From talk shows to forums on the Internet, everyone is talking about "The Secret". The main message of the movie is that a truth, the knowledge about a universal law, has been kept from the poor huddled masses. The main conspirators are rich and powerful business people and, of course, the church.
The writer of the Newsweek article on the movie says, "You'd think the last thing Americans need is more excuses for self-absorption and acquisitiveness." He places the movie in the general category of the kind of inspiration and motivation that has been preached by self-help gurus for years, but with an added stroke of marketing genius, combining the message with conspiracy theories similar to the Da Vinci Code.
The main gist of the movie is something people call the Law of Attraction. The concept is that there are universal laws, laws so precise and reliable that they can be applied with scientific accuracy, laws that can change our lives. And the movie claims that, by applying these laws, we can plot an exact course for our lives that will take us out of our poverty, sickness, and bad relationships into a miraculous life full of money, health, and love.
I don't have a problem with the idea that there are universal laws, laws that affect our lives each and every moment of our lives. But the Law of Attraction isn't some great and powerful secret that has been kept from us by evil, greedy people in business and religion. But I do think that we should take a closer look at what the law claims and how it relates to the truth of God's word.
Everything is Energy
In an earlier post on How Faith Moves Mountains, I talked about the fact that Hebrews 11:3 tells us that everything in the physical, visible universe was created at God's command, and "so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." In other words, God spoke and converted energy into matter.
Einstein's famous equation, E=MC2, is really all about the idea that a small amount of matter contains an almost astronomical amount of energy. The atomic bombs and nuclear reactors we have all come to know and love, or hate as the case may be, are based on this concept. But all that human beings are able to do at this point is to split the atoms. Unlike Star Trek, we have not yet figured out how to reshape energy into the things we want, until the Law of Attraction came along. :-)
It's not that the proponents of it are saying that we can now create money out of thin air, but they are saying that the energetic vibrations we create by our thoughts will attract those things to us. The people and things we need and want in order to create our perfect lives are as close as our thoughts. Once we know how to visualize what we want, imagine all the emotions and good feelings we'll experience once we have those things, and banish all bad vibes from our minds, everything will fall into place.
It almost reminds me of the scene in "Back to the Future" where Doc Brown and Marty are standing on the street in Hill Valley as the storm is approaching. Doc says to Marty, "Don't worry. As long as you hit that wire with the connecting hook at precisely 88 miles per hour, the instance the lightning strikes the tower, everything will be fine." At which point a look comes across Doc's face that I can only describe as a hint of doubt that this can all happen as planned, but which he quickly dismisses and gets back to telling Marty what he needs to do.
That's the way it is with laws. No matter how you look at it, laws are precise and unforgiving. The Law of Attraction is supposedly at work in our lives just like the law of gravity. We may not know anything about it, but it is shaping the events we experience day in and day out. If we think bad things, then nasty stuff will happen to us. But if we can keep our minds on the positive, good things that we want, then that will manifest in our lives as well, as long as we don't allow any bad vibes to interrupt the flow of good, because then all is lost and we have to start all over again.
The unforgiving nature of laws is part of the problem with the Law of Attraction. There is no room for a God who shows us His grace and mercy on a daily basis, and there is no room for mistakes. We can't come to the universe and expect it to understand when we say, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)
The good news for us is that it's not about the universe. Our faith is in God who does understand our questions, fears, and doubts. He knows that we struggle and He works with us to help us overcome the doubts. He wants to give us what we ask for, and He wants us to have the kind of faith in Him that won't waver in the face of negative circumstances, and He is constantly bringing about trials that expose our fears. He isn't punishing us, He is showing us what He wants to change so that we can perfect our faith and have all that we want.
Because of God's grace, we don't have to fear our imperfections and weaknesses. By His mercy we know that He can turn even the worst events in our lives into good. With God there is always a second chance, there is always hope.
The Perils of Precision
Bob Proctor is fond of quoting something that Dr. Wernher Von Braun said about the laws of the universe. Von Braun said, "The natural laws of the universe are so precise that we have no difficulty building a spaceship to fly to the moon and can time the flight with the precision of a fraction of a second. These laws must have been set by somebody."
What would happen if we tried to apply the same kind of scientific precision to the Law of Attraction?
Certainly one of the problems that we all face is that we struggle with remaining consistent. Whether it's a diet or any other New Year's resolution, we all know that it's never as easy as we initially thought. Look at any fitness center for the first five or six weeks of a New Year and the parking lot will be full. But look at that same parking lot anytime between March and December and you will find plenty of free spaces.
But if it was all up to an unfeeling, law-abiding universe, shouldn't we be able to establish some sort of correlation between what a person thinks and what happens in his or her life? The person who worries about cancer would get it, and the one who never thinks about it should be cancer free. But it doesn't always seem to work that way. Bad things do happen to good people, and good things happen to some pretty nasty ones.
Part of the problem with the Law of Attraction, as with faith in God, is that we all struggle with doubt. In Mark 11:23 Jesus says, "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says."
The battle that we all face is that our minds are full of doubts. We question whether or not God can answer our prayers. Part of the problem may be that we literally doubt His ability. It's not that we don't think the Bible is wrong; it's just that we've usually had some disappointments in our lives and every unanswered prayer creates more questions. Can God hear me? Is He really able to change my circumstances? Does He love me? Will He give me the desires of my heart?
