Destiny. The word has been abused and overused in some church circles, unused and neglected in others. I confess that I fall into the latter group so this blog is my repentance. Rather than over-spiritualize and overthink destiny, let me encourage you to connect it with the word “destination.” In a sense, your destiny and your destination are one and the same.
If I am a truck driver and I have to drive to Florida to pick up a delivery, turn around and drive back, Florida isn’t my destination–it is simply a stop on the way. However, if I’m a dad with two little kids who have watched all the Disney movies, and my little girl can’t wait to see Cinderella, and my son can’t wait to see Buzz Lightyear, Disney is my destination. I’m not even thinking of home as I drive to Florida…I’m thinking about Disney.
Paul wrote about destiny.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:10-11, ESV)
Our destiny is God Himself! Did you get that? Oh my! Whether we are awake (that’s an euphemism for being alive) or asleep (a metaphor for death), we are with him.
Since Jesus died for us, we get to live with him.
What does living with him look like–now and then? Over the course of our twenty years of marriage, Wendy and I have had more than a dozen kids live with us who were not ours. They had their own beds, ate at our table just like our own kids, used our towels, soap and toothpaste. If they were old enough, they drove my truck, played basketball in our driveway, and even went with us on trips. They lived with us and for that time, we didn’t view them as anything less than our own kids.
We live with Jesus now. That’s our destiny. We will live with him then. That’s our destiny. Asleep or awake, our destiny is Jesus himself! What are we to do with this momentous knowledge? Encourage one another! Build one another up!
Encourage five people today.
Here’s my challenge today. Encourage five people…intentionally send a message to five people to encourage them and see what happens. You will be blown away by how much they needed your timely words. After all, they are your brothers. They are your sisters. They are family! And we all have the same destiny.
Enough for Today 