How to Discover Your Destiny

We all want to know our destiny don’t we? We all want to know what we were put on this earth for; what God made us to do; what God has in store for us.

We’d love to be living a powerful, exciting  life in His service, but …

The Big But

… all too often, the desire to live out our own, private-label, me-centric, comfortable brand of Christianity takes over, because deep down, that’s what our human nature is really looking for, right? Now I’ve been looking for comfortable Christianity in my Bible. Believe you me I’ve been looking. I’ve read my Bible cover to cover many a time, but I still can’t find it anywhere. 

You and I – we want things to be predictable, safe and comfortable. It’s only natural. If we’re to go on a journey, then we’d like to travel the most direct route from A to B – preferably flying business class thank you very much.

But that’s simply not what Jesus promised:

I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world! (John 16:33)

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. (Luke 9:23,24)

And the reason that many a Christ follower hasn’t discovered their destiny, is because they haven’t been prepared to step out of their comfort zone.

Walking on the Glass Floor

A few years ago, some dear friends of ours in Canada – Bob & Wendy Beasley – took us to the CN Tower in Toronto, which was, at the time, the tallest free-standing tower in the world. There’s a viewing platform which stands 342 metres (1,122 feet) above the ground. 

And yes, you guessed it, there’s a glass floor for you to walk on. Well, that’s just about one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. Not because it was dangerous – it wasn’t. Turns out that the glass floor is 5 times stronger than the concrete floor.

But because walking on a glass floor 342 metres above the ground is downright unnatural, it took me about 20 minutes to step out of my comfort zone and onto the glass floor. And looking down at the ground way, way, way down there was downright scary.

Stepping out of our comfort zone is always scary – especially, if there happens to be a storm raging around us (as there so often is).

Walking on Water

That’s what Peter discovered, when he and the other eleven disciples were caught in a storm, in a small fishing boat, out on the Sea of Galilee.  

… by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning Jesus came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.“

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt 14:24-31)

There’s never a good time to step out of the boat – especially not in the middle of a storm. But the old Pete didn’t wait for the storm to cease. Evidently, deep in his heart of hearts, he figured that it was going to be safer out there walking on the stormy sea with Jesus, than cowering in a sinking boat with his friends. 

So he asked Jesus to call him – and when the call came, off he went. Simple as that. 

What about You?

If you’ve been struggling to discover your destiny – then instead of sitting there in the boat, I want to encourage you today to cry out to Jesus from the midst of the storm – and when you hear His call – as ill time, as crazy and as unnatural it may at first appear – I want to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone.

Because that … that’s where you’ll discover your destiny.

Oh …. and if right now you’re thinking But God could never use me … if right now you’re looking at yourself in the mirror and thinking … But I’m so plain and ordinary … and if you’re looking around at your circumstances thinking … Surely God couldn’t do anything here … then think again as you watch this short video …

Apologies for the slightly “beefier” version of Berni in the video – it was shot a few years ago.

These days, you get a lot less Berni for your money!  🙂