News Flash: You Can't Figure Out Your Destiny On Your Own

Did you know that our current generation’s greatest fear is the fear of living an unfulfilled life? At this moment in time, the majority of people on the earth are anxiously afraid that they will not fulfill their destiny and calling in life. No wonder everyone is stressed.

Why am I here? What should I do? What is my purpose? 

If you are human you have wrestled with these thoughts in one way or another. Especially in today’s hyper-comparative, influencer-obsessed “Hunger Games District 1” style culture. 

But here’s the thing, let me tell you a secret…one essential bit of information has been left out of the discussion.

Your purpose, your destiny, your calling, what you were created for…IT'S NOT UP TO YOU.

It’s not a matter of you discovering it on your own. 

You are not an independent being. You are not here on the earth to discover your own way. You are a 100% dependent being.

Scripture seems to shout this truth throughout the Bible. Can you think of one character that discovered their own purpose for themselves and fulfilled it on their own? This idea is not found in scripture.

On the contrary, throughout scripture we see the God of the universe coming to men and women to reveal specific things He calls them to. Almost every time it is much different than what the person thought they should be doing. 

->Paul (Saul) was surely the best candidate to be sent to the Jewish people to tell them about Jesus. An extremely educated Jewish man, a “Pharisee of Pharisees”, and what does God do? Sends him to the gentiles.

->How about Peter? Perfect guy to go to the gentiles as he was just a normal uneducated fisherman. What does God call him to? Sends him to the educated Jews. 

->How about Gideon? The weakest man from the weakest family from the weakest tribe in all of Israel. A simple farmer. God calls him to lead the entire army of Israel. 

->Noah never built a boat. God calls him to build the greatest boat the world had ever seen.

->Esther: beauty queen. God: courageous savior of my people!

->Abraham: childless old guy. God: father of multitudes!

->Mary: unmarried, virgin teenager. God: birth and raise my Son!

->David: shepherd runt. God: giant killing king!

->Jael: nomadic gentile homemaker. God: tent peg wielding assassin!

Get the point?

I remember having a moment (I may or may not have been crying like a baby, no-one will ever know) when I felt like God asked me the question that countless others had asked me before.

God asked, “What do you want to do with your life?”

Even though I was filled with awe and wonder in hearing Him speak, I instantly felt my frustration rise up as I had wrestled with this question for years. I felt anger and shame and frustration all at once. 

That is until He spoke again. I heard the Father clearly say, “Do you know why you don’t know? You don’t know because I haven’t revealed it to you yet!”

And in a moment I felt years of pain surrounding this question melt away and this joyful peace come crashing into me. 

It had never occurred to me that it’s not all on me! 

Regardless of what anyone has told you, your purpose/calling/destiny isn’t something you discover for yourself, it’s something that is revealed to you. Do you play a role? Of course. Should you ask, seek, and knock on God’s door of discovery? Absolutely, but it’s not yours to open.

Today’s culture is a toxic breeding ground for irrational, fear inducing ideas that you need to discover your calling and purpose in life, OR ELSE. 

This is true inside of church just as much as it is outside of the church. It’s a self-centered, me-based-ideology that makes it all up to you and me.

Who are you influencing? Build your following! Discover what makes you come alive! What are your gifts and callings? What are you anointed for? How are you going to change the world?!

Great ideas to process through? YES. Of course. These are essential things for everyone to process through, but there is one massive part of this whole process that is missing from the conversation which is leading to insane anxiety levels in our culture and it's this:

You are not an independent being. You are not here on the earth to discover your own way. You are a 100% dependent being. The idea that we are independent beings is a lie destroying the minds of our current generation. 

Guess what? There is only one God, one Potter, one Life-Giver, one Author, and one Finisher. His name is Jesus. And He alone hold the keys because He created you to be like Him.

So do you know what that means? 

It means that you have no purpose and no calling apart from knowing Him.

Everything starts here.

He alone holds the keys to your purpose and your calling. He alone reveals it. He alone holds the timing for it and you can only discover it as you come to live IN HIM.

Any idea you have of yourself that exists outside of Him isn’t real, it’s not true. This is why there is a battle over your identity and what you believe about yourself. This is why knowing the truth sets you free. Because as we see Him, we become like Him. We are seeing the One in whose image we have been created. We can’t figure it out apart from Him!

