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It is so easy to get destiny intertwined with our expectations and our ability to make those expectations happen, that victim thinking can't help but to be the result. I came across a quote from a daily devotional I receive in my email that put destiny in just the right context.
Pastor David Whitehead said, "Part of our journey on this earth is not to create our destiny, but to discover it."
Destiny can tie us up in victim making knots when we choose the wrong action when it comes to what destiny is suppose to be. When we think our job is to create our destiny, we set ourselves up for repeated failure. It is when we fail over and over again, particularly when it comes to something as important as destiny, that we begin to take on the identity of a victim. When we see who we are connected with victimization, it is so easy to do and say things that will ultimately victimize others. It is when we see this life as a process in discovering destiny that victor living becomes much more possible.
I don't know if you are this way or not, but I love to discover things. It is one of my greatest dreams to find a piece of a meteor on the ground or to stumble across some lost artifact. It isn't about the money that these things might bring. I just like the idea of finding something kind of unique. Many of my greatest treasures are worthless trinkets that I have discovered as I have gone through this life.
My wife and I were on vacation a couple years ago with my brother and his family in South Carolina. We all were walking the beach one day looking for sharks teeth. This particular year was a banner one for this task. We found a bunch of them! On one particular day I came across something that seemed to stand out on the shore. I almost walked past this little item. On a whim I picked it up and took it home to try and figure out what it was. After some investigation I found that I had stumbled on a petrified shark's vertebra. I had never found anything like that in my life. I was so excited and, admittedly a little bit proud. That little discovery really made my day.
That's what drew me to the quote I shared earlier about destiny. There is something so right to me about destiny being something we discover rather than something we make happen. Discovery takes time. It takes effort. Discovery comes at a cost and isn't always rewarded like we might think it should be. Even with those shortcomings surrounding the discovery process, I think that our efforts are better suited to be in discovery mode rather than the creation of destiny.
I love how today's Bible reading puts it when it comes to discovery.
It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. Proverbs 25:2 (ESV)
God concealed that sharks back bone on that beach that afternoon. It was my glory to search and find that bone. Such is the way I think God wants us to look at destiny.
God has placed a destiny in our hearts. It is hidden away so that the world can't steal or corrupt that destiny. As we search for that destiny in all that we do, we discover things about ourselves and things about our God that bring glory into our lives. In a sense, God's glory is hidden with our destiny that has been placed in our hearts. We unlock the power of God's glory as we go with him on the journey of discovering our destiny.
I have spent the better part of my life trying to make what I thought my destiny should be. I took who I wanted the world to see me as and formulated as best a supporting destiny as I could devise. Then I set out on making that destiny happen. All my efforts were spent trying to create my own destiny. That is so completely backwards and counterproductive.
Discovery takes a lot of effort. We don't have the time or the energy to go on the journey of discovery if we waste all our time and energy trying to create destiny. In essence, we make destiny something that stays hidden when we try to make a destiny we devise happen in our lifetime.
How can one tell if they are creating or discovering destiny? Ask yourself this one question. "Do you need destiny to be something that makes who you are more of what you want the world to see?" If you answer yes to this question, your time and efforts will be used on creating destiny. Though you might have some success at creating a destiny that bolsters your identity in worldly ways, that just isn't enough.
Need proof of that last statement? Just think of the latest high profile people who recently committed suicide. Those people had all the money, power, prestige, prominence and significance my identity longs for, yet it wasn't enough. In spite of all the things we think one would need to make identity be what works for us, these high profile people still took their own lives. Worldly proofs of an identity built on destiny have shown themselves to be untrustworthy in tragic ways.
I'm not saying that you will kill yourself if you are unable to create your own destiny. Suicide is an extreme action based of victim thinking. What I am saying is that victim thinking can become deeper and deeper ingrained in our lives when we put our efforts into trying to make destiny be the foundation of our identity. Suicide is a real possibility when victim thinking has so infiltrated our identities that we just can't see any hope of who we are making a difference any more.
Identity has to be something that stands on its own. We need to know who we are so that as we go on the discovery process for destiny we don't get discouraged by the ups and downs of this process in victimizing ways. It is when I believe in who God says I am that the meandering path that is the discovery process doesn't take it's toll on my life like it can when I fail at creating my destiny.
I think God loves it when we find those little treasures along the path of this life He made for us. That rock, that piece of bone, that strange artifact - they all help to weave a story that is uniquely yours. That's how it is to be with the discovery process surrounding our destiny. The little discoveries you stumble across along the way help to piece together the puzzle of the destiny God has hidden in your heart. When viewed in this light, it really is about the journey more than the destination.
I don't know if I will ever find that piece of meteor or some other unusual artifact in my life time. Thing is, I'm not going to let that fact stop me from trying. I'm also not going to be so driven by the need to find those things that I lose the power of what I might discover in this moment right here and right now. I pray that your day be filled with discovery after discovery. I also pray that it be the little things that bring you the most joy. God's glory is waiting to be unleashed as you open your eyes to the treasures all along your path today. May your glory be the basking in God's glory in all you discover with Him today.
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