Should I Take Charge of My Life Or Should I Let God Take Charge of It?
Recently I had a participant of mine say that he felt that my teachings contradicted his religious beliefs.
He said that his religion advocated that he should let God choose his destiny and lead his life. Whereas in my seminars, I teach people to take charge of their own lives and their own destinies. I teach people not to leave their life to chance but to have a plan for their future. I teach people to make full use of their potential and live life to the fullest. I always say that if you don’t have a plan for your life, then someone else (like your boss or friends) will have a plan for you. And you will probably fall into somebody else’s plan. (And I don’t think other people have anything good planned for you).
Because of his strong belief and faith in God, he says that he does not feel the need to set goals or to take charge of his life. God will give him the answers ‘one day’. And all the bad stuff that is happening to him is God’s will and beyond his control, so there is nothing he can do about it.
First of all, let me first say that I myself am a very firm believer of God and believe alot in the power of faith. In fact, I have found that the more successful and wealth I have become, the more spiritual I have become as well. When I was young, I never believed that God existed. I thought that since it was not something scientifically proven nor something I could see, it was probably all made up in people’ minds. However, through the years, I have become a VERY firm believer in God for a few reasons. First, as I started to think about the complexity of the universe, nature and the human body, it dawned on me that there was NO WAY that everything could have happened by chance (e.g. the fact that every single cell/organ/tissue in the human body performs a specific function working together in a symbiotic relationship). Everything that we take for granted, from the intricate veins of a leaf to the ventricles in the human heart had to be designed by a creator.
The second reason is that when I look back at my life and reflect on all the events that have led up to now, it seems too coincidental that things have happened by chance. Everything (even the awful painful stuff) seems to have happened for a particular reason. For example, if I had never had screwed up my PSLE and ended up at the bottom of my school, I would never have found the need to learn about NLP and about the Psychology of Success. If I had never learnt about NLP, then I would not be as successful as I am today .I would never have been able to write all my books and created my life changing programmes and I would not be able to help thouands of people every year change their lives. It seems that this is my purpose and my mission from God and that everything that has happened was part of a divine plan.
Well, then doesn’t this contradict my own teachings about taking charge of one’s life and planning your own destiny? Absolutely NOT. In fact, it is totally in alignment. Let me explain.
See, I believe that God is a force that exists in all our hearts and within every single cell of our body. He is not some old man with a white beard sitting on a throne one billion light years above the clouds. As such, God works THROUGH you. Every positive thought, idea an inspiration you have is a message from God. Some people hear the message and act on it, others just ignore it. When you feel passionate and excited about something (like I am with teaching and speaking), it is God’s way of telling you that this is your purpose and mission in life. Again, some people hear this calling and act on it. Many others ignore and deny their passions, and end up in a job they hate, simply because they feel that they have ‘No choice’. Do they really have ‘no choice’ or are they simply letting their fear consume them and abandoning their faith? I believe that the greatest power our creator has given us is the power to choose. And every choice we make shapes our destiny. So, if God is in you and God works though you, then when I talk about thinking about your passion and designing your life around your passion, it really means that you are letting God lead you, through you. When you set your goals and live with passion, you are living in alignment with what God put you here for. God takes charge of your life by you taking charge of your life.
For example, I wrote all 360 pages of my book ‘Secrets of self made millionaires’ to change people’s lives, And I set the goal to be one of the best speakers in the world. But you know what? It was really God’s words that wrote the book and God’s will that I became a speaker. His message came through my feelings, intuitions and thoughts. It was really God’s plan, but I wrote it. He created me with this mission and this is my purpose for living.
In fact, why have I suddenly turned on this computer at 1.00am on a Friday morning and why am I typing all these thoughts down when I should be sleeping. Is this all happening by chance? Or is it God directing me to send this message for all of you to read? Something to really reflect on.
Unfortunately, I have seen so many people mis-intepret the meaning of ‘letting God take charge of your life’. They think that it means that they should not plan, but wait for something to plan it for them. Do they expect that one night while they are sleeping that an angel will appear in a ray of light and tell them that they should quit the job they hate and pursue their dreams? Will a booming voice from the skies tell them to start an online business or to invest in stock Options? don’t think so. Duh! I feel that many people who say this to themselves are just using it as an excuse to avoid responsibility for anything. They are simply living in fear and using God as their excuse.
In fact, I believe that by being lazy and not doing anything about it, you are doing God a disservice. You are not making use of the power and assets you have been given. You are not fulfilling your purse and mission on earth. See I believe that all of us were born to make a positive difference in the world. So, by not doing anything meaningful with your life, it is just as bad as harming the world. You are wasting this precious life you have been given! Although I am not a Christian, but I remember a very powerful story in the bible (I got an A1 for Bible knowledge in school by the way). In the parable of the talents, Jesus teaches about the need for all of us to use our God given talents. In this parable, a master had to go away on a long trip and wanted his servants to look after his property while he was gone. To the first servant, he gave 5 talents. Through his hard work, the servant doubled his talents to TEN. To the second servant the master gave 2 talents, This second servant also worked hard and doubled the two talents, To the third servant, the master gave one talent, For fear of losing his only talent, this servant buried it and hid it, When the master returned and found that he had done so, he called him a LAZY and WICKED servant and took his only talent and gave it to the servant who had TEN. So, if you sit on your ass and do NOTHING with the god given passion and potential you have been given, then everything you have will be taken away from you and be given to those have achieved wealth and success.
While I had a lot of faith that I had written a truly good book that would interest and benefit everyone, I could never be sure that it would become a best-seller until the public believed in it enough to buy it. What I also a learnt over the years is that writing a good book is only half the job in creating a National Best-Seller. You must also put in a lot of work in selling your book to the bookstores who will decide on the shelf space, in store posters, book talks and other kinds of promotions.
