In our younger years, many of us had dreams of who we’d be in life, what we’d be doing, and who we’d be doing it with. As we got older and more mature, we began to understand that things would not go exactly according to our plans. Some of us didn’t land the dream job, aren’t making the dream salary, and still haven’t acquired the dream house or car. The dream husband hasn’t showed up yet, and life has been more challenging than any of us could have imagined. Despite the disappointment we may have about this, most of us realize that even though things haven’t turned out the way we thought, God has blessed us beyond what we deserve. So, we get up every morning with the knowledge of His grace and with the gumption to make our lives work. But there’s still something bandying about in our souls, and the truth is that we won’t be satisfied until we discover what that is.
Heavenly Father made sure that for every individual living, and that has ever lived, destiny is coded in their DNA. It’s not something any person can alter in any way. We are born with God’s purpose already woven in our makeup. Ephesians 1:11(NLT) tells us, “Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.” Before you and I united with Christ, we had our own ideas about how things would turn out, and we began to try to shape and mold our lives ourselves. After we were united with God through Jesus Christ, we stepped into another realm.
We literally changed paths through the new birth experience. Our destinies didn’t change, our directions did. From that point going forward, we must have every confidence that God is in control of our lives. He will make everything work out according to HIS plan, not ours. This is where that little word called ‘flexibility’ comes into play. Some of us are so invested in our way of living life that the shift we need to make to line up with our destiny becomes more challenging than it needs to be. We find it very difficult to accept that our destiny and purpose isn’t flexible; therefore, WE must be.
Our Heavenly Father is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The beginning of time is a place and space so far back that no human can speculate or fathom it. At the point of this unfathomable period called the ‘beginning’, Romans 8:30 tells us exactly what was on the mind of God. It tells us that even then, way in advance of us being implanted in our mother’s womb, God knew His plan for us. And as far back as the beginning, Heavenly Father decided that our lives would be shaped and molded in the image of His Son. This ‘shaping and molding’ process looks different for each of us, because we all have baggage that is unique. So, the things that every individual needs to work through is unique to them. The baggage that every individual needs to release in order that they might fulfill God’s purpose is unique to them as well.
Our dissatisfaction in life comes from one singular thing, and it is not being anchored in destiny. Our frustration stems from not knowing what we should be doing to walk in God’s purpose. He hasn’t kept this a secret, but our baggage will keep us blinded from it if we continue to refuse to release it. God has shown us what we ought to be doing very clearly, and it is to keep our eyes locked on the Lord Jesus Christ. But most of us have our attention focused on other things. To open our eyes to what God has revealed, we must take hold of the truth in Ephesians 4:22, which tells us to put off our former way of life.
We’re not going to put off our former way of life or ‘old man nature’ all at once. We take off those things that make us stubborn, hardhearted, and inflexible a little bit at a time. As we learn more about Jesus Christ, we learn more about who God wants us to be. We can then stack our current behavior and attitudes against how we ought to be acting and what we ought to be doing, and then make changes; but make no mistake, most of us take a while to do this. And there are blockers that keep our vision blurry. For many of us, these blockers are bitterness, anger, and strife. We are so consumed with the self-interest of our own pain, and so bitter about what has happened to us in the past that we can’t see straight. We think we’re being as loving as we can be, but our level of dissatisfaction and frustration does not bear that out.
Destiny will not cooperate with inflexibility. Its path is revealed as our steps in its direction are sure. This is so important to know, because we are entering a season where things once tolerated by God will no longer be. Just as Adam and Eve were removed from paradise and no longer allowed to enter its gates, we will not be allowed to carry anything belonging to the kingdom of darkness into the paradise of our destinies.
We are being perfected in the Lord Jesus Christ moment by moment. A lifetime isn’t enough for us to be the exact likeness of him, because we are born with sin in our bodies, and he had no sin in his. However, we must be convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that this life was given to us to use for God’s purpose. He appointed the exact time of our birth and the exact family we would be born into. We are approaching a new season in the Lord, and make no mistake, the wheat will be gathered, and the chaff will be burned. Let’s be committed to release the things that keep us from fulfilling our purpose. If we ask God, He will reveal everything we need to know by the Spirit of Christ within. We’ll find that as we release the negativity that holds us back, we will also be released to walk in our destinies and our souls will be satisfied like never before.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Released Into Your Destiny” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.