Fulfilling Your Destiny

“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:11-12, NKJV, my emphasis).

We have been predestined to a certain purpose. Yet what exactly is “destiny”? In simple terms, it is God’s appointed or ordained future for you. Destiny is what God has predetermined you to be and become in his divine will. 

It may surprise you to learn there are no individual destinies but one destiny for all believers. At the cross, God gathered up all the individual destinies of humankind into one grand purpose and placed them all in his Son. “That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him” (Ephesians 1:10). 

Yes, you do have a destiny, and it is the same as mine. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a restaurant server or the captain of an ocean liner; we all have the same fixed, predetermined destiny, given to us before the world was formed.

What is the single, grand and glorious destiny given to all last-day Christians?

The apostle Paul reveals it in the book of Ephesians: “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:4-6). 

Our destiny is to be an adopted child of God. We have been adopted by the heavenly Father, and the devil no longer has any claim on us. We are now to live for our Lord, our lives blameless and holy by the power of his Spirit. Our single purpose on this earth is to live our lives as a praise and glory to him. It’s that simple. Do you get what Paul is saying here? No person’s destiny is measured by their great works, achievements or special accomplishments. No one’s destiny ultimately is to build successful ministries, churches or institutions. 

My own destiny has little to do with the things God has allowed me to do. My destiny has always been to reach lost souls and bring them into the fullness of Jesus, to the praise and glory of God. My destiny was also to walk as an adopted son of God, living blamelessly before the world, all to his praise and honor. When I came to New York City from rural Pennsylvania, my destiny remained the same as it always was, to build up the body of Christ and walk before the Lord as his adopted son. Someday, not a single building that our ministry has helped build will remain standing—not the incorporated institutions, not the Bible schools, not the rehab houses. They all will decay and vanish. When I stand on Judgment Day, I won’t have any of those things with me. These ministries are simply work the Lord has allowed us to share and undertake while walking in our destiny of doing his perfect will. He has blessed them all because we have lived within his predestined purpose for us.

Paul was very certain about what his destiny was: “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily” (Colossians 1:28-29). This is my destiny as well, as a minister of the Lord. It is to be conformed more and more to the image of Jesus, and to see you also become more like him. 

Beloved, if you’re going to walk in your destiny, the only thing that will set you apart is your desire to surpass all others in the knowledge of Jesus. No one will spend more time alone with him than you; no one will accept his wonderful adoption more eagerly than you. That is greatness.

I want to talk about God’s destiny for wives and mothers and for husbands and fathers.

I am speaking now not to ministers but to laypeople. I want to show you what it means to fulfill your fixed destiny.

Christian, it doesn’t matter how successful you are outside your home. You are missing your destiny if you are not becoming more and more like Jesus in your household. If you are not becoming sweeter, more loving and considerate to your family—if you are not growing in the love and knowledge of Christ at home—you are not fulfilling your destiny. 

I say to all wives and mothers: Before the world existed, God foresaw you in this present place and time. He knew what your address would be and had a predetermined plan for your life. 

At times you may say to yourself, “All I do is cook, clean up the house and raise my kids. How can that be destiny?” You do not grasp how important your place is in God. You are a great success in his eyes if you can stand before him one day and present your children to him in righteousness. 

God has always known how many children he would loan you. He knew their names and personalities. He numbered their hairs, and he destined you to raise them in a home filled with the power and presence of Jesus. Your children are an eternal investment God has entrusted to you. Your destiny is to raise your children in a home where prayer is commonplace, and your life and marriage are an honor and glory to God. I ask you, does your husband look at you with respect? Does he tell you, “We may have our differences, but I always feel you want to heal, not divide”? Husbands and fathers, can you imagine your wife saying of you,“My husband is human who makes mistakes. Yet he is also a praying man and is constantly becoming more like Jesus. He practices what he preaches.” 

I know of a minister who did great works for God, writing many wonderful books and building institutions at home and overseas. He was in demand as a speaker all over the world. He was called a man of faith and vision, a man of destiny. 

But one day his son, a young minister, called me, crestfallen. He said, “Brother David, I’m so hurt. My dad isn’t what people think he is. He doesn’t know how to tell the truth! Most of the stories he tells about miraculous works are lies. When I approached him about it, he admitted it to me, but he won’t quit.”  I ended up talking to the father. He told me, “Yes, David, I’m a habitual liar. I don’t even know what the truth is anymore.” I prayed with the man, but there was no change. His son called me later to say things were only getting worse. His father apparently had committed himself to his sin. 

This man is not a man of destiny. When he stands before the Lord at the judgment, all of his works will burn and all of his writings will judge him. None of those things was ever his destiny. Rather, his destiny was to become more like Jesus, growing in holiness, righteousness and purity, with no lie in him. He may boast about being a “man of destiny,” but   he has missed his true destiny. 

So many Christians strive to accomplish wonderful things for God, but the Lord boils it all down to this simple thing: Are you changing from glory to glory? 

“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” (Romans 8:29). 

On Judgment Day, not one word will be said of mighty works. There will be no notice of personal fame, success or human accomplishments. Instead, the questions will be, “Did you grow in Christ? Did you allow the Holy Spirit to teach you to serve others, to give up your rights? What were you like at home?” 

So, dear saint, are you fulfilling your destiny? Are you more like Jesus this year than you were last year? Is your marriage growing or deteriorating? Do your children see you as tender and kind or as a grouch? Do the people who know you see the love of Christ in you? 

What will be written on your tombstone? “The man who missed his destiny”? Or “The man who walked humbly with his God”? “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). Amen.