor is one "better" than the other. Rather, they simply contrast, much like the General and the ranks. And since the warfare is spiritual, those who suffer are not afraid of fighting again, or for a longer period of time. Perhaps the General talks to or relies upon God in a more serious vein. And perhaps God shows himself to the General in more tangible ways.
Whether we are chosen to suffer or not, I know that suffering makes us rely on God much more, as well as to give in to Him. We give up on our own abilities, seek His face, die to ourselves, and become alive to Christ.
And sometimes, both types of lives, those who suffer and those who do not, are allowed to see His light. And love.
When we stand in front of Him drenched in His love, we forget everything because His love is so overwhelmingly pure and beautiful. And we know that He never left us nor forsook us, but rather made a special room for us in heaven- because He was with us through every moment, and He never left us.
Our reward will be in heaven. In the meantime, thank you for sharpening my sword. And I hope this also helped sharpen yours. Amen. 🙏