Sense of Destiny
The Lord said to Abraham, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:1-2
One of the things that happens when we become a Christian is that we pick sense of destiny and a sense of mission. After God placed his hand on Abraham (Gen. 12), Abraham never viewed his life in the same way again.
He said, “I am special, and I am here for a purpose. All the nations of the earth are going to bless themselves in me.” This was not pride, but a sense of purpose.
The moment you become a Christian, you begin to realize that God has a work for you to do, and that work is important. Not only that, but if you are not faithful to complete God’s purpose for you, you will be held accountable in the Judgment.
God does not call us to a work for our personal fulfillment. We are called for the sake of the world. And we will be held accountable for what we do with the truth that is given to us. From the first day that God called Abraham, he had the whole world in mind. God’s plan for you and me includes no narrow provincialism.
God took Abraham into kings’ courts, to the center of political power, so God’s witness could extend into those pagan places. God never intended you and me to be off on the eddies of society and on the margin of history.
It is his gospel, his redemptive work, and it will be in the center of all that is valuable. Important things are going on in the world today, but there is nothing more important than fulfilling God’s destiny for our life-becoming a witness to the world for him.
—Dennis Kinlaw,
This Day with the Master
For many years of my life, I considered missionary work—taking the Gospel to places where it hadn’t been proclaimed and to people who hadn’t heard. And while I still believe this is a most important life calling for many, I also realized that we’re all called to be missional in the way we live, right where God has planted us. We each have a mission field … all around us. Here is where we are uniquely positioned to be a light for the Lord, to extend the love of Christ to others, and to serve as a witness of all He’s done in our lives and the lives of others. In this calling, we’re to follow the example of Abraham, who stepped out as God directed, not even sure where his next steps would take him. This calls for courage, surely, stepping out into the unknown. But it also grows our faith, as with each step we see God’s provision and new opportunities opening up before us. This is how our God leads. Very often, our failures, brokenness and trials will be, by the hand of God, turned into ministering opportunities; we can “comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received” (see 2 Cor. 1:3-5), encouraging others that we’ve been there, and more importantly, we encountered God there. May we grow more mindful—starting today—of where we are and how God will make the most of it if we look to Him in faith, believing. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics