ILL; I recently watched the movie Transformers 2, in typical Hollywood style, the hero of the movie was on the verge of saving the world from the evil Transformers when he was killed. However, in death he was visited by the by leaders of the good Transformers, they said to the Hero, “we have been watching you, this is your destiny go and save the world” and of course he went back and saved the world.
All make believe, but I was captivated by the words “this is your destiny” and then sent him off to go and save the world. We can certainly says these words are true of one person, Jesus, who came to save the world from Sin. (1John 4:13,14)
Over the next few weeks I want ask is our Destiny, Determined, Decided, Discovered, Desired or Denied?
Destiny is never clear until you get there.
As we read the Bible today Jesus’ Destiny seemed pretty clear, however, Jesus, the Son of Man as a baby in the crib didn’t know he would become the Saviour of the World by dieing on the cross 33 years later. Perhaps by the age of 12 or as Jesus continued to grow in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men, he became more aware of who he was and the destiny his Father in Heaven had determined. (Luke 2:52) Of course there is no doubt in the Scripture that Jesus is God and always has been. (John1:1, John 1:18, John 20:28, Rom 9:5, Titus 2:11, 2 Pet 1:1, Heb 1:8, 1 John 5:20)
Noah didn’t know that he would build a boat that would save the human race and the animal kingdom, Noah just wanted to live a life that blessed and pleased the Lord. (Genesis 6)
Abraham didn’t know when he lived with the disappointment of having a barren wife that he would become a Father and have descendants as numerous as the stars. (Genesis 11:27 – 12:3)
When Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, and many other heroes of the faith were growing up and facing teenage trials and temptations they didn’t know that God would use them to lead a nation, kill giants and over come oppressors.
When Peter denied the Lord, run away cursing and swearing he didn’t know that within a few weeks God would set him on a platform to speak to thousand about the power of the Holy Spirit. (Make 14:68, Acts 2)
You don’t know how your teenagers / children / grand children will turn out. But you can teach them in the way they should go, you can cover them in prayer and you can entrust them to the Lord. We can’t dictate our children’s destiny but we can dedicate their future to the Lord. (Deu 6:7, Eph 6:4, Prov 22:6, Psalm 127:3)
We can’t legislate for our children’s future but we can produce a spiritual legacy for them so that will allow our children to build their lives upon a blessed foundation and reap the harvest of what we haven sown;
Psalm 112:1-2 Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
When you chose, “as for me and my house hold we will serve the Lord” you position your children and family for the blessing of God. (Jos 24:15)
ILL Mr & Mrs Graham didn’t know that their little boy called Billy would be used by God to bring millions of people into the kingdom.
ILL I didn’t know while a teenage Punk Rocker in Belfast that God was seeing me and calling a Pastor. (Romans 4:17)
ILL Mr & Mrs Wiglessworth encouraged their son Smith to love and serve the Lord and become a plumber in Bradford. They didn’t know what God had in store for their little boy. Smith Wigglessworth believed in healing, he took people to a meeting in Leeds to be prayed for by a church that preached divine healing. Until one Sunday the leaders of his church went to the Keswick Convention and left Smith to look after the Sunday meeting, Smith tried to find someone who would preach, but all said he should preach, at the end he prayed for a sick person to be healed, fourteen others followed that same morning, all healed instantly.
The uncomfortable out of your depth moments in life could well be the door to your destiny.
Moses said “not me, I have a stutter,” Gideon said; “not me, I am weak,” Jonah said “no way not me” Exodus 4:10, Judges 7:1-9, Jonah 1)
We can some times deny ourselves reaching our destiny because we look at and confess our weaknesses, for example;
"Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was co-dependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive, and hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed marriage, Zacchaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid. Yet God Used them All.
For some “Destiny” often means a person’s predetermined future or the inevitable outcome of God’s plan for their life. This definition of destiny is very fatalistic, and can result in us looking at our life and thinking God’s doesn’t like me much, if this is what he has predetermined for me. You should never sum up your life with an instant snap shot of the moment, your life is a like a book, with many pages and chapters and with the hope of God in our heart the next page and chapter can be the best days of our life.
Destiny is in our own hands as much as it is in the hands of God.
We can have a Disastrous Destiny which is the consequence of ones own choice, not predetermined fate, nor God; “Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction” (Philippians 3:18-19). “This is the fate of those who trust in themselves” (Psalm 49:13). “A man who commits adultery lacks judgment; / whoever does so destroys himself” (Proverbs 6:32). “Each person was judged according to what he had done” (Revelation 20:13).
We can have a Delightful Destiny which is the consequence of ones own choice, to choose the way of God; David and Jeremiah knew God had a plan for them (Jeremiah 1:4-5, Psalm 139:16, 1 Samuel 23:9-12)
Those who accept Christ as Saviour have accepted God’s plan for their lives (John 14:6). From then on, we pray for His will to be done (Matthew 6:10), and avoiding the sidetrack of sin (Psalm 32:1-11; 119:59; Hebrews 12:1-2).
Destiny is not our final Destination.
Destiny is not all about getting to Heaven, it about what we do on the way.
On our way to heaven the Church has a cooperate destiny be; people who WORSHIP God in spirit and truth, people who WITNESS of the saving power of God and people who WORK as servants of the Lord (Eph 6:7, Luke 4:8, Matt 10:7 Eph. 4:14; Rom. 1:6-7; 8:28-30; 1 Cor. 1:2,9,26; 7:17; Phil 3:14; 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Peter 1:3)
We cannot pick one and say we don’t do the others, we cannot be a worshipper and not a witness, God has designed his church to fulfil those roles in the world today.
On our way to heaven we each have a personal destiny. We have been born and born again to fulfil a unique role in the world and kingdom of God.
God is watching you, God is waiting for you to walk into and walk in your destiny. You can discover what you were designed for. The desire of your heart maybe the beginning of your destiny.
