You Were Born for Destiny!

It’s your God-given birthright. You were uniquely designed and specifically equipped to live your individual purpose-filled future.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be. – Psalm 139:15-16

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:10

Like Jesus Christ, God’s expressive Word made flesh, you were God’s written word before you became flesh. In the Greek, the meaning of workmanship or handiwork is “poem.” Just think of it, you are an inspired poem written by the heart of God – His vision for your potential in and through Him!

God has a destiny planned for your life.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11

But so does the enemy. His plan is to steal, kill, and destroy your destiny (John 10:10). He is like a roaring lion seeking those whose purpose he can derail and devour (1 Peter 5:8). Both God and satan have a plan for your life, and both need your cooperation for their plan to succeed. Your life’s destiny will ultimately reflect who you agreed and aligned with the most – consciously or subconsciously.

You see, destiny happens – it happens by intent or neglect. It’s simply the sum total of your life’s thoughts, decisions, and behaviors. You can live your life by momentary whims, desires, routines, and calendar obligations. Or you can prayerfully, thoughtfully choose to pursue destiny with purpose on purpose.

One problem many people have is they confuse their roles in life with their purpose in life. We all have multiple roles at various times in our life: the role of daughter, sister, wife, mother, business owner, etc. And when we define our purpose by our role, and that role no longer exists or demands our constant care and attention, we can feel a loss of definition, clarity, direction, worth, and purpose. That’s because we let our roles define our purpose rather than having our purpose shape the behaviors and activities in our roles.

A recent study done with hundreds of older participants asked them to rate their single greatest regret in life. Over 70% responded their single greatest regret was they didn’t live their ideal self. In other words, they didn’t live in their purpose-filled potential.

As you begin this new year, consider taking time to write or revisit your purpose-in-life statement – your reason for being. Your purpose rarely changes. It’s what you were made for – what inspires you when you go to bed at night and energizes you when you wake each day. It may look differently at different times and seasons of your life. But it essentially stays the same.

When you choose to live by a well-defined, vivid picture of purpose, your decisions have precision. And you become a warrior defender of God’s destiny for you.