Whether we're looking at the Law of Attraction or faith, the problems are the same. And while a law would require us to strive for perfection, God knows that we can never get there without His help. He works in each our lives in accordance with the prayer in Psalm 139:23-24 that says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
He is constantly looking at the anxieties we have, our doubts and fears, and working to free us from our unbelief, so that we will trust Him completely. And He understands that it is a process. It has taken us a lifetime to develop the wrong beliefs that we have, and we will not be able to overcome them overnight. But God is patient in His dealings with us, and all that He is looking for in our lives is that we would develop patience and persistence for our faith. As James 1:4 says, "But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
When we allow God to use the trials and struggles in our lives to build our patience, we will come to the point when our faith will be steadfast and sure. The promise is that from that point on we will never lack again. The question for us is: Can we allow God to lead us through the trials, knowing that the patience we develop will forever change our lives?
The problem with the Law of Attraction is that the universe doesn't care. As far as it's concerned, if our thoughts wander and we can't maintain consistent feelings about the future we want, it just says, "OK. Since you can't keep it together, I guess you'll just have to do without."
God on the other hand cares very much. Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him." Unlike an impersonal force like the universe, God loves us and He wants our lives to please Him. He wants us to have faith and He will work with us to remove our doubts.
Are There Innocent Victims?
If we think about the universe working strictly by law, then the inescapable truth would be that we would all get back exactly what we put out. And at least one of the teachers in the movie "The Secret", Joe Vitale, is convinced that this is what happens. He believes that when bad things happen to us, at some level, we were putting out that vibe and we attracted them.
I came across a post on a message board where people were asking how the Law of Attraction applies to the starving people in Africa, or the victims in Darfur. I found it somewhat ironic because I got the same questions when I talked with people about something God has given us, freedom of choice.
While we may not want to accept that there are choices we make that can cause bad things to happen in our lives, we are each responsible for our own lives. And when it comes to the victims of crimes, hunger, and even hurricanes, there are those people who put themselves in the path of those things because of choices they made. The young woman, who leaves a bar and walks through the bad part of town alone, is making a bad choice.
We can all become victims. The woman in the wrong part of town late at night may be making a mistake, but that does not mean that she now deserves to be raped. The rapist is the one who inflicts the pain and suffering on his victim and now the victim is faced with a difficult choice.
When bad things happen in our lives we can take the approach that we somehow deserved it. But in order to accept personal responsibility for what happens in our lives we have to also acknowledge the limitations we have. You and I are not all-powerful beings who create all the circumstances in our lives. The starving millions around the world are really victims of the sinfulness of man and the actions of those who cause the problem and of those who allow it to continue. Those who suffer are not at fault for what is happening to them.
But at the same time we each need to accept the responsibility to change our lives. We can decide to move to a different place, to avoid the bad part of town late at night, and to accept that things beyond our control happen to us. But one thing that is always under our control is how we react to those events. The person who loses everything because of a storm can choose to rebuild, the woman who was raped can choose to forgive, and the world can say no to hunger and take action to stop it.
The answer to all of the problems that we face in life is pretty simple, because it's all the result of sin. We live in a fallen and corrupt world and we are all plagued by the consequences of Adam's bad decision some six thousand years ago. People become victims, get ill, and have various other problems in life because we do not living in a perfect world.
On the good side of things, the parable of the sower does tell us that, if we keep sowing good seed, there will come a time in our lives when we will reap the rewards. Hebrews 11:6 tell us that God does reward those who diligently seek Him. But the Bible clearly teaches us that we may not be able to know for sure which thing brought the best results. Ecclesiastes 11:6 says, "Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well."
The Bible teaches us that we will all sow good seed in bad places like by the wayside, on the rocks, and amongst the thorns. But that we can continue to sow, and as we grow in our understanding of God's goodness, we will begin to sow our seeds on good ground (see my earlier post on The Law of Sowing and Reaping, in particular the section on the parable of the sower). And the good news is that those seeds will bring forth thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold what we sowed. The good seed on the good ground will overcome all the bad seed, as long as we don't lose heart and give up too soon.
The Law versus Faith
When comparing the Law of Attraction with faith in God, we can clearly see that faith offers us a lot more hope. Even if we don't understand how it all works, we know that God wants the absolute best for us. And when we go through difficult times the reason may simply be that God is working in our hearts to perfect our faith. He knows the power of pure faith, and He knows how much it will please Him when our faith has the persistence and patience it needs to receive all the blessings He has in store for us.
I can understand that a lot of people think that working with the universe is easier than God. They may believe that an impersonal thing, because it doesn't really care, will never judge them. It will never debate as to whether or not something is good for us, it will simply respond.
But the downside of that is that we miss the super-abundance that God wants to give us. God doesn't want to give us something we hate in place of something we want, His desire is to give us way more than we can imagine. He will work out the circumstances and events, even the "chance meetings", of our lives to help us enjoy the kind of prosperity that can only come from a loving Father.
And when it comes to judgment, we know that God sent His Son to die for us so that we would never have to fear that again. It is His love, displayed through Jesus' death on the cross, which proves He loves us more than we can comprehend. But as we open our hearts to Him and let Him reveal the magnitude of His love, our doubts and fears will fade and our faith will become stronger than ever. We will see that He wants us to enjoy His goodness and blessings, and that is so much greater than what a mystical, magical genie could ever do for us.
The bottom line is that faith is so much more powerful and God's grace means that we all can have what we ask for. The promise of scripture is that God is forgiving and loving, and that He wants to glorify Himself by giving us our heart's desires. And I would much rather have that than a universal law any day.
========================
If this article has blessed you, please take a moment to donate to this site.
Get two chapters from my book, Taking On Goliath for free when you sign up for my free newsletter. Click here to sign up today.
Recent Comments