Destiny

I had been a follower of Jesus for over twenty-five years the first time I heard the phrase, “Your destiny in Christ.”  I still remember how that phrase grabbed my attention, but I wasn’t totally sure what it meant.  As I considered the phrase, I was surprised to discover how much God’s Word had to say about it.

When we talk about our “destiny in Christ”, we discover that God has destined us to live in a certain way, a certain place, and a certain time in order to fulfill pre-ordained things in our lifetime for the kingdom of God.  In other words, before we were born. God had a will for our lives. 

To me, the most enlightening scripture regarding our destiny is found in the writings of David.  He says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Ps. 139:13-16; emphasis added).

If you think about it, David had experienced God’s destiny for him in very powerful ways.  How likely was the youngest of many brothers living in the backwater town of Bethlehem as a shepherd to become the King of Israel.  He was unknown in Jewish circles of power.  He was not educated by a leading Rabbi. Even his father and brothers could not imagine him being someone great in the history of Israel.    

Yet, God determined he would be king before he was ever born. God’s “modus operandi” throughout scripture is to take very unlikely men and women and use them in powerful ways – in ways they never imagined, to advance his purposes on the earth. God does so by orchestrating unlikely events and encounters and inviting these individuals to join him in fulfilling their destiny.

Think about it. How many great men or women of faith in scripture began with any hint of what their life would lead to?  Very few.  Many improbable things had to happen in each of their lives for them to end up where they did as heroes of faith.  Those things were so improbable that even the men and women God called could not see themselves as God saw them. Those things happened because God had ordained them to happen.

Let’s go back to Psalm 139 and notice a few things.  God was intimately involved in the creation of David from the moment of his conception and even before. He designed him with a purpose in mind. Whatever God had written in his book about David’s life, determined how God  designed him so he would be fully equipped to fulfill his purpose.  God created his “inmost being.”  That refers to his temperament or his personality or his way of thinking and perceiving.  That is what makes people unique.  Even children born to the same parents can be very different…introverted, extroverted, creative, analytical, compassionate, organized, disorganized, etc. There are many other qualities and characteristics assigned by God to equip the individual to fulfill their destiny.  A primary responsibility of a parent is to help a child discover who he/she is and what his/her destiny might be.  As believers, we would define that as God’s “calling on their life.”

Paul spoke of that destiny or calling in his letter to the Ephesians. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10).  Other translations say we are God’s workmanship.  In other words, he designed and crafted us with a purpose in mind.  To do what? To do good works which he prepared in advance for us to do. He crafted us to fulfill our destiny.

That crafting includes a temperament that fits the call he has placed on our lives as well as natural talents and abilities.  In addition, as we come to Christ, he deposits spiritual gifts within us to empower us to fulfill the call.  Apparently, from Psalm 139, every day offers an ordained opportunity to be used by God in significant ways.  However, it is important to notice that what is “significant” to God may not seem significant to the world.

In 1934 in Charlotte, North Carolina, two bored, rowdy teenagers looking for something to do were intrigued by a tent meeting in which Mordecai Ham was preaching.  When they got there the tent was packed and overflowing.  The two boys decided to leave, but an usher spotted them walking away and called them back.  He miraculously found two seats still available. That night, the two boys gave their lives to Jesus.  One of them was Billy Graham.  You might think the preacher was God’s great instrument that night, but the usher was just as important.  His inmost being cared enough about two boys and their salvation to make the preaching possible. Each person in the same event, was used by God to orchestrate what led to the salvation of hundreds of thousands.  They each fulfilled their destiny that night.  Each of us is also entrusted with our destiny.

Satan works hard to keep us from coming to Jesus.  If he fails in that, he works hard to keep us from fulfilling our destiny…the things God wrote in his book before we ever entered this world.  Here is the thing. What God wrote in his book are opportunities for us to step into by faith. But with each opportunity, we have the right to say yes or no; to engage with God in his purposes for that day, to step aside, or even to work against the purposes of God. That is the nature of free will. God offers us opportunities.  We choose what we do with the opportunity.

When we engage with God, life becomes rich and purposeful…the abundant life Jesus spoke about.  Our relationship with God becomes more intimate and we actively become part of something bigger than ourselves.  Many believers find their Christian life boring and insignificant.  They think from time to time there must be more, but they don’t know what it is. I can tell you they have not found or engaged in their destiny…the things God wrote for them in his book before the foundation of the world. 

Every believer has a calling and it is not always to be a preacher or a missionary.  It is not always what you think. The question then becomes, “If I want to engage in my calling and walk out my destiny, how do I discover what it is and what God wants me to be doing?

I will share some thoughts about that next week!