By fellowshipping in this way, have you understood whether the thoughts and views of those people who always say they have a bad fate are right or wrong? (They’re wrong.) Clearly, these people experience the emotion of depression due to becoming mired in extremism. Because they have this extreme emotion of depression due to having extreme thoughts and views, they are unable to correctly face the things that happen in life, they cannot normally bring into play the functions people should have, nor perform the duties, responsibilities or obligations of a created being. Therefore, they are the same as those various kinds of people who sink into negative emotions whom we discussed in our last fellowship. Though these people who think they have a bad fate believe in God, and are able to relinquish things, expend themselves and follow God, yet they are likewise unable to perform their duty in God’s house in a free, liberated and relaxed way. Why can’t they do this? It is because within them they harbor a number of extreme and abnormal thoughts and views which cause extreme emotions to arise in them. These extreme emotions cause the way they judge things, the way they think, and their views on things to come from an extreme, incorrect and distorted standpoint. They regard issues and people from this extreme and incorrect standpoint, thereby repeatedly living, viewing people and things, and comporting themselves and acting under the effect and influence of this negative emotion. In the end, no matter how they live, they seem so tired that they aren’t able to muster up any enthusiasm for their belief in God and pursuit of the truth. Regardless of how they choose to live their life, they cannot positively or actively perform their duty, and despite having believed in God for many years, yet they never focus on performing their duty with all their heart and soul or performing their duty satisfactorily, much less do they pursue the truth, of course, or practice in accordance with the truth principles. Why is this? In the final analysis, it’s because they always think they have a bad fate, and this leads them to have a profoundly depressed emotion. They become totally dispirited, powerless, like a walking corpse, without any vitality, exhibiting no positive or optimistic behavior, much less any determination or stamina to devote the loyalty they should devote to their duty, their responsibilities, and their obligations. Rather, they struggle reluctantly from day to day with a slipshod attitude, aimlessly and muddleheadedly, even unconsciously getting through the days. They have no idea how long they will muddle along for. In the end, they have no recourse but to admonish themselves, saying, “Oh, I’ll just keep muddling along as long as I can! If one day I can’t go on anymore, and the church wants to expel me and cast me out, then they should just cast me out. It’s because I have a bad fate!” You see, even what they say is so defeated. This emotion of depression isn’t just a simple mood but, more importantly, it has a devastating impact on people’s thoughts, hearts, and on their pursuit. If you cannot turn your emotion of depression around in a timely and speedy manner, it will not only affect your whole life, it will also destroy your life and carry you to your death. Even if you do believe in God, you won’t be able to gain the truth and attain salvation and, in the end, you will perish. That’s why those who believe their fate to be bad should wake up now; always looking into whether their fate is good or bad, always pursuing some kind of fate, always worrying about their fate—this is not a good thing. Always taking your fate very seriously, when you encounter a slight disturbance or disappointment, or when failure, setbacks, or embarrassments come along, you quickly come to believe that it is due to your own bad fate, and your own bad luck. So, you repeatedly remind yourself that you are someone with a bad fate, that you don’t have a good fate like other people, and you repeatedly immerse yourself in depression, surrounded, bound, and caught up by the negative emotion of depression, unable to escape it. This is a very frightening and dangerous thing to happen. Even though this emotion of depression may not cause you to become more arrogant or deceitful, or cause you to reveal wickedness or intransigence, or other such corrupt dispositions; though it may not get to the level whereby you reveal a corrupt disposition and defy God, or you reveal a corrupt disposition and violate the truth principles, or you cause disruptions and disturbances, or do evil acts, yet, in terms of essence, this emotion of depression is a most serious manifestation of people’s dissatisfaction with reality. In essence, this manifestation of dissatisfaction with reality is also a dissatisfaction with God’s sovereignty and arrangements. And what are the consequences of being dissatisfied with God’s sovereignty and arrangements? They are certainly very serious and will at the least cause you to rebel against and defy God, and lead you to be unable to accept God’s utterances and provision, and unable to understand and unwilling to hear God’s teachings, exhortations, reminders and warnings. Because you are filled with the emotion of depression, you are unable to accept God’s current utterances, and have no way to accept God’s realistic work nor the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment, guidance, help, support, and provision for you. Even though God is working, you are unable to feel it; even though God and the Holy Spirit are working, you are unable to accept it. You cannot accept