Understanding Destiny

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 (New International Version, NIV)

God has a good future planned for us, and we all love to quote Jeremiah 29:11 because it gives us such hope. Yet, we spend so much time looking to the future that we can miss the blessing of today.

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 (KJV)

I am not sure we all have a good understanding of the concept of destiny. It is true that the word destiny is tied to the word destination and carries the idea of a final place where we arrive. We work and we strive to accomplish goals, thinking it will one day lead us to our destiny. But, let me pose this to you. Our destiny is not in the future- it is now. The journey itself is just as important as the destination. And it is all part of our “destiny.”

Destiny simply means something predestined. It is our destiny to be sons of God according to Romans 8: 29-30. We are also appointed, or destined to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). Destiny speaks of God’s plan unfolding in our lives day by day as we follow Him.

The entirety of life is valuable, not just one point where we feel we’ve finally “arrived.” Every day counts, whether good or bad. It is all part of our destiny. The choices we make affect our ability to see God’s plan unfold, so what the decide and what we do is important to walking in our destiny.

In our house, we have sticky notes posted in a couple places and this is what is written on them: “No more delay. Our breakthrough is here today. It’s pay day. Our divine destiny is NOW.” That is a confession the Lord gave us to speak regularly over our lives, and it stresses the point that destiny is in the present as well as the future.

Today is your day of destiny. What are you going to do with it to see God’s purposes unfold?