So our role is to come to Him and get to know Him for ourselves. This looks like learning to talk to Him and learning to listen to Him. Discovering His voice. Learning His ways in scripture, seeing who HE says He is and how He has chosen to reveal Himself. There is no formula for this, He is a person. 

Once you begin to learn His ways you choose whether you want to trust His ways. Once you realize He is here with you, you get to choose if you want to learn to be with Him and stay with Him…or if you would rather ignore Him and do everything your own way. It’s all this beautiful choice we are given of who we actually want to be Lord, us or Him. 

And once you figure out how to live in union with Him, in submission to Him, receiving from Him, abiding in Him… then and only then can you even begin to receive WHY He created you. And that is something HE REVEALS whenever He sees fit. And His timing is perfect and He knows exactly when to open the doors for you. Your #1 job is to simply learn to trust Him, learn to love Him, learn to receive His love. 

The point isn’t what we do, it’s who we are. And who you are is only found in who HE is.

So first you have to want Him. Then you have to ask Him. Then you have to learn to be with Him. Religion is set on convincing you that knowing Him is impossible, but you were created for it. Eternal life is this one thing: knowing Him (John 17).

Psalm 37 is one of the greatest revelations on how to accomplish your destiny, aka how to enter your promised land.

3 Trust in the Lord and do good;

Cultivate faithfulness in the land the Lord has given you.

4 Delight yourself in the Lord;

And He will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light

And your judgment as the noonday.

7 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;

Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath;

Do not worry; it leads only to evil.

9 For evildoers will be cut off,

But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.

23 The steps of a person are established by the Lord,

And He delights in his way.

God clearly lays out very important and practical things we can do. 

->LEARN TO TRUST, like really trust Him. Your measure of worry is directly correlated to your lack of trust. It’s no accident that we see the command to “trust” right along side the command to “not worry” in this passage. 

Easier said than done? Maybe, but what if we actually trusted that God was faithful enough to care for us? If you have given Him your life, do you believe He is faithful enough to keep it? 

This is where most people back away from the pursuit of obedience to God. These ideas are so dramatically counter cultural to our internal operating systems as a society that we justify our worry as necessary or “responsible stewardship” when really “it leads only to evil”.

->CULTIVATE FAITHFULNESS in what He has already put before you. Those who are faithful with little are faithful with much. 

If a kid wants a dog but can’t take care of stuffed animal without ripping the stuffing out, would you let that kid watch your dog? Would you buy that kid their own dog to care for? God is much less concerned about you doing things for Him on the earth than He is about who you are. 

God could snap His fingers and accomplish all He wants to on the earth. But He chooses to have loving, empowering relationships with us instead. He doesn’t need you to go out and “win souls” if you aren’t first at rest in His love for you. 

The whole point of this is that He came for you. He died for you to be free. He wants unity with you. Want to know the secret to evangelism? In John 17 Jesus is praying to the Father and He says “Father I pray that these (His followers, you and me) would be one with us (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) so that the whole world would know you sent me!” 

So what is Jesus’ greatest revelation of how to evangelize the world? Learn to live a life united to God, in unity with the Holy Spirit. Then your simple life lived will speak more than striving ever could. That should preach!

->LEARN FROM JESUS. Jesus modeled to us what this whole thing looks like. He gave us the only real blueprint, and most people avoid what He tried to teach us like the plague. 

Jesus said “I only do what I see the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does also.” 

Jesus is making a strong point here inviting us all into a new way of living. Does this mean we don’t use the bathroom unless God tells us or that we live like robots doing nothing without input? Of course not. But if we haven’t tried even living ONE DAY just waiting for the Lord to show us what He wants to do that day, it’s probably where we should start. 

What if God is actually faithful and He does actually guide you? Do you think God would let you down if you gave yourself to Him? How could we not try? 

Think about this: in the Old Testament every time that Israel asked God whether or not they should battle against a given enemy they would win if they obeyed His instruction. 

Every time they did whatever they thought was best, without consulting God, they would lose. It’s the process of learning to TRUST God enough to stay present with Him, not just “visit” Him. 

It’s why Jesus commanded us to learn to “Abide in Him” and “Abide in His love”. Current Christian culture treats this as radical, even extreme, but when we look at scripture it seems to be the basic requirement for the fulfilled life Jesus died to give us.

So if you want to find your purpose, find Him. If you want to accomplish great things on the earth, fall in love with Jesus.

Your destiny is in Him.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7)

Bless you Beloved 🕊️