Embracing Your God-given Destiny

{It is with so much excitement to introduce Donna to all of you! She’s a tiny little thing who packs a huge punch! She’s part of our media department here at Remade Ministries, and she a gifted writer and an amazing creative! Please show her a lot of love by leaving some great comments below!} 

God’s promises…our hope, our foundation, and our very salvation.  I look to His promises for my sustenance, and I hunger for the revelation of His word over my life like never before.

But not long ago, it was a different story.  I’ve lived my life with great hopes and dreams, always wanting so much more.  Until recently, I always thought the “so much more” was to accomplish my own personal goals.

Then I realized what I really wanted was to stand at the end of my life and hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)  I admit this desire began with my fear of the Lord.  I’d imagine myself standing in front of Him on that day, knowing I’d held a part of myself back from Him.

I was “mostly” submitted, but that “mostly” was beginning to cause a chaffing, like sandpaper rubbing on my spirit, causing me to know that something was not as it should be.

A song by Matthew West, The Motions, depicts what I was thinking, “I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking, ‘What if I had given everything instead of going through the motions?’… ‘Cause just okay is not enough.  Help me fight through the nothingness of this life.”

Then I was laid off from my job, and I surrendered to God all that I thought I wanted.  I told Him I didn’t care if I ever accomplished anything I desired for myself in this life.  I gave up my dreams, and laid them at His feet.

Then the work began… God began excavating  — unearthing everything that held me back from Him.  I went through depression, anxiety, and a myriad of other emotions.  Tears flowed daily, and honestly, I didn’t know what God was doing.

I just knew that I needed Him.  I became a seeker.  Each day I asked Him what He would have me do with my life, but it wasn’t time for that question to be answered.

God continued dismantling everything I thought I knew about myself, and changing my mind about my destiny.

Up until recently, I didn’t realize I had a God-given destiny; I thought that was something reserved for the leaders, speakers, and evangelists.  I assumed wrongly, that I was out there on my own, and that God wasn’t concerned about my earthly destiny.

But each one of us does experience a deep calling from our spirit; as Romans 8:23 says, “We groan within ourselves in our desire to see our destiny fulfilled.”

Before that could happen, I had to completely relinquish everything I was holding onto that served “self.”  This was a time of testing and refining, a time of dying completely to myself, and it lasted for 14 months.

And then came revelation, a lifting of the fog, along with a dimension of joy previously unknown.  With my old self out of the way, the promises of God began to take on a whole new meaning.  I gained a new level of understanding, and an assurance that He had a good plan for my life.  With His truth about me now revealed, I felt reborn.

I love this quote from Bill Johnson’s book, Strengthen Yourself in the Lord, “His words over our lives completely cancel out our old beliefs about who we are –even before we see His word manifesting fully in us.”

Now I am living on His word, being held up by His promises, and I see clearly. I see what Bill meant when he said, “Our testing is getting us ready to receive the promises.”