Should We Accept That Whatever Happens To Us Is Positive?

Currently some Psychologically distorted interpretations of Stoicism are causing the philosophy to go through a resurgence in popularity.

This is because these Psycho-Pop versions of Stoicism give people an excuse to Play the Doris Day Card, saying ‘Que Sera, sera, whatever will be, will be’.

It is interesting that the Psych-Pop pedlars are using Stoic quotes from Marcus Aurelius, to justify their Ostrich Card, head in the sand, approach to life.

We are told by these ‘Motivational Gurus’ that you should , ‘Accept whatever happens to you as a Positive for yourself and the Universe’.

The idea is that you will feel a lot less stressed if you don’t question what happens to you, but just accept it as the Positive will of the Universe.

What is concerning is that according to this theory, we are now being told to passively submit to the supposed Impersonal Universe, which is now controlling our destiny for the good, but only as long as we don’t question it.

Of course nobody really believes this, because if we did then we would regard all Sickness as a Positive for ourselves and the Universe, and would therefore not seek medical help.

By contrast Paul reveals the Christian position on this topic by stating in Romans 8:28 ESV, , “And we know that for those who Love God, All things work together for the good, for those who are called according to His purpose”.

Here Paul outlines the difference between the Christian Faith and Stoicism, by outlining the provisos for “All things work together for the good”.

Firstly , we must Love God.

Joseph Stalin would have thought that all things were working for his good when he murdered countless millions of innocent people in Soviet Russia, and because he hated God he had no regard for Stoic philosophy but rather was motivated by Scepticism.

Obviously, the people of Russia did not accept the purges as the Positive will of the Universe, because they were being ordered by a God hating psychopath.

Secondly, all things work together for the good for those who are called according to His purpose.

All Believers are called according to the purpose of Jesus Christ.

If we maintain our perspective and focus on fulfilling the Will of God for our lives, then anything that is negative that may happen to us can be overcome by Faith.

However, this does not mean that we should believe that Negative encounters are caused by God, or are somehow Positives created by God that we should just accept.

Paul in his New Covenant Epistles was very clear that we should resist evil, and not just passively accept it.

Much of the Politically Correct Psycho-Babble interpretations of Stoicism are aberrations from the original intentions of Socrates and Marcus Aurelius.

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