By Xia Chu
To change our fate is the dream many of us pursue in life. The more we are discontent with our daily lives, the more intense our desire to change our fate becomes, as if the bud which is implanted in our hearts yearns to blossom and bear fruits. However, in reality, though our dreams seem beautiful, we are always repaid with sorrow and disappointment after putting much effort. Faced with the dream that might never be realized in the future, will we continue pursuing it endlessly?
I used to be one of those who struggled to change their fates.
When I was in elementary school, I was very weak and sickly and I could hardly complete a school term. When I was in middle school, the “Gang of Four” collapsed, and workers, peasants, and soldiers went into the educational community. Every day was caught up in the revolution, and thus the people of my generation lost the chance of studying in school. This cruel reality destroyed my dream of “obtaining fame and fortune by knowledge,” causing me to live the rest of my life with a vanished dream. Regarded as a “semi-finished product” by the society, I could only toil with my hands to live an ignoble and hard life, being governed by others. At that time, I often cried and complained about my fate and even cried injustice on my being born in that age: Why can’t I live a life with good clothes and food? Why can’t I have fame and position and be a posh one? However, I couldn’t change the reality or reverse the wheel of destiny no matter how bitterly I cried. I was not reconciled to defeat and I didn’t want to submit to the fate, and I had to transfer my dream of changing the fate to my son.
I tried hard to make my son understand: The diploma is a foundation of changing his fate. Now I was a person with no future, stuck in a dead-end job, commuting by bike, going through the roads of the county town with my box lunch every day, just to get a subsistence salary. My life is totally meaningless. I didn’t want my son to go down my path and live like me, but wanted him to get into a good university and build careers in big cities, as the big cities were founded only for the educated and those who have fame and fortune. We should strive to live a decent life there. Therefore, I hoped my son could live an affluent life with a house and a car through his persistent efforts, and receive envy instead of discrimination from others.
I kept planning and expecting for it. However, things did not go according to what I had planned for my son’s fate. He got hooked on playing online games and even skipped class to play, unable to extricate himself from them. In the end, he failed to pass the college entrance examination. Cruel reality again shattered my dream of “obtaining fame and fortune by knowledge.” The conviction I had persisted in for years finally broke down. My son was repeating my life—contriving to live on a subsistence salary in the low level of society. I cried out in my heart, “Why did my dream become an illusion in a twinkle just when it was about to be achieved?” Dragging my weak body, I staggered forward in the darkness, hoping that when the night ended, the light would appear and illuminate my gloomy life …
Suddenly, I saw a bright light shining at the end of the night.
I also heard a voice full of authority and power calling me …
The voice was like sweet dew and sounded like a loving mother calling her own child to go home. Oh! It is the voice of the Creator: “As dawn arrives, a morning star begins to shine in the east. This is a star never there before, and it illuminates the tranquil, twinkling skies, reigniting the extinguished light in the hearts of men. Humanity is no longer lonely thanks to this light, which shines alike on you and others. … The eyes of the Almighty survey each and every member of the deeply afflicted human race. What He hears is the wailing of those who are suffering, what He sees is the shamelessness of those who are afflicted, and what He feels is the helplessness and dread of a human race that has lost the grace of salvation” (“The Sighing of the Almighty”). “The fate of man is controlled by the hands of God. You are incapable of controlling yourself: Despite man always rushing and busying himself on his own behalf, he remains incapable of controlling himself. If you could know your own prospects, if you could control your own fate, would you still be a created being?” (“Restoring the Normal Life of Man and Taking Him to a Wonderful Destination”).
I finally understood: God is the One who created life and moreover, the One who controls man’s destiny and outcome. Only if we follow the law of life set by Him can we have a good fate. God is always hoping that we can return before Him and obtain His care and protection. I was very excited, for I finally understood the mysteries of human life. Meanwhile, I also realized I had been struggling to fight against my fate like a caged beast in the past. Moreover, I even tried to influence my son because of this, leading him to oppose God’s sovereignty. How ignorant and tired I was to live like that! God says: “People know that they are powerless and hopeless in this life, that they will not have another chance or another hope to stand out from the crowd, and that they have no choice but to accept their fates. And so they project all their hopes, their unrealized desires and ideals, onto the next generation, hoping that their offspring can help them achieve their dreams and realize their desires; that their daughters and sons will bring glory to the family name, become important, rich, or famous. In short, they want to see their children’s fortunes soar. People’s plans and fantasies are perfect; do they not know that the number of children they have, their children’s appearance, abilities, and so forth, are not for them to decide, that not a bit of their children’s fates is in their hands? Humans are not the masters of their own fate, yet they hope to change the fates of the younger generation; they are powerless to escape their own fates, yet they try to control those of their sons and daughters. Are they not overestimating themselves? Is this not human foolishness and ignorance?” (“God Himself, the Unique III”).
Right! No matter how perfectly I had made plan for my ideal fate, I was unable to escape from the Creator’s sovereignty and arrangements. Our life comes from God, and our fate is controlled by God’s hands. Yet in the past I attempted to change my fate by my efforts. I am really overestimating myself! I tried to plan my life and my son’s future according to my own will. As a result, during the prime time of my life, I was exhausted both mentally and physically, concerned about what I would gain or lose every day. At the same time, I had put a great pressure on my son. Now I have accepted God’s salvation. I have learned from God’s words what the meaning of human life is and understood that we should worship God and obey His sovereignty and arrangements since for the entirety of our lives. Only thus can we be blessed by God and obtain peace and happiness.
Today, I have been relieved and also brought my son before God. Both of us no longer complain in our daily life. Since we have had God as our navigator, we have nothing to worry about. What we need to do just is strive to read more of God’s words, practice and experience more, and equip ourselves with more truth to bear witness for Him so that we can repay His love. Now, our greatest wish is that we can perform the duty of spreading the gospel before God’s work of judgment in the last days comes to an end.
