Welcome to Putting it All Together, the conclusion of a series entitled God is the Ultimate Travel Agent. In this day and age, I think one of the most significant questions that many people face is simply this: for what purpose am I alive and how can I make a real difference? The first step towards understanding destiny is that life isn’t just about getting to your destination, but about enjoying the journey along the way — and even more importantly, learning to trust God to lead you and guide you along every step.
For your reference, the previous posts in this series are:
So let’s get down to it. You’ve realized that you want to venture forth on the adventure of a lifetime and that you need God’s help to get to where you’re going. You want to make sure you’re hearing His voice and obeying His command. You need supernatural revelation to give you the keys to unlocking your destiny. That’s all very well and good, but how do you actually do all that? Just thinking about these ideas is not enough. It’s time to put your money where your mouth is and take that first baby step.
Based on my own experience thus far, an overall strategy has emerged that I believe can aid you in your quest. I’m not saying that this is a magic formula or appropriate to your stage in life, but it’s generally a pattern that I’ve seen repeated over and over again and has been tremendously helpful in my life. I hope it blesses you and gives you newfound confidence that God is going to do great things in you and through you!
So what is this strategy? It is this:
1. Walk away. The first step in following after God’s own heart is realizing you have to repent. To repent means to turn away, to change course. It’s easy to get fixated on repenting from outright sin and forget that in many cases we need to repent from desires, affections, ambitions, and pursuits that are holding us back from what God has for us. Don’t just mumble “sorry” and then fall right back into it all. Don’t hesitate. Just walk away. Say goodbye and never look back. If you want to reach your God-given potential, then Jesus has to be The Boss.
2. Give up your ideology. When you start living life for Jesus with passion and zeal, expect Him to smash your ideology, crush your theology, and demolish your philosophy. When I rededicated my life to Christ a few years ago, it began a chain of events which ended up redefining almost everything I thought I knew about God and what it meant to be a Christian. The key is to make yourself vulnerable to the corrections and convictions of the Holy Spirit. Trust me, it’ll be good.
3. Get connected. You can’t do the Christian life alone. Christianity is not an individualistic spiritual path, it is a Spirit-filled community. You are not just some organic robot that needs the right software to work right, you are a vital member of the worldwide Body of Christ. You need help! You need to be loved! You need people to pray for you and prophesy over you! While I don’t believe in the “any church is good church” doctrine that says you must go to church to be a good Christian, I do believe that God has a place for you in His body — though it may take some time to find that place. Don’t give up — once you get there, it’ll be like coming home. It’ll be like Heaven on earth.
4. Ask, seek, knock. Start consuming books, podcasts, videos, etc. of godly Christian leaders with a proven track record in humility, pure faith, and spiritual fruit. No, these people aren’t perfect, and not everything they say is going to be The Truth, but they may have more experience in walking with God and following His ways than you do. Wisdom is worthy to be sought. Also, if you have the ability to travel, invest your time and money in attending some awesome conferences or revival meetings to get a feel for what God is doing around the earth. They will open your eyes to things you never dreamt were possible!
5. Face time. You can pray and read the Bible on a daily basis, but sometimes that ain’t gonna cut it. You need to get down on your knees before Almighty God and remove every other distraction for a significant period of time. Here’s a challenge: spend at least two full hours by yourself in a room with nothing but a Bible, a journal, and water. Don’t allow yourself to be interrupted by ANYTHING or ANYONE. Give a couple of hours of your life to God. And if you want a REAL challenge, try spending eight hours with God. I’ve done it once, and I can tell that just doing it once was life-changing. I’m looking forward to doing it again. It was incredibly hard at first, but believe it or not I was actually sad to leave His Presence after a while! (BTW, don’t feel bad if you snooze a little bit. God can speak to us through dreams, remember?)
6. Take action. Once you’ve repented of sin and unnecessary pursuits , given up your prideful presumptions about God and your destiny, gotten connected with fellow believers who can pray for you and prophesy into your life, sought out important spiritual truth and ways of worship that others have discovered, and spent meaningful and consecrated time alone in the Presence of the Lord, then it’s time to act out the faith that’s stirring in your heart. The things that the Holy Spirit has been showing you, the person that He’s called you to be — you need to take steps to move in that direction. Perhaps that means seeking out someone to mentor you. Perhaps it means changing jobs. Perhaps it means talking to your family about some serious things you have been keeping to yourself. Perhaps it means seeking counseling or prayer therepy to deal with past issues that must be dealt with. Perhaps it means launching out into a new endeavor. Perhaps it means simply going out into the world and ministering to people in need just like Jesus did! Whatever “action” represents in the context of your life, you need to step out in faith and believe in what God has shown you. The Christian life isn’t talk, it’s walk, after all.
Rinse and repeat as necessary. I’ve gone through this cycle more than once, and probably every time that God leads me into a new season, I have to go through the process. Don’t feel bad if you falter at any one of these points, because it’s never, ever too late to try again! Remember, God’s grace and mercy is fresh and new every day. He will give you the strength to overcome your weaknesses and fulfill your destiny!
Thank you for embarking on this voyage of discovery with me. I was greatly blessed myself just writing it, so I truly hope it blesses you as well. If anything here has raised some questions or perhaps led to some testimonies, please let me know in the comments. May God richly reward you in everything that you do in Christ Jesus!
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