these positive things, these requirements and this provision from God, your heart is filled and occupied with nothing but this emotion of depression, and nothing God does has any effect on you. In the end, you will miss every step of God’s work, you will miss every phase of His utterances, and you will even miss every phase of God’s work and His provision for you. When God’s utterances and the steps of His work are all complete, you will still be unable to resolve your emotion of depression, you will be unable to leave it behind, you will remain surrounded and filled with the emotion of depression, and you will then have entirely missed God’s work. Once you have entirely missed God’s work, you will ultimately be faced with God’s open judgment and condemnation of mankind, and that is the time when God will announce the ends of mankind. Only then will you realize, “Oh, I should reflect on myself, I should leave this emotion of depression behind, read God’s words more, come before God to seek His help and support, seek His provision, seek how to accept His chastisement and judgment and be cleansed, so that I’m able to submit to His sovereignty and arrangements.” Too late! That’s all behind you now. It’s too late to wake up now, and what is it that awaits you? You will beat your chest and wail and be filled with regret. Though depression is just a kind of emotion, because its nature and the consequences it brings about are so serious, you should examine yourself carefully and not let this emotion of depression take you over or control your thoughts and the goals you pursue. You have to resolve it and not let it become a stumbling block on your path in pursuit of the truth or a wall that blocks you from coming before God. If you can become clearly aware of it, or if you find this serious emotion of depression through self-examination, then you should change course immediately, let go of this emotion and leave the emotion of depression behind. Do not cling obstinately to your course, stubbornly thinking, “No matter what God says or does, I know my fate is bad. With a bad fate, I should feel depressed. With a bad fate, I should just accept it and give up all hope.” To face everything that happens with such a negative attitude is to be single-mindedly stubborn. When you realize you have this emotion of depression, you should turn yourself around and resolve it as soon as you can. Don’t wait until it has taken control of you completely, as it will be too late to wake up to it then.

Tell Me, is believing in fate an expression of pursuing the truth? (No, it isn’t.) So, what is the correct attitude people should have in their approach to the matter of fate? (They should believe in the orchestrations and arrangements of God and submit to them.) That’s right. If someone always focuses on whether their fate is good or bad, what problem can that resolve? Acknowledging that their fate is bad but believing that their bad fate is orchestrated and arranged by God and being willing to submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements—is this viewpoint right or not? (No, it’s wrong.) How is it wrong? (Because that viewpoint still holds the interpretation of their fate being good or bad.) Is this a rule? What is the truth people should understand here? (Fate cannot be said to be good or bad. Everything God predestines is good, and people should submit to all God’s orchestrations.) People should believe that fate is orchestrated and arranged by God, and since it is all orchestrated and arranged by God, they cannot talk about it being good or bad. Whether it is good or bad is judged on the basis of people’s perspective, opinions, predilections and feelings, and this judgment is based on their imaginings and views and is not in accordance with the truth. Some people say, “I have a wonderful fate, I was born into a family of believers. I’ve never been influenced by the environment of the secular world and I’ve never been influenced, seduced or misled by the unbelievers’ trends. Although I have corrupt dispositions, too, I grew up in the church and have never gone astray. I have such a good fate!” Is what they say correct? (No.) Why not? (Their being born into a family of believers was predestined by God, it was God’s sovereignty and arrangements. It has nothing to do with their fate being good or bad.) Correct, you’ve hit the nail on the head. This was God’s sovereignty and arrangements. It is one manner in which God arranges and holds sovereignty over the fates of man, and it is one form which fate can take—people must not use whether their fate is good or bad to judge this matter. Some people say their fate is good because they were born into a Christian family, so how would you refute this? You might say, “You were born into a Christian family and say you have a good fate, so anyone not born into a Christian family must have a bad fate. Are you saying the fate God has arranged for all those people is bad?” Is it right to refute them in this way? (It is.) It’s right to refute them like this. By refuting them in this way, you are showing that what they say about people who are born into Christian families having a good fate is untenable and not in accord with the truth. Now, is your opinion on good and bad fates a little more accurate? (Yes.) What view should people hold toward the matter of believing in fate that is most correct, most appropriate, and that accords with the truth? First, you cannot judge fate as being good or bad from the perspective of worldly people. Furthermore, you should believe that the fate of every member of the human race is arranged by the