How to find—and live out—the plan that God has for our lives.
Do you know what your destiny is, or are you still searching for it? Maybe you already achieved your purpose and you’re ready for something new to bring your life fulfillment.
Why Your Destiny is Important
Many years ago, I came across this quote by theologian Frederick Buechner, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” That quote has helped me throughout life as I try to understand my God-given purpose.
God has a plan for everyone. He has wonderfully created each of us with a specific task and purpose.
The chief end for us, in the words of the Westminster Catechism is “to know God and to enjoy Him forever.” We do that by our relationships with God and one another. Humankind is created in the image of God. Our calling and purpose are never in a vacuum, it always intersects with someone else. It is through those connections with one another that we see different aspects of God. When God uses us in different ways and situations, we gain more knowledge of Him.
While everyone’s chief end is the same, how we demonstrate our purpose is different for each person. That is where our call and individual purpose come in. I have heard it explained this way—utensils are the tools with which we cook food. But there are different utensils for the different forms of cooking. The main purpose of cooking is to provide food to eat, but how we prepare and cook the food is different because we use different utensils. So, how do we recognize God’s call in our lives?
7 Ways to Recognize God’s Destiny for You
- Heart’s desires: God places desires into our hearts that become our passions. This is where Buechner’s quote begins—our heart’s gladness. From a motivational standpoint, it makes perfect sense. To figuring out your destiny, do what you love, and you’ll be rewarded with more energy, care and interest in completing the tasks at hand.
- Talents and skills: God has designed each of us with specific talents and skills. Sometimes it is obvious what it might be and other times we have to try different things to find out. While the story of David and Goliath is a story of God miraculously providing David with the winning shot, David had skill with the slingshot from his years as a shepherd in guarding sheep from marauders.
- Training and education: God uses our training and education for His call on our lives. Those who have the knowledge in a certain field can use that for God’s purposes. God used Moses’ training and education from being raised in Pharaoh’s household to be able to represent the Israelites and lead them out of slavery.
- Aptitude testing: God has given us various tools to learn about ourselves, whether through science or humankind’s understanding of the world. One such method is aptitude testing. It is not an intelligence test but rather a way to predict how you might perform in certain situations based on how you respond to questions and scenarios. Through the lens of another, you can see yourself in a different way and perhaps find the path God is opening.
- Trusted friends and family: God places people in our lives who can help us discern where God’s calling is. Moses’ father-in-law advised him to delegate some responsibilities so he could focus on the work God had given him.
- Spiritual gifts: In addition to our talents and skills, God has given each one of us spiritual gifts. As the apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians, there are varieties of gifts but one Spirit. The various gifts are given to build up the body of Christ.
- Prayer and fasting: God wants us to ask Him for His advice. We can do so through the act of prayer and fasting. Fasting is a spiritual practice that helps us focus and hone our intentions and goals. It says we are serious about the questions we have.
Some Important Things To Remember About Your Destiny
In Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night, one of the characters states, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” I think that is true for discovering our call and purpose. Some are called at birth, some later in life and some are called for a specific task at a specific time.
- We know our purpose early in life: I think of those people who I admire—the ones who seemed to know exactly what they were meant to do at a very early age. In the Bible, Samuel was called to the priesthood from an early age. His mother, Hannah in response to God providing her with a son, gave Samuel to Eli to be raised in the temple. When Samuel was small, he heard God speaking to Him. From those early years until his death, he served God as a priest.
- We discover our purpose in our golden years: There are those who don’t realize their destiny until much later in life. We could call them “late bloomers.” Perhaps their early lives are times to gain experience for what will come in their sunset years. Abraham was one who did not receive God’s call until later in life. He was old, childless and already settled when God called him to leave Haran. God also promised that He would make Abraham a great nation to be blessed and to be a blessing. This promise for his purpose was given before Abraham even had one offspring, seemingly impossible given his age. Yet, God fulfilled His promises to Abraham, and Abraham lived his purpose by following where God led.
- We encounter our purpose through different circumstances: What we are called to do may not be what we do our entire lives but rather for a season or specific time. Queen Esther did not anticipate being queen and the savior of her people, yet she found herself in circumstances that required her to do just that. She was born “for such a time as this” in order to save her people. She was called to a specific time when she needed to visit the king and request from him a decree to save the life of the Jews.
Regardless of when we are called, God has a plan for our lives. What our spiritual ancestors show us is that whatever and whenever the call or purpose that God places on us, our response is to be obedient. Like Samuel our response is, “here I am, use me.”
We may need to learn more about ourselves to fulfill the purpose God places on our hearts or we may need to hone our skills to be prepared. The God who created us will use us in a way that He designed. We can trust Him. When God calls, our only requirement is to say yes. We can know that He will provide for us as we trust Him with our call and purpose. As 1 Thessalonians reminds us, “The one who has called you is faithful; He will do it.”
