Are You Living Your Destiny?

By Peggy W. Lester –

What does it mean to fulfill your God given destiny? I have shared several incidents that have made an eternal impact in my spiritual walk; maybe you have a few questions about your destiny. I thought I would share a few things that might help you understand “destiny”.

What is our “God given destiny”? In Jeremiah 29:11 God speaks through Jeremiah “…‘for I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

God had been silent for many years because His people had turned away in sin. In Jeremiah it says God called him before he was formed in the womb of his mother. (Jer. 1:5) God commissioned Jeremiah before he was even born to be a prophet to His people. In simple terms this is “destiny”. God knows us before we are born and He has a call on our life. Psalms 139 also confirms this, as well.

The conception and birth of John the Baptist as the forerunner of Jesus is an example. Moses’ life was spared because of the call on his life to deliver His people from bondage in Egypt. I believe you can say that Hadassah (better known as Esther) had a call on her life as well. She was chosen to intercede for God’s chosen race so they would be saved from annihilation through an enemies’ hand.

Now, you may be saying, these are all famous Biblical characters. You must realize these are men and women like us. They were not super heroes. It  even says in James 5:17, 18  that “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” There was nothing special about Elijah in the human sense. He believed God and responded in obedience. God’s calling on my life has come in stages. His desire is to use us all to further His Kingdom.

I was a stay at home mom until our sons went to school. I then got a job working at a bank. After several years, I left the bank and went to work in an attorney’s office. I left that office and went to an adjoining county to a larger firm. Up until that time our family was just church attendees. Don and I had grown up in church but we did not know the Lord personally.

I was working in an upscale law firm; exposed to different lifestyles other than my small country upbringing; confronted with some worldly behaviors I made some bad decisions at that time. No excuses, just reasons.

After several years of the Lord dealing in my life and His gentle but firm calling to me, I came face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ at a revival one night. No, He didn’t tell me I would become a missionary at that time; that would have been too much since we had the two young sons at home. All He did was call me unto Himself. My destiny would unfold a little at a time as I was able to digest and embrace it.

You must first listen for the call of salvation. Answer that call first and He will then reveal His plans for your life to you, a little at a time. Jesus said He came to seek and save the lost. Once you are found, then you can discover your destiny. We are all called to fulfill a “destiny”, you may not be the next Billy Graham, but you might be his or her mom or dad!

Peggy W. Lester is the founder of Spreading His Fragrance Near and Far, Inc. Her desire is to take the Gospel to those who haven’t heard, to disciple those desiring to grow in their faith and to share the healing balm of Jesus to those who have been wounded in life. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Christian counseling and is ordained through FCFI located in Indiana. She lives with husband, Don, about 35 miles West of Atlanta, Georgia. Website: http://www.peggywlester.com/