hand of God. Some people ask, “Does being arranged by the hand of God mean that God arranges it Himself?” No, it doesn’t. There are myriad ways, means and channels by which God arranges the fates of man and there are complicated details to this in the spiritual realm which I shall not speak of here. It’s a very complicated matter, but generally speaking, it is all arranged by the Creator. Some of these arrangements are made by God Himself for various kinds of people, while some involve categorizing the various types of people and groups of people according to the regulations, administrative decrees, principles, and systems set by God; according to their category and the trajectory of their fate set by God, people’s fates are arranged and formulated in the spiritual realm, and then they are born. This is a very detailed matter, but generally speaking, God arranges and holds sovereignty over it all. God’s sovereignty and arrangements involve the principles, laws and rules of His sovereignty and arrangements. There is no good or bad here, it is all a natural matter of course for God, involving cause and effect. With regard to how people feel about fate, they can have good feelings and bad feelings, there can be fates where everything goes smoothly, fates filled with obstacles, difficult fates, and unhappy fates—there are no good or bad fates. What attitude should people have toward fate? You should comply with the Creator’s arrangements, actively and strenuously seek the Creator’s purpose and meaning in His arrangement of all these things and achieve understanding of the truth, bring into play your greatest functions in this life God has arranged for you, fulfill the duties, responsibilities, and obligations of a created being, and make your life more meaningful and more of value, until finally the Creator is pleased with you and remembers you. Of course, what would be even better would be to attain salvation through your seeking and strenuous effort—this would be the best outcome. In any case, with regard to fate, the most appropriate attitude created mankind should have is not one of wanton judgment and circumscription, or using extreme methods to deal with it. Of course, much less should people try to resist, choose, or change their fate, but rather they should use their heart to appreciate it, and seek, explore, and comply with it, before facing it positively. Finally, in the living environment and on the journey set for you in life by God, you should seek the way of conduct God teaches you, seek the path God requires you to take, and experience the fate God has arranged for you in this way, and in the end, you will be blessed. When you experience the fate the Creator has arranged for you in this way, what you come to appreciate is not only sorrow, sadness, tears, pain, frustration, and failure but, more importantly, you will experience joy, peace, and comfort, as well as the enlightenment and illumination of the truth which God bestows on you. What’s more, when you become lost along your path through life, when you are faced with frustration and failure, and you have a choice to make, you will experience the Creator’s guidance, and in the end you will attain the understanding, experience and appreciation of how to live the most meaningful life. Then you won’t ever become lost in life again, you won’t ever be in a constant state of anxiety again and, of course, you won’t ever again complain about having a bad fate, much less will you sink into the emotion of depression because you feel your fate is bad. If you have this attitude and you use this method to face the fate the Creator has arranged for you, then not only will your humanity become more normal, you will come to have a normal humanity, and the thinking, views and principles on how to view the things of normal humanity, but you will, of course, also come to have the views and understanding on the meaning of life which unbelievers will never have. Unbelievers are always saying, “Where do we come from? Where do we go to? Why are we alive?” There is always someone asking these questions, and what answers do they come up with in the end? They end with question marks, not answers. Why can’t they find the answers to these questions? Even though some intelligent people believe in fate, they have no idea how to approach the matter of fate or how to deal with the manifold difficulties, frustrations, failures, and unhappiness that arise in their fate; neither do they know how to deal with the things that happen in their fate that cause them to feel joyful and happy—they don’t know how to handle them. One minute they say they have a good fate, the next minute they say they have a bad fate; one minute they say they have a happy life, the next minute they say they have an unlucky life—they say both these things with the same mouth. They say one thing when they’re happy and another thing when they’re unhappy; they say one thing when things are going smoothly for them, and another thing when things are not going smoothly; it is they who say they are unlucky, and they who say their fate is good. Clearly, they live with no clarity or understanding. They are always groping in the mist, living in confusion, with no way out. Therefore, people should have a clear understanding and a clear path forward with regard to how they should treat fate correctly, what they should do, and how they should face this major issue in life. Once this issue is resolved, people’s attitudes and views toward fate should be relatively correct and in accordance with the truth principles, and then they will never go to extremes in this matter.

