It's the maker who discerns and designs what you are to be.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)
Welcome to Day 17 of our special season of Prayer and Fasting. This is Day 3 of our 5 Days of Providence. One thing that I emphasized yesterday is that God can lead you so clearly down to the smallest things in your life. And as we continue on the subject of Divine leading today, you need to understand that there are two categories of the will of God for your life.
The first category of the will of God for your life is connected to God's redemptive plan and to His glory. Ultimately, if you were to ask yourself, "What is God's plan for my life?”, it can only be found in the will of God. Meaning that everyone and everything was created for the glory of God and the glory of God alone, and everything you will do on this earth has something to do with that plan, which is for all men to be saved and for the whole earth to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God, like the waters cover the sea. If you fail at any other thing, you must not fail at this.
Habakkuk 2:14
New King James Version
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
The second category of the will of God for your life is usually more specific, but still fulfils that ultimate initial plan. This answers the question, "What is your purpose?" Now, purpose is not unique. Purpose is known by the maker. It's the maker who discerns and designs what you're to be.
And if you were to state what your purpose or destiny is, it begins with the fact that you are here to do what God has sent you to do. God has designed His will so that every single one of us has a part to play in His redemptive plan. This is important; you were saved to save others. But at the same time, God also has a specificity, which you can call “assignment”, to which you fulfil that purpose. That's the second category of the will of God for your life. That's the point where you begin to say, "I'm a pastor," "I'm an evangelist," "I work through music ministry".
Understand that purpose is that one thing for which you were created, and at which you must succeed; else nothing else you succeed at will count. Meaning you would have wasted your time on this earth if you don't fulfil why God put you here. That is why your purpose cannot be to be an engineer, or a doctor, or any other specific role you think of, because if you don't do those particular things, there are other ways you can be successful on this earth.
All of mankind was created for a purpose, and it is two things: to know God, and to make Him known. That's the first thing you must not fail at in this life: your intimacy with God, and your assignment to make God known. Before any specificity of assignment, you are first a worshipper of the Lord, a child of God, a person created for intimacy with God and to give Him glory, and you're also sent to live according to God's will, which is to see all men saved and to bring Him more glory. That's your purpose, first and foremost.
You must also understand “destiny”. You have a natural destiny and a prophetic destiny; your future is relevant in two ways, but in the end it's still one, in the natural. You can say, "My destiny is to be an engineer," but there's also a prophetic destiny, which is your assignment: the way you are going to fulfil purpose.
God has specific giftings, things He's put in you that you've been uniquely created to contribute to this world and to His work. The reason you have a natural destiny is that, career-wise, you're naturally equipped to contribute something to this earth, but also, in the will of God, you've been equipped to contribute something.
Many times, your natural destiny can be a pointer to your supernatural destiny, and sometimes it isn't. So that's the second layer of it. You will have wasted your time on this earth if, first, you fail at your purpose, and second, if you fail at your assignment. So God has a plan; you can't leave it to randomness.
As you go about your life, you can't act as though God doesn't have a plan and purpose for you. There are people God has ordained that will be blessed through your life, and if you fail to walk in God’s leading, you're failing them and also failing in God's plan. If Joseph hadn't taken the step he took, the whole of Egypt might have died, even his brothers. Because Joseph responded to his destiny, when his family needed sustenance during the famine, he was at the right place at the right time, having told them to save during the seven years of plenty before the seven years of famine.
Genesis 45:5-8
New King James Version
5 But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
7 And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
You cannot take God's call on your life lightly. The voice He gave you is for a reason. The boldness He gave you is for a reason. The audacity He gave you is for a reason; it's for a purpose. Don't waste it. Don't waste your strength.
There is something called God's divine favour, His divine privilege, an unearned and unmerited supply of His power on your life. You're not where you are in your career because of your strength, but because of grace; not salvific grace but the Greek word “Charisma”. You're not where you are in ministry because of your ability, but because of grace. Grace is a real thing, and for people who discover their destiny and purpose, grace begins to speak for them. You can have grace working in your life and still be wasting it. But the moment grace meets a person who has discovered purpose and destiny, the results are exponential.
God honours the things He's planned for your life; the moment you step into it, there is grace for what He's called you to do. So, have you discovered where the grace of the Lord is currently active in your life? Have you pursued that thing? There are things God has equipped you for; what are you using them for?
As you wait on the Lord in this season, know how to navigate purpose, destiny and grace, and you'll be unstoppable.
With Love,
The Catalyst,
Pastor Michael Ipaye.
Prayer
Father, as I discover your plans for my life, let your grace put me on the right path of purpose and assignment.
