“Couldn’t It Have Happened Another Way?”

SUN., NOV. 11, 1990, 6:35 AM
FARM, STUDY

The question that is My title for this beautiful Sunday morning is one that refers to My power and influence in the earth. It has something to do with the good old doctrine of predestination, too, for events and individual lives are closely related.

Did you choose to come here this morning for a Teaching or was this predestined by Me? You had a session with Me yesterday morning and, in general when you are here at home, you hear Me in this direct way every other day. You skipped a day last week, and you have an early morning errand tomorrow. But here you are. The truth is that… it could have happened another way… and… this is exactly how it should have happened. You had free will to choose to be here or not. You might not have awakened at 4:30 to light the stove. You might not have awakened again in time to do your before-church chores. And… everything occurred just as it was supposed to.

You see, it is another one of My both/and phenomena. Do you have free will? Yes. Are certain events predestined? Of course. I have a wonderful way of working My will here in the earth. Does everything happen according to some plan preset in times of yore? No. I have tremendous capacity to use events as they happen to achieve My purposes. I am very minimally concerned with time, so it usually is unimportant that an event happens at a particular time. It is often asked, “Why did God let this happen?” (It is a legitimate question, for I have the power to prevent any action or event.) Yet those asking do not consider the catastrophes I have prevented, by direct intervention and by the natural order of the earth that I have established and do maintain.

I do have to smile when some rail at Me in relation to some death that resulted from the natural order of the earth. First, death is part of the natural order… a very vital part. Also, death is part of the chance conditions of earth life. Some die each day just because some have to die each day, just by chance. And, the death event can be a great source of education about living… even for the one dying.

You are comfortable with the fact that your life is being led in a somewhat predestined way. You could have made other choices in life, so that you would not have the family that you do, would not be in the profession that you are, and would not be living here. But you didn’t and so you are here, exactly where you should be. You simply made the choices you should have made. Were you predestined to make these choices. Yes. And No. Be comfortable with that mystical response.

Earthquakes are a part of the natural way I created the earth. The predicted quake in this area will do considerable damage and some lives will be lost. If it doesn’t happen am I preventing it or are balancing natural forces responsible? If it should occur when most people are at home and the weather is not nastily inclement do I get some credit, or is this just chance?

I have told you repeatedly that there must be some more than ordinary loss of life in the future, for the human population is becoming excessive for the good balance of life. Yet there have been no such catastrophes. You see, I see the “big picture” quite clearly, but I also am aware of each individual life, and so I somehow don’t hurry to bring about this balancing. It is somewhat like your country’s national debt. You know you should reduce this debt and stop running a deficit, but to do so would be harmful, even fatal, to some “innocent” people.