Do these sayings about fate that I have just fellowshipped on accord with the truth? (They do.) Do you know what the characteristics are of sayings that accord with the truth? (When people hear them, they feel clearer and more at ease.) (They are rather practical and they contain paths of practice.) That’s right, they are rather practical; this is a more accurate way to put it. There are even more accurate ways to describe this. Who will speak next? (They can resolve people’s current problems.) This is the effect of their practicality. They can resolve problems because they are practical. People believe in fate, but their minds are always entangled by the idea of good fates and bad fates, so, tell Me, are they liberated and free in their innermost hearts, or are they bound? (They’re bound.) If you don’t understand the truth, then you will be constantly bound by this idea. Once you understand the truth, besides feeling that it is practical and that you have a way forward, what else will you feel? (Liberated.) That’s right, you will feel free and liberated. When you have a path of practice and are no longer trapped, won’t your spirit then be liberated and free? Those distorted and absurd views will not be able to bind your thoughts or your hands and feet; you will have a path to follow, you will no longer be controlled by those views. Once you have heard God fellowship on the fates of man, you will feel free and liberated, and you will say, “Oh, so that’s how it is! Wow, my understanding about fate was so distorted and extreme before! Now I understand, and I’m no longer bothered by the fallacious idea of fates being good or bad. I’m not troubled by it anymore. If I hadn’t understood this, I’d always be thinking my fate was good one minute and suddenly bad the next, and wondering whether my fate was good or bad! I’d be worrying about it constantly.” Once you’ve understood this truth, you will have a path to follow, you will have an accurate opinion on the matter, and you will have an accurate path of practice—this means that you are free and liberated. So, in order to discern whether someone’s words are in accordance with the truth principles, and whether they are the truth, you must listen for whether these words are practical or not; at the same time, you should observe whether your difficulties and problems are resolved once you have heard these words—if they are, then you will feel free and liberated, like a heavy weight has been lifted from you. Therefore, every time you come to understand a truth principle, you will be able to resolve some related problems and put some truths into practice, and this will make you feel liberated and free. Won’t this be the outcome? (It will.) Do you now understand what effect the truth has exactly? (Yes.) What effect can the truth have? (It can make people’s spirits feel free and liberated.) Does the truth only have this one effect? Just this one feeling? (Primarily, it resolves the fallacious and radical views that people harbor toward things. Once people view things in a way that is pure and accords with the truth, they will feel liberated and free in their spirits, and they will no longer be bound or disturbed by the negative things that come from Satan.) Besides feeling free and liberated in your spirit, the crucial thing is that it can enable you to enter into a certain truth reality, so that you are no longer bound or swayed by erroneous and distorted thoughts and views. Their place is taken by the principles of practicing the truth and then you can enter into that truth reality. I will end here My fellowship on the manifestations of people who feel depressed because they think they have a bad fate.

