Q: Is it true that our lives are planned by God, or have we been told a lie?
A: Thanks for your question about God’s plans for our lives. The teachings of The Urantia Book are very clear about this topic. I am reminded of this wonderful passage:
32:5.7 There is in the mind of God a plan which embraces every creature of all his vast domains, and this plan is an eternal purpose of boundless opportunity, unlimited progress, and endless life. And the infinite treasures of such a matchless career are yours for the striving!
Our heavenly Father desires for all of us to one day reunite with him on Paradise through his amazing ascension plan. But as this next passage tells us, our participation in this grand adventure is optional. God does not coerce us into taking part. We must choose to do so.
112:5.2 That which comes from the Father is like the Father eternal, and this is just as true of personality, which God gives by his own freewill choice, as it is of the divine Thought Adjuster, an actual fragment of God. Man’s personality is eternal but with regard to identity a conditioned eternal reality. Having appeared in response to the Father’s will, personality will attain Deity destiny, but man must choose whether or not he will be present at the attainment of such destiny. In default of such choice, personality attains experiential Deity directly, becoming a part of the Supreme Being. The cycle is foreordained, but man’s participation therein is optional, personal, and experiential.
We come into this earthly life endowed with personality from the Father, and at an early age we acquire an indwelling Thought Adjuster – the actual spirit prescence of God – that assists us to grow an immortal soul. This immortal soul is designed to carry us through the eternal ages as we grow closer and closer to reunion with the Father on Paradise.
But, in order for us to fulfill this destiny, we must choose to do so. And that choice takes place in the arena of mind, and on this material planet of good and evil. But it is always God’s desire that: “none should perish.”
32:5.8 The goal of eternity is ahead! The adventure of divinity attainment lies before you! The race for perfection is on! whosoever will may enter, and certain victory will crown the efforts of every human being who will run the race of faith and trust, depending every step of the way on the leading of the indwelling Adjuster and on the guidance of that good spirit of the Universe Son, which so freely has been poured out upon all flesh.
