Rev. Fr. John Chinenye Oluoma, a Catholic priest, has dismissed the widespread belief in “stolen destiny,” describing it as baseless and a product of gullibility among certain Christians.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Fr. Oluoma criticized the tendency of many believers to attribute personal struggles or life challenges to the supposed spiritual theft of their destinies.
He referenced the biblical account of Esau and Jacob, where Esau lost his birthright and paternal blessing to his younger brother Jacob, as an example often used by those promoting the “stolen destiny” narrative.
“If Esau lived today and ran to one of your ‘powerful prophets’, he would have been diagnosed of ‘stolen destiny’ and then given ‘destiny recovery’ prescriptions of marathon fasts, prayers, deliverance and seed sowing,” he wrote.
The priest noted that despite Esau’s loss, he still achieved material prosperity, pointing out that when Jacob returned in Genesis 32, Esau had 400 men with him, signifying wealth and strength. He added that in Genesis 33, Esau even declined Jacob’s gifts, saying, “I have plenty, keep what is yours.”
Fr. Oluoma stressed that God’s plans cannot be limited by human deception or actions and cautioned Christians against equating destiny solely with material wealth.
“What Jacob took from Esau was their biological father’s blessings. God is not Isaac who got old, blind, needed bush meat pepper soup to bless, and got deceived by a woman and her favourite son,” he stated.
He warned that those who promote the belief in “stolen destiny” are the ones truly misleading people and potentially diverting their focus and clarity.
“In fact, if there’s such a thing as stolen destiny, it would be those who programmed you to believe your destiny was stolen that are actually stealing your destiny,” he said.