Another reason why some people become depressed is that, although they don’t think their fates are that bad, they feel that they are always unlucky and that nothing good ever happens to them, just like the unbelievers say: “The God of Luck always passes me by.” Even though they don’t feel that their circumstances are that bad, and they are tall and good looking, educated and talented, and they’re capable workers, they wonder why the God of Luck never favors them. This always makes them feel dissatisfied, and they always think themselves to be unlucky. Beginning with the year when they take their college entrance examinations, their hearts are filled with hope for getting into college, but when the day of the exams comes, they get the flu and run a fever. This affects how they perform in the exams, and they miss out on getting into college by two or three points. They think to themselves: “How could I have been so unlucky? I’m good at my studies and I usually work very hard. Why did I have to run a fever on the day of the college entrance exams, of all days? It's just bad luck. Oh dear! The first major event in my life and I’ve suffered a setback. What should I do now? I hope that my luck will be better in the future.” But later on in their lives, they meet all manner of difficulties and problems. For example, some business is hiring new staff and they are just getting ready to apply when they find out that all the job vacancies have been filled and the company doesn’t need anyone else. They wonder, “How could I have such bad luck? Whenever something good comes along, why does it just pass me by? It’s such bad luck!” And on the first day they start working somewhere, other people have just been promoted to manager, deputy manager, and department head. No matter how hard they work, it’s of no use; they have to wait for next time to get promoted. Because they perform well at work and their superiors regard them quite well, they think they’ll get promoted next time, but in the end their superiors bring in a manager from somewhere else, and they lose out again. They think to themselves, “Oh dear! It seems like I really do have bad luck. I never have any good luck—the God of Luck never favors me.” Later, they come to believe in God, and, as they enjoy writing, they hope to be able to perform a text-based duty, but in the end they don’t perform very well at the test and they fail. They think, “Usually I write very well, so why couldn’t I perform well on the test? God didn’t enlighten or lead me! I thought that by performing a text-based duty, I’d be able to eat and drink God’s words more and understand the truth more. It’s too bad that I was unlucky. Although the plan was a good one, it just didn’t pan out.” In the end they pick from many other duties, saying, “I’ll go spread the gospel in a gospel team.” Things with the gospel team are great to begin with and they feel like this time they’ve found their place, like they can put their skills to good use. They think that they’re smart, they’re capable in their work, and they’re willing to do practical work. With effort, they manage to achieve some results, and they become a supervisor. However, they do something wrong, and their leader finds out. They’re told that what they’ve done goes against the principles and that it has impacted the work of the church. After their team is pruned, someone says to them, “We were doing great before you came along. Then you arrived and we get pruned for the first time.” They wonder, “Isn’t this still my bad luck?” Sometime later, people are reallocated due to changes in the gospel work and they go from being a supervisor to being just another member of the team, and they’re sent to a new area to spread the gospel. They think, “Oh no, I’m going down instead of up. No one was reallocated before I got there, so how come this big reallocation is happening now that I’ve arrived? Now that I’ve been sent here, I’ve got no hope of ever being promoted.” There are few churches and few church members in this new area. They experience difficulties getting the work started and they don’t have any experience. They have to figure it out for a while, and there are language difficulties too, so what can they do? They want to throw their hands up and walk away, but they don’t dare; they want to do their duties well but it’s so difficult and exhausting, and they think, “Oh, it’s because I’m so unlucky! How can I change my luck?” They hit a wall everywhere they turn, always feeling that they have bad luck, with something blocking their every move, and every step they take is so difficult. It took a lot of effort for them to achieve some results, and to see a little hope, and then their circumstances changed, and the hope disappeared, and they have no choice but to start all over again. They become more and more depressed, thinking, “Why is it so hard for me to achieve a few results and get people’s approval? Why is it so hard to get a firm foothold in a group of people? Why is it so hard to be someone people approve of and like? Why is it so hard for everything to go well and smoothly? Why do so many things go wrong in my life? Why are there so many obstacles? Why do I always run into a wall in everything I do?” In particular, some people never perform their duties well, no matter where they go, and they always get replaced and cast out. They get so depressed and always believe themselves to be unlucky, thinking, “I’m like a swift horse that never gets noticed. As the saying goes, ‘There are many swift horses, but few who can recognize them.’ I’m like a swift horse who hasn’t been discovered. At the end of the day, I’m just unlucky and I can’t achieve anything or do well in any field no matter where I go. I can never put my strengths to use, or show them off, or get what I want. Oh, I’m so unlucky! What’s going on here?” They always feel they have bad luck and spend every day in a cloud of anxiety, thinking, “Oh no! Please don’t let me be reallocated to another duty,” or “Oh no! Please don’t let anything bad happen,” or “Oh no! Please don’t let anything change,” or “Oh no! Please don’t let there be any more major problems.” Not only do they get depressed, but they also feel incredibly uneasy, restless, irritable, and anxious. They always think that their luck is bad, so they feel incredibly depressed, and this depression arises from their subjective feeling of being unlucky. They always feel unlucky, they never get promoted, they can never be a team leader or a supervisor, and they never get the chance to stand out from the crowd. These good things never happen to them, and they can’t figure out why on earth this is the case. They think, “I’m not lacking in any respect, so why doesn’t anyone like me wherever I go? I haven’t offended anyone or wanted to give someone a hard time, so why am I so unlucky?” Because they always cling to such feelings, this emotion of depression is constantly reminding them, saying, “You’re unlucky, so don’t get complacent, don’t go swaggering about, and don’t always be wanting to stand out. You’re unlucky, so don’t even think about becoming a leader. You’re unlucky, so you must be more careful when performing your duty and hold back a little, just in case one day you’re exposed and replaced, or just in case someone reports you behind your back and seizes upon something to ruin you, or just in case you’re always taking the lead and you make a mistake and get pruned. Even if you become a leader, you still must be careful and cautious all the time, as though you are walking along the edge of a knife. Don’t be arrogant, you must be humble.” This negative emotion reminds them all the time to be humble, to slink around with their tails between their legs and not to comport themselves with any dignity ever again. The idea, the thought, the perspective, or the awareness that their luck is bad reminds them all the time not to be positive or active, not to assert themselves, and not to stick their necks out. Instead, they must keep on being depressed, not daring to live before others. Even if everyone is in the same house, they have to find an inconspicuous place to sit in so that they’re not so noticeable. They must not come across as too arrogant, because the moment they begin to show any arrogance, their bad luck will find them. Because the emotion of depression surrounds them constantly and is always warning them of these things in their innermost hearts, they are timid and cautious in everything they do. They always feel uneasy in their hearts, they can never find their proper place, and they can never put all their hearts, minds, and strength into fulfilling their responsibilities and obligations. It’s as though they’re guarding against something and waiting for something to happen. They guard against the coming of bad luck, against the bad things and embarrassments that their bad luck will bring upon them. Therefore, apart from the struggles in their innermost hearts, it is more the emotion of depression that dominates the ways and methods by which they view people and things, and comport themselves and act. They always use good luck and bad luck to measure their own behavior, and to gauge whether the ways that they view people and things, and comport themselves and act are correct, and that’s why they repeatedly sink into this emotion of depression and cannot extricate themselves, and why they are unable to use the correct thinking and views to face these so-called “unlucky” things, or to handle and resolve what they call their terrible luck. In such a vicious cycle as this, they are constantly controlled and influenced by this emotion of depression. With a great deal of effort, they manage to open their hearts and fellowship about their state or their ideas with others, but then, at gatherings, the words spoken by brothers and sisters in fellowship intentionally or unintentionally touch upon their state and the crux of their issue, which makes them feel like their pride and dignity have been hurt. They still believe this is a manifestation of their own bad luck, and they think, “You see? It was so hard for me to talk about what was in my heart, and as soon as I do, someone seizes upon it and tries to ruin me. I’m so unlucky!” They believe this is their bad luck at work and that when a person is unlucky absolutely everything is against them.

