Fulfilling Your Destiny In God
Have you ever pondered in your heart why you are here and is there really a plan and purpose for your life? Does God actually have something important for me to do? And if so, how do I find it out and walk in it? In Ps 139:16, the Word of God tells us "your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." In other words, God fashioned our destiny before we were even born. He is the Master Potter who sculpted us and brought our future into existence. Yes, even before you were formed in your mother's womb, God was sketching out your life.
What life did God design for you? Jer 29:11 says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. I looked up that word expected and found it to mean "an expectation and the thing that I long for ." God has things that He longs for in your life. What are they? According to Jer 29:11, two of them are to have peace and to have no evil. Surely, we all wish those things were true in our lives!
Did you know that you also have a "holy" calling from God? In 2 Tim 1:9 the scripture tell us what kind of calling we have and why--"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. This calling has nothing to do with how great we may think we are, it is not because we have talent, even though He uses our talents and personality with the gifts He has given us. It is because of who He is and because it is His divine calling which makes our calling holy. He has designed you and called you to meet a need in the body of Christ that nobody else can meet quite like you. Our walk is supposed to have meaning--to fulfill God's plans.
How do we allow God to contribute His plans to our plans? First, we need to understand that our life does not belong to us anymore. It has been purchased by God through the blood of His son Jesus. Therefore, God must be the one who orders our steps, not others or ourselves. Jer 10:23-24 says it so clearly, I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. Correct me, LORD, but only with justice-- not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing. (NIV) We must learn that our lives are predestined to His calling. You do not determine your destiny, you are to discover God's destiny for you. If you go through your whole life creating your own destiny, you will probably miss God's perfect will and plan for your life. For me, this relieves a lot of unnecessary stress. I do not have to create my destiny. I only need to go to God and ask Him what is next on the agenda; be at peace, and trust Him with the outcome.
Psalm 16:11 tells us that He does make known His path of life to us. Yes, it is important to learn to hear God's voice so that you can clearly have a vision for your life. You may make mistakes as you walk out your destiny and stuff will always happen that you didn't expect, but God has already calculated that into the equation, so you don't have to worry. He's got you covered! Just love on Him, stay close to Him, be quick to repent and His divine plan will be accomplished in your life.
I personally have a quiet time everyday with the Lord. It is not always easy to have that time with God in a world that has you turning like a spinning top, but it is vital to make quality time with Him in order for your God given purpose and future to be revealed. This close abiding is necessary and it takes effort on our part to get close to God but the rewards are out of this world. It produces a harvest of blessing and a prosperous future.
We have been summoned into His Majesty's service and He expects us to complete His plans and purpose for us. I really like what Col 4:17 says, "Take heed to the ministry (official service) which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill (complete, fill to satisfaction, finish) it ." Wow! I like how that sounds "official service." Those of us who thought that being 'just a' homemaker or mother or 'just a' blue collar worker or any other 'just a' position was an unimportant position; can now know that we serve in a very lofty position. We have a royal calling that is important enough for the King of the Universe to summon us to.
Eph. 2:10 is worth memorizing and reminding ourselves of often. "For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]." How many times have you heard people say that they want to live the good life? Well, there it is. God's plan for you IS the good life. This world has nothing good to offer you. This world is temporal but God's world is eternal. God's 'good life' is worth having and striving for.
I encourage you to seek after God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and reach higher than you ever have before to grab hold of the good life He has destined for you. It is worth reaching for.
