There was one aunt who married
into a family of greater wealth than what most of the family had, and it seems
she no sooner married than relations became extremely strained; to the point of
being totally cut off. Two uncles took a
different road, as well, moving many states away to live their lives. I have no memory of having met either one of
them, yet both are alive and have children, and certainly I expect
grandchildren by this time. They chose
to change the course of their lives; they changed their “expected” destiny!
I
have a friend, who for years, said he would become a rich man. He also said he would stop some specific bad
habits, ending with, “It is my destiny.
My life was laid out before I was born, so it doesn’t matter what I do,
when it’s time, these things will happen. It is a predetermined course over
which I have no control!” I’m not sure I
agree with this idea since, while I know we all have a “destiny,” we alter that
course by our choices because we have free will.
God
has a purpose for all our lives. It is
part of the “creation God instills in us before we are born.” He gives us gifts and opens doors that can
lead us down the path that does His will.
But as humans, we can ‘go the long way’ if you will, because we make
choices that are not part of his plan.
He doesn’t force His will on us.
It’s a choice. Consider the
Israelites when they left Egypt. God’s
plan was for them to go into the Promised Land.
But their choices left them wandering in the desert for forty
years. It was the next generation that
finally crossed the Jordan.
As
I grew into a young teen, still I did not know where my life would lead
me. There was a time I considered
teaching and dreamed of writing, but that dream seemed so unrealistic, I didn’t
dwell on it but for a moment. I believed
writing was for someone who had much education, was gifted in Literature, had
to live in New York or some other busy city, and it could never be me! It truly never occurred to me that if God
wanted me to write, then a writer I would be!
Yet
my destiny was different than what I imagined.
God did have a plan, but I suspect ‘I took the long way’ much like the
Israelites because I didn’t believe in my skills or God’s power and purpose. Of course, God can use my choices to work out
His plan. Writing later in life gives me
the perspective of “life experiences,” something which had I started in my youth, I
would not yet have had. Still, if I’d
followed my ‘dream,’ however brief, there might have been so many other
possibilities. I’ll never know.
Our
destinies are part of who we are supposed to be, but the path can go forward,
or backward, with lots of “bunny trails” along the way. We need to be open to God’s guidance, looking to see with a prayerful heart if we are walking through
the doors God opened or forging a path through a forest (or desert) we weren’t
meant to be.
Are
you following the destiny God has for you?
Have you searched with a pure heart what God’s purpose is? Or…..are you hanging back, unwilling to grow
and produce the ‘fruit’ God has designed for you?
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