What is the problem with people who always think that they are unlucky? They always use the standard of luck to measure whether their actions are right or wrong, and to weigh up which path they should take, the things that they should experience, and any problems that they face. Is that right or wrong? (Wrong.) They describe bad things as unlucky and good things as lucky or advantageous. Is this perspective right or wrong? (Wrong.) Measuring things from this kind of perspective is wrong. It is an extreme and incorrect method and standard for measuring things. This kind of method often leads people to sink into depression, and it often makes them feel uneasy, and that nothing ever goes their way, and that they never get what they want, which eventually leads them to feel constantly anxious, irritable, and uneasy. When these negative emotions go unresolved, these people constantly sink into depression and feel that God does not favor them. They think that God treats others with grace but not them, and that God takes care of others but not them. “Why do I always feel uneasy and anxious? Why do bad things always happen to me? Why do good things never come my way? Just once is all I’m asking for!” When you view things with this kind of erroneous way of thinking and perspective, you will fall into the trap of good and bad luck. When you are continually falling into this trap, you will constantly feel depressed. In the midst of this depression, you will be particularly sensitive to whether the things that befall you are lucky or unlucky. When this happens, it proves that this perspective and idea of good and bad luck has taken control of you. When you are controlled by this kind of perspective, your views and attitude toward people, events, and things are no longer within the range of the conscience and reason of normal humanity, but have fallen into a sort of extreme. When you fall into this extreme, you will not emerge from your depression. You will keep getting depressed time and time again, and even if you do not normally feel depressed, as soon as something goes wrong, as soon as you feel that something unlucky has happened, you will immediately sink into depression. This depression will affect your normal judgment and decision-making, and even your happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy. When it affects your happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy, it will disturb and destroy the performance of your duty, as well as your will and desire to follow God. When these positive things are destroyed, the few truths you have come to understand will vanish into thin air and be of no help to you at all. That is why, when you fall into this vicious cycle, it will be hard for you to put the few truth principles that you understand into practice. It is only when you feel that your luck is in, when you are not suppressed by depression that you can reluctantly pay a bit of a price, suffer a little hardship, and show a sliver of sincerity while doing the things you are willing to do. As soon as you feel that luck has deserted you and that unfortunate things are happening to you again, your depression soon takes control of you again, and your sincerity, loyalty, and will to endure hardship immediately leave you. Therefore, people who think that they are unlucky or who take luck very seriously are just like those people who think that their fates are bad. They often have very extreme emotions—in particular, they frequently slip into negative emotions such as depression. They are particularly negative and weak, and they are even prone to mood swings. When they feel lucky, they’re filled with joy, replete with energy, and they can endure hardships and pay a price; they can sleep less at night, and eat less food during the day, they’re willing to suffer any hardship, and if they get momentarily excited, they’re happy to offer up their lives. However, the moment they feel that they’ve been unlucky recently, when nothing seems to go right for them at all, the emotion of depression immediately seizes their heart. The vows and the resolutions they made before are all negated; suddenly they’re like a deflated ball, unable to muster up any energy, or like a puddle of mush, unwilling to do anything or say anything at all. They think, “The truth principles, pursuing the truth, attaining salvation, submitting to God—none of these has anything to do with me. I’m unlucky and it’s no use no matter how many truths I practice or how much of a price I pay, I’ll never attain salvation. I’m done. I’m like an unlucky charm, an unfortunate individual. Well, so be it, I’m unlucky in any case!” See, one minute they’re like a ball that’s so full of air that it’s about to burst, and the next minute they’re deflated. Isn’t this troublesome? How does this trouble come about? What is the root cause? They’re always watching their own fortunes, as though they’re watching the stock market, to see whether it’s going up or down, whether it’s a bull market or a bear market. They’re always neurotic, incredibly sensitive to the matter of their luck, and incredibly stubborn. This kind of extreme person will often become mired in the emotion of depression because they care too much about their own fortune and they live based on their moods. If they’re in a bad mood when they get up in the morning, they think, “Oh no! I bet today isn’t going to be a lucky day. My left eyelid has been twitching for several days, my tongue feels stiff, and my brain is sluggish. I bit my tongue while eating, and I didn’t have a good dream when I slept last night.” Or they think, “The first words I heard someone say today seem like a bad omen.” They’re constantly paranoid, rambling on and on about this mumbo jumbo, and making a study of such things. They are incredibly concerned about their own fortune, direction, and mood every day and in every period. They also observe the looks, attitude, and even tone of voice that all their brothers and sisters in the church use toward them. Their hearts are occupied by these things, which makes them constantly depressed. They know that they are not in a good state and yet they do not pray to God, or seek the truth to resolve it, and no matter what corrupt dispositions they reveal, they do not pay any attention to them or take them seriously. Is this not a problem? (It is.)

