From Dream to Destiny: The Ten Tests You Must Go Through to Fulfill God's Purpose for Your Life (27 page)

The Lord has created every one of us with a purpose—but it is up to us to determine what we will do with that purpose.

The Lord sets a direction in front of each one of us—but it is our
faithfulness
that determines how far we will go.

There are many tests you must go through on the way to your destiny, and all of these tests are important. Humility, character, stewardship, integrity, perseverance—all of these are important to fulfilling your destiny. But they can all be summed up in one word: faithfulness.

Faithfulness is the answer to all the tests that God will give you. If you will just remain faithful to the direction that God has revealed to you, you will ultimately fulfill the destiny that God has on your life.

Will you be faithful to what God has called you to do?

What follows is an excerpt from the diary of a man who set his course and was faithful. His name was John Wesley.

Sunday a.m., May 5, preached in St. Ann’s, was asked not to come back anymore.

Sunday p.m., May 5, preached at St. John’s, deacons said, “Get out and stay out.”

Sunday a.m., May 12, preached at St. Jude’s, can’t go back there either.

Sunday p.m., May 12, preached at St. George’s, kicked out again.

Sunday a.m., May 19, preached at St. somebody else’s, deacons called special meeting and said I couldn’t return.

Sunday p.m., May 19, preached on the street, kicked off the street.

Sunday a.m., May 26, preached in a meadow, chased out of meadow as a bull was turned loose during the services.

Sunday a.m., June 2, preached out at the edge of town, kicked off the highway.

Sunday p.m., June 2, afternoon service, preached in a pasture, 10,000 people came to hear.
³

John Wesley knew what his purpose was. He didn’t see the
specifics
of that purpose—but he had a gift for preaching and he developed that gift. He allowed that gift to provide direction to his life. Then he set his course and he remained faithful. And faithfulness carried him through to his destiny in God.

More than anything else, it was faithfulness that kept Joseph true on the path to God’s purpose. And faithfulness must also be the foundation for our lives. We must be faithful to God through all of these tests. As we travel the road to destiny, faithfulness is the anchor that will hold us steady through every storm. And faithfulness will keep us true until we pass every test and step into the fulfillment of our destinies in God.

May you live your God-given dreams to the fullest!

C
ONCLUSION

All of us have a dream from God. And all of us have a divinely ordained destiny.

Chances are, as you read this, you are currently living in one of two places. You may be living in the wilderness land somewhere between your dream and your destiny. Or you may have stepped into that destiny and have already begun fulfilling it, but haven’t completed it yet. In either case, you still have some tests to take and pass.

You see, some of the tests we’ve examined in this book occurred in Joseph’s life after the dream but before the destiny. Some of these tests occurred after he began his destiny; but in order to fulfill his destiny to the fullest, he had to continue passing them.

Where are you on this road? Do you desire to see your dream become your manifest destiny? If so, you need to remember that it takes strong character to support big destiny.

That’s why it’s so important to allow God to work in these areas of your life. Allow Him to develop patience, purity, perseverance and true prosperity in your life. Allow Him to remove the pride and the wrong motives for wanting power. Allow your gracious heavenly Father to give you the grace to pardon those who have wronged you. Allow Him to reveal to you the glorious purpose for which He created you.

Don’t get discouraged. He gave you the dream, and He is preparing you for the destiny. May you continue to allow God to strengthen and deepen your character, and may your God-given dream become your God-fulfilled destiny!

Chapter Two

1
. Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews
, bk. xii, ch. 11, sec. 3, quoted in
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary.
CD-ROM, Biblesoft, 2003.

Chapter Three

1
.
Adam Clarke’s Commentary.
CD-ROM, Biblesoft, 2003.

2
.
Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary.
CD-ROM, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, 2003. Hebrew ref. no. 6743; Greek ref. no. 2137.

Chapter Four

1
.
Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary.
CD-ROM, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, 2003. Greek ref. no. 5343.

2
. Ibid., Greek ref. no. 264.

Chapter Five

1
.
Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary.
CD-ROM, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, 2003. Greek ref. no. 2744.

2
. Ibid., Greek ref. no. 2172.

Chapter Six

1
.
Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary.
CD-ROM, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, 2003. Hebrew ref. no. 1697.

2
. Ibid., Hebrew ref. no. 565.

Chapter Eight

1
. The Barna Group, “Tithing Down 62% in the Past Year,”
The Barna Update
, May 19, 2003.
http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=139
(accessed November 9, 2004).

Chapter Nine

1
.
Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary.
CD-ROM, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, 2003. Hebrew ref. no. 5375.

Chapter Ten

1
.
Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary.
CD-ROM, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, 2003. Greek ref. no. 1248.

2
. “Abraham Lincoln,”
commonplacebook.com
, 2004.
http://www.commonplacebook.com/inspire/lincoln.shtm
(accessed November 17, 2004).

3
. “A Page from Wesley’s Diary,”
Life Enhancements
, September 2, 1999.
http://lifeenhancements.tripod.com/Misc24.html
(accessed November 17, 2004).