Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Destiny or Destination
John 3:8.The wind blows where it will, and you hear the sound if it, but no one knows where it came from or where it is going. So is everyone born of the Spirit.
When the Lord spoke to me in fall of 1982 concerning the name Destiny Image, the name we eventually called our publishing company, I was as surprised as many others. In fact, the few publishers that I knew at the time were convinced that using that name would certainly cripple the success of the company. But probably none of us realized that by the time the company was twenty-two years old, the word destiny would become the buzz word of much of the church.
God spoke to me that we were to call our company Destiny Image because we are destined to be conformed into His Image. He is, in fact, our image of destiny. He would transform us into His image as we yielded to Him in all we do.
So destiny has a bit of a different meaning to me. For most in the church, destiny is a destination. Most of the church teaches that destiny is a place, a single goal in time and space where God intends us to reach in our lifetime. But I want you to consider that God is bigger than a destination. He made us with a greater capacity than one end, one victory, one accomplishment. Our destiny is far greater than a destination. Our destiny is a place in Him, daily responding to the gentle urging of His Spirit, while being changed into His image
I will reach many destinations in my lifetime. I can accomplishment many goals, fulfill all the dreams that God has for me. My destiny is to be lead by His Spirit, being used by the Lord in many diverse ways over my lifetime.
Is He calling me to preach to gospel? Then I shall preach the gospel…until He leads me in another way. Has He called me to start a business? Then I shall do it with all my heart, bringing kingdom principals into the work place…until His Spirit nudges me into another direction. It does not mean I simply abandon what I have done, but it does mean that in whatever I do, I build in such a way that I can move to another calling while leaving what I have been doing in capable hands. We are often hindered from new adventures in Him because we have not planned for the moment when He calls us away into something else.
For me personally, this includes building in my heart the freedom to move on without the fear of losing my identity. I know this is not an easy lesson to learn, but it is truly a liberating one. What I do on earth can change often, but I will always belong to Him. I can be a pastor, then a business, then a school teacher. But I will always belong to Jesus. Who I am is not what I do nor is it one of the many destinations I reach in my lifetime. I will always belong to Jesus.
The real freedom to fulfill your destiny is in two secrets. Firstly, God has dreamed many dreams for you to live out in your lifetime. Secondly, your destiny is to live in the ‘yes’ of God, responding quickly and obediently to the sweet sound of His voice, where He changes you into His likeness and image every day.