These people who are always concerned about whether they have good or bad luck—is the way that they view things correct? Does good luck or bad luck exist? (No.) What is the basis for saying that it does not exist? (The people we meet and the things that happen to us every day are determined by God’s sovereignty and arrangements. There is no such thing as good luck or bad luck; everything happens out of necessity and has meaning behind it.) Is that correct? (It is.) This view is correct, and this is the theoretical basis for saying that luck does not exist. Whatever happens to you, whether good or bad, it is all normal, just like the weather through the four seasons—not every day can be sunny. You cannot say that sunny days are arranged by God, whereas cloudy days, rain, wind, and storms are not. Everything is determined by God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and is generated by the natural environment. This natural environment arises according to the laws and rules that God arranged and established. All of this is necessary and imperative, so no matter what the weather, it is generated and brought about by natural laws. There is nothing good or bad in it—only people’s feelings about it are good or bad. People do not feel good when it is raining, windy or cloudy, or during hailstorms. People particularly do not like it when it is raining and damp; their joints ache and they feel weak. You might feel bad about rainy days, but can you say that rainy days are unlucky? This is just a feeling that the weather arouses in people—luck has nothing to do with the fact that it is raining. You might say that sunny days are good. If it is sunny for three months, without a drop of rain, people feel good. They can see the sun every day, and it is dry and warm with an occasional slight breeze, and they can go outdoors whenever they want. But the plants cannot tolerate it, and the crops die due to drought, so there is no harvest that year. So, does you feeling good mean that it is really good? Come the autumn, when you have no food to eat, you will be saying, “Oh dear, it’s not good to have too many sunny days either. If it doesn’t rain, the crops suffer, there’s no food to harvest, and people go hungry.” At this point, you realize that endless sunny days are not good either. The fact is that whether a person feels good or bad about something is based on their own selfish motives, desires, and self-interest, rather than on the essence of the thing itself. So, the basis on which people gauge whether something is good or bad is inaccurate. Because the basis is inaccurate, the final conclusions that they draw are also inaccurate. Returning to the subject of good luck and bad luck, now everyone knows that this saying of luck does not hold water, and that it is neither good nor bad. The people, events, and things that you encounter, whether good or bad, are all determined by God’s sovereignty and arrangements, so you should face them properly. Accept what is good from God, and accept what is bad from God as well. Do not say that you’re lucky when good things happen, and that you’re unlucky when bad things happen. It can only be said that there are lessons for people to learn within all these things, and they should not reject or avoid them. Thank God for the good things, but also thank God for the bad things, because all of them are arranged by Him. Good people, events, things, and environments provide lessons that they should learn, but there is even more to be learned from bad people, events, things, and environments. These are all experiences and episodes that should be part of one’s life. People should not use the idea of luck to measure them. So, what are the thoughts and perspectives of people who use luck to measure whether things are good or bad? What is the essence of such people? Why do they pay so much attention to good luck and bad luck? Do people who focus a lot on luck hope that their luck is good, or do they hope that it is bad? (They hope that it is good.) That is right. In fact, they pursue good luck and for good things to happen to them, and they just take advantage of them and profit from them. They do not care how much others suffer, or how many hardships or difficulties others have to endure. They do not want anything that they perceive as unlucky to happen to them. In other words, they do not want any bad things to happen to them: no setbacks, no failures or embarrassments, no being pruned, no losing things, no losing out, and no being deceived. If any of that happens, they regard it as bad luck. No matter who arranges it, if bad things happen, it is unlucky. They hope that all good things—from being promoted, standing out from the crowd, and benefiting at others’ expense, to profiting from something, making lots of money, or becoming a high-ranking official—happen to them, and they think that is good luck. They always measure the people, events, and things that they encounter based on luck. They are pursuing good luck, not bad luck. As soon as the slightest thing goes wrong, they get angry, annoyed, and dissatisfied. To put it bluntly, these types of people are selfish. They pursue benefiting themselves at other people’s expense, making a profit for themselves, coming out on top, and standing out from the crowd. They would be satisfied if every good thing happened to them alone. This is their nature essence; it is their true face.