I would see my parents busy each day from dawn until dusk,

but our family never had enough to eat or wear.

I often felt sad.

To lighten my parents' load, I did farm work while also studying.

At school, I often heard the teacher say:

"One's destiny is in their own hands."

"You can create a pleasant homeland with your own hands."

I kept these words in mind and resolved to myself:

"I have to study hard and put every effort into changing my destiny,

and live the life of a rich man."

The hard work paid off.

After I graduated,

I found a well-paying job in foreign trade.

I fulfilled my dream to live in the city,

and I also had my own family.

To achieve my ideal of being a cut above the rest

and so that my wife and child could lead a happy life,

I threw myself into my work tirelessly.

After a few years, my family's life gradually improved,

but I was far from satisfied.

Whenever I saw some friends making large sums of money doing business,

and some were buying mansions and driving luxury cars,

I was jealous, upset.

I thought to myself:

"I'm a university graduate, every bit as capable as them.

I should have the same as them.

I can be just as competent as they are."

And so I came up with the idea of going into business.

Just after the Spring Festival in 2010,

I resigned from my well-paid foreign trade job

and went, full of confidence, to another large city

to open an import-export trading company.

When I had just set up the company,

I received some export business,

and that boosted my confidence even more.

I was busy every day making phone calls and contacting clients on the Internet,

and the company's business gradually grew.

But the good times didn't last for long.

About a year after the company started,

I was notified by the Tax Office

that they wanted to inspect the company's books.

Due to inexperience,

I hadn't prepared the foreign trade documents

and other materials related to bank transactions.

The Tax Office ordered us to straighten out our documents and accounts.

During that period I rushed to the Tax Office every day,

and I was running back and forth for nearly a month.

It took quite some time to scrape through the investigation.

In the days that followed,

because of a lack of management,

fewer and fewer clients came to the company,

and our trade dropped over time.

In order to expand distribution channels and improve business income,

the company undertook large-scale Internet promotion.

I went on business trips first to Guangdong,

then Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang,

and other places in search of clients.

In the end, all my work was for nothing.

This made me particularly disappointed and distressed,

but I was unwilling to be defeated like this.

I thought that as long as I put more effort into it,

I could certainly turn the situation around.

I racked my brain every day for a way to improve the company's business.

I was constantly running around in search of new clients

while at the same time getting in touch with old ones.

But having exerted myself to the limit,

after struggling for two years,

the company still showed no improvement.

Faced with the situation that the company had just about come to a standstill,

I was disheartened and in mental anguish.

In order to relieve my anxiety and stress,

I often went out drinking and singing with some friends.

When I was drunk, I would fall into a deep slumber.

But when I woke up,

not only had my anxiety not been relieved in the slightest,

but it would have gotten even worse.

I often thought:

"My abilities and efforts are no less than those of others.

Why is it that I've used so much effort

but still can't accomplish my wishes and change my destiny?"

My mental distress was acute,

and it was followed by anxiety, sleeplessness, and unease.

At that time my wife had just begun to believe in God.

When she saw the misery I was living in,

she tried to help and preached the gospel to me.

But all I could think about was my work,

so I simply turned a deaf ear to my wife's advice.

In the end the company really couldn't be saved,

and all I could do was transfer it over.

After this first attempt failed,

I felt defeated for quite a while.

But I was still unwilling to give up.

I thought,

"Others don't succeed the first time they start a company.

If you fail, you can just start over.

Besides, I have a wealth of knowledge and experience

in foreign trade and electronic commerce.

As long as I make an effort and am persistent,

one day I will succeed."

With this thought in mind,

I rekindled my hopes and decided to make a comeback.

Then,

I found someone who specialized in creating websites

to help me build an independent web commerce website.

I sold tattooing equipment and wigs on the Internet.

Once again I threw myself into my work as if there were no day or night,

trying to achieve my own ideals.

But after working nonstop for about two years,

the virtual shop I created failed too.

Faced with this chain of blows, I completely fell apart.

My mind flooded with grief, distress, and despair.

I couldn't help asking myself:

"Why is it that I've put all my effort into this and I cannot achieve my aspirations?

Why does this happen?"

I thought that I was just unlucky,

and it was too painful to live in this world.

Both my body and mind were just worn out.

I was full of despair.

In July of 2016,

my wife went to work in the United States.

Two months later, I went as well with our daughter.

