God has blessed us with wonderful talents, gifts, and special abilities. Many of us have great voices for singing, and some of us can act or have other creative talents. Whether they remain hidden or revealed, we all have innate abilities. They are useful for being doctors, lawyers, bakers, or candle stick makers. For some people, it’s all about genetics. They’re born into families with generations of folks who had special talents or abilities, and they inherited them. But we must know that having an occupation where we use special talents, abilities, or skills isn’t the same thing as our destiny in the Lord Jesus Christ. I heard a talented and beautiful famous woman say the other day that she was destined to be a singer. She said she was born to sing. The word ‘destiny’ is one of the most profound of any in the human vocabulary. It is a path that takes a person far beyond this life. Talents, gifts, and special abilities are tools that enhance our lives. They can help us carry forth our destinies, but they are too small a box to contain the destiny in Christ that we were created by God to embrace.
Our destiny is in the person of Christ Jesus. Romans 8:29(NLT) tells us, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” As far back as any of us can ever know, God had us on His mind. He knew our destinies even then. This verse in Romans 8:29 tells us that God predetermined that we would be conformed—shaped and molded—into the image of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. It goes on to tell us that God’s intention is that we will be the brothers and sisters of our precious Lord and Savior, who is God’s first born!
As a child, did you ever long to have a little brother or sister? You might have been giddy with excitement just imagining what it would be like. The thought of having someone you would love unconditionally, and who would love you the same way, warmed your heart. When or if your little brother or sister arrived, they’re going to be the apple of your eye, and you’ll love them to pieces. This kind of love and excitement can’t touch the way Jesus Christ feels about us. He’s God’s first born, and we are his siblings. As his brothers and sisters, quite naturally, Christ wants the absolute best for us. He wants us to prosper in every way, but most importantly, he wants the Will of God to be done, and this is what our destinies are all about.
1Corinthians 14:33(NLT) says, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.” Our Heavenly Father loves order, and everything He does has order all over it. He organizes perfectly in accordance with His perfect Will and plan. Through His creation, He’s given us patterns of organization for our own lives. Because of Him, we understand that if we start our efforts in line with His order, by using the spirit of love, power, faith, and discipline, the end result will most likely be something that pleases Him, as well as us. In other words, if we start right, we’ll end right, according to God’s purposes.
A lot of us don’t get this in our brain cells until a lot later on in our Christian journeys. We think that our occupations make us who we are, and that we should put all that we are into our occupations. 1Corinthians 6:19 tells us that we belong to God, and we do not belong to ourselves. All that we are belongs to Him, and He determines how we’re to use the gifts He’s given. Jesus Christ tells us in Matthew 6:33(NLT), “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Many of us don’t abide by this commandment. Instead of seeking God for what He would have us to do with our talents, gifts, and abilities, we set out with our own agendas, and this proves to be a very costly move.
The best way to approach our destinies is to understand that God is the Giver of any gifts we may have. We didn’t do anything to earn them, nor could we. They were given for the express purpose of helping us walk in our destinies so that we can use our lives to do something significant for God’s Kingdom. He’s the only One that can tell us what He requires of us. There are so many people that are disappointed with their lives. They feel unfulfilled, even though they are earning lots of money. There are many incredibly gifted people doing what they’ve always dreamed of doing, yet they are very unhappy in their personal lives. They have the tools to capture their destinies, but they aren’t consulting the One who holds their tomorrows.
We cannot claim an occupation as our destiny, instead we must know that all that God wants us to be is in the person of Jesus Christ. The first thing we should do every morning is pray and invite the Lord to guide our days. Christ is our example, and even at 12 years old he knew that his destiny was to be about his Father’s business. At this young age, Christ made the conscious decision to chase after the Will of God. In John 8:29(NKJV), he said, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” This is the attitude, heart, and mind that God expects us to have.
God has already employed us to be of service to His people. Our destiny, our purpose is to be a witness of His Word in the earth. Just as Christ was of service by carrying forth God’s Will, this is our destiny as well. We can’t say that we don’t know how to go about this because Jesus Christ came to earth to be an example of exactly what we ought to be doing. He knew the Word and had faith that God would never leave or forsake him, and we must have this same faith. We should be committed to serve and help others, to be a beacon of light and hope in this dark world, to witness God’s Word, and to share the love of Christ with all that will accept it. This is how we must use our talent, gifts, and abilities if pleasing God and living a life of love is our goal. ■
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“An Occupation Is Not Your Destiny”, written for victoryinjesuschrist.life© 2019. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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