"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It nit not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." [Unknown]
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Sometimes I look at that gold placard in our church and I take a breath. Destiny. Fulfillment. I remember a sermon by Myles Munroe where he says the richest place on earth is the grave, because many people are dying never having fulfilled their God-given destinies. And when I consider many things that have happened, it’s remarkable that had it not been for this house, and the prayers, and the stewards of my soul, I would have been one of those people; doomed to return to God full.
There are times where I sit and think how precious every individual soul is on this Earth, and the terror that I feel that people are dying never having accomplished their purpose, never knowing Jesus…I drop the thought immediately, because it’s like the thought takes me to the precipice of something that I can’t bear to look at. I retreat immediately but the residue lingers for a while, and it makes me pray with vigor that Lord, let your will, and only your will, be done in my life and in the lives of my future generations.
While folks are going back and forth with who brings what to this and that table, I’m praying that God, who prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies, and causes my cup to overflow, secures my lot. I won’t return to God with regret, nor with sorrow. He’ll get a return on his investment for every gift, talent, interest, that he has deposited. I will fulfill my destiny. I won’t lack in any good thing because I seek him; I will not be afraid of anything or anyone, for he will never leave nor forsake me. I can laugh without fear of the future because He clothes me in strength and dignity.
I marvel at Joshua, and how with every advancement, he took territory and wasted his enemies. There were conspiracies and plots, kings gathering themselves together against him and the children of Israel, only for them to be beheaded, and defeated. A people mightier than the children of Israel were defeated. Laughing without fear of human beings. It’s not pretty poetry or hyperbole. This is the victory that we have in Jesus all the time. And we need it the way we need oxygen. Because there are gatekeepers in places of authority; places of prominence, places that if we had access would change our lives and futures. But only select people have access. Talent alone nor a good reputation can barely get you there. People are dying never having experienced opportunities that they were on the cusp of; or that they deserved. People’s destinies are being hijacked because one person doesn’t like someone or is threatened by them.
But I thank God that the wicked will not escape their portion.
I could go on along those lines, but let me stop there.
I pray that each and every one of us discovers what is in us, if we don’t already know. I don’t think it’s ever one thing. I remember when I thought writing was the only thing that God wanted me to do. But he has revealed more than expected; things that I did not consider of value, but that I know are of greater purpose.
Truly, there is too much wrong in the world that needs to be made right. There are too many lies parading in plain sight, yet we don’t see them. Or we ignore them for self-preservation. Application of wisdom notwithstanding, there’s no reason for apprehension, fear, intimidation. All of these things cause us to stumble and surrender what is ours.
Undoubtedly, it’s an act of violence when people want to keep you from fulfilling your God-given purpose. It’s an act of violence when God gifts you something, and another human being decides that you should not have it. It’s an act of violence for someone to decree a thing against you when God has not commanded it.
So, be violent about what God says belongs to you. I, too, am learning to fight for what is mine. But you can only get to this place when, with everything within you, you want what God wants for you; not just what you think, or what you’ve been conditioned to want. Some conditioning is manipulation. You want knowledge from the source—God himself—so that the words of man are a confirmation of what God has said, and not peoples’ good intentions.
Don’t surrender God’s best for your life because of good intentioned people. Don’t surrender your destiny because of good intentioned people. Don’t forgo fulfilling your destiny because of good intentions. Go to God and let him reveal to you some things about your life. In order to leave an indelible mark on the world, fulfill all that God has purposed for you. Consider it your greatest act of activism.