Mommy.

Lele, Mommy's really missed you. (I really missed you too!)

Were you waiting long?

No, not long, let's go home.

Because I had suffered so many setbacks and failures,

I was unhappy all day long.

My wife saw the misery I was in and once again advised me,

preaching the gospel of Almighty God to me.

Chen Zhi,

all these years you've devoted heart and soul to business.

And I know you've suffered a lot and you've paid a great price.

You wanted to keep yourself above the rest,

so things could be better for me and our child.

I totally understand your dreams.

But as the sayings go, "Man proposes, God disposes,"

"Heaven's plans outdo our own,"

and "Man's fate is Heaven's alone."

The fate of our lives has long been arranged by God.

Whether or not something can succeed cannot be decided by ourselves.

I've believed in God for years, and I read a lot of His words,

so I understand a few truths that made me realize some things about human life.

Mankind is created by God;

God is the Master of our destiny.

God has arranged our lives for each one of us even before we're born.

Whether we're poor or wealthy, it's been predetermined.

Humans can't be in charge of destiny or change it.

Whatever kind of family we're born into,

how much we're able to study,

whatever kind of work we do,

how much property we can own,

this is all ordained by God.

Chen Zhi, from what you've gone through,

you should know this even better than I do.

We can't resist our destiny anymore.

If we want to live in peace, free from anxiety,

then we must come before God,

accept God's rule, and obey God's arrangements.

Our lives are more blessed when God is watching over us.

When my wife had said such things in the past,

I always felt a point of view like "Man's fate is determined by Heaven" was negative,

and I didn't accept it at all.

But today as I listened, I felt that it was quite reasonable.

Reflecting on these last few years,

in order to achieve my life's goal of being above the rest

I constantly exhausted every effort and worked all I could.

Yet the result was a succession of failures.

It seems that man's destiny really can't be controlled by him.

Could it be that God really is in charge of each person's destiny?

My wife later saw that I was willing to learn the true way,

so she contacted the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God

to come to fellowship with me.

Thank God.

It really is by the grace of God that Chen Zhi wants to seek the truth.

Yes, thanks be to God!

If it were not for Almighty God's salvation, I wouldn't be who I am today.

Have a cup of coffee.

You can chat while you drink.

We will, thank you!

Go ahead.

Okay.

Look, these past years,

to be better than the rest and to achieve my life's goals,

I worked myself to the bone.

I started a company back home and ran a virtual store,

both of which failed.

Each time it was just such a bitter blow.

Since then I've calmed down and thought a lot.

I've seen that in this world, doesn't matter if you're rich or poor,

if you succeed or if you fail,

you are never free of suffering.

That is true.

Brother Wang, (Yes?)

why does life have to be so tiring, so painful?

I can definitely understand how you feel.

Truth is every person finds many setbacks throughout life

and has many painful experiences.

But we need to know what's the source behind all this suffering.

This is the part that I would like to understand.

Well, that's good! Let's talk about it together.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve created by God lived in the Garden of Eden,

and God was with them.

They followed God's word, obeyed all His arrangements,

and lived under His care and protection.

There was no pain or sorrow, and there was no death.

But then Adam and Eve were seduced by Satan.

They believed Satan's lies and betrayed God,

they no longer obeyed God or revered God.

As a result,

they lost God's care and protection and fell under Satan's domain;

Satan brought them misery.

As each generation that followed was corrupted even more by Satan,

people forgot about God, He was no longer in their hearts.

They lived according to Satan's logic and philosophy.

They wanted money, fame, and status,

indulging in the pleasures of sin.

And so, men's lives became more painful and hollow.

They sank into Satan's net, unable to pull themselves out.

They were severely afflicted by Satan until they died.

Regarding the origins of mankind's life of pain,

Almighty God has spoken clearly.

If we read some passages of Almighty God's words, you'll understand.

Let's go into the living room. (Okay.)

How about we watch a video that recites God's words?

Okay. (Alright.)

Would you like to watch this video together?

Of course. Alright!

Here you go.

Right!

Amen.

God's words explain how Satan has corrupted mankind

and what the source of mankind's pain really is.

For thousands of years,

Satan has used atheism, materialism, theory of evolution, and other kinds of heresies

to deceive, influence, and corrupt mankind.

The satanic logic has been planted deep into the hearts of mankind

by those tyrants, great and famous men over the ages,