Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.
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"As it relates to the process of moving from victim thinking to victor living, the issue of destiny or purpose is a critically important thing to understand from the correct perspective."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 187.
In her book, "The Lovely Bones", Alice Sebold says this about destiny, "Sometimes the dreams that come true are the dreams you never even knew you had.” That quote really sums up what I'm learning about destiny. Sometimes you end up with a destiny you never knew was going to be part of your life.
We spend so much of our time trying to determine our destiny now so that we won't waste our time on activities heading somewhere we didn't plan to go. This is a process that leaves us tired, disappointed and ripe for victim thinking.
You see, I don't believe destiny - true destiny can ever be completely defined, let alone achieved on our own. Sure we will catch glimpses of a direction in which we are headed, but our specific destiny, like dreams, are things we might never know we had.
I know that can be a disappointing and discouraging thought. You want to know why the thought that I might not be able to completely define my destiny has been so disappointing to me at times? It is because I want to be in complete control of my life. Without knowing where I am going, the way knowing my destiny is so good at showing, I'm doomed to wondering if I will ever end up where I'm suppose to be. That feeling of the unknown is such an affront to my identity. When my identity is attacked it is easy to fall into victim thinking like I have so many times in the past.
Destiny is a lofty subject. Maybe it is too lofty for our current pay grade. That doesn't mean that we are doomed to not being able to find a sense of belonging without fully knowing our destiny. It just means that we need to be viewing our destiny from a perspective that is so much bigger than what we can muster up here on earth.
That's where my growing trust in what God says about me is so important to me being able to live the life of a victor. It is when I am forced to trust Him with regards to my destiny due to the fact I just can't quite put my finger on what that destiny is, is when I am drawn into a more profound and impacting relationship with this God that loves me.
The opposite is just as true. It is when I am working this world for all it is worth to squeeze every ounce of destiny out of it I can find that I am taken deep into the realm of victim thinking from time to time. This world will never relinquish all that I need to let destiny be proof enough of my victor status. God is designed it that way because this world is operating on borrowed time. Everything about this world, including your life and mine is temporary. Why would an eternal God ever let His Children settle for the temporal when the eternal is part of our very being?
Psalm 23 is one of the most well known parts of the Bible. "The Lord is my shephers - I shall not be in want..." Those words have comforted many a troubled soul over the generations. The last line of the verse goes like this...
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Psalm 23:6 (NIV)
Looking for a destiny that will never fail? Here it is. I was made to have goodness and love follow me all the days of my life. And, when I die, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. With that kind of destiny, how can I ever go wrong? With those promises for my time here on earth and my time in Heaven, how can anything bad that comes against me ever make me doubt who I am or who this God is that loves me so?
I wish I could say that these words make it so that destiny never is a question in my life. That would be a lie. I have had to fight off debilitating thoughts from time to time as a result of thinking that I will never find a destiny that matters. I know you know exactly what I am talking about here.
Good news is that God hasn't allowed me to stay in that place for too long. He won't let you stay there too long either. It is when we wake up to who God says we are that destiny takes on an entirely different perspective. It is when we view our destiny through God's eyes that things, even the bad things that happen to us start to take on a power like never before.
That's what Psalm 23 is saying to me. I matter today. I have a purpose here or earth and God isn't finished with me even when I die. The Pastor at my Church is fond of saying, "The best is yet to come!" He is absolutely correct, but, when our destiny is viewed through God's eyes, our best is happening right now even when the best looks like the worst from the world's perspective.
Hang onto the fact that God calls you a victor because of the fact He has made you His Child. No amount of understanding of your destiny - No amount of your ability to achieve that destiny will make you any more or any less of the victor He has made you to be. Live freely in the fact that your destiny is secure in the God that calls you His Child.
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