No one has a fate, but everyone has a destiny.

Fate is an outcome that cannot be changed and does not depend on the actions of an individual. Fate does not make sense conceptually, given the fact that all people are volitional creatures capable of acting on natural desires to pursue a purpose that is chosen by them. Humans are not robots. We are limited by our own flesh, distracted by the world and tempted by an evil one who has, along with legions of demons, configured layers of deception. In light of and despite of all that is wrong within people and the world, God has made it possible for us all to make choices – and some of those decisions are enabled by His Spirit, which produces eternal life, light and hope.

The opposite extreme of fatalism is deism. Deism is the belief that there is no divine intervention at all: the Creator has made what is and has abandoned the people of this planet to make their own way, as best they can. Deism does not make sense in light of our common human experience. When faced with tragedy or danger, most people have a natural instinct to pray or to seek something beyond themselves that they believe (or at least hope) exists. The purpose of prayer is to ask God to act in space and time. Some form of prayer is instinctive for most.
Between the extremes of fatalism and deism, there is theism and the biblical concept of destiny. Destiny is an end determined by God, which still requires an individual to find and fulfill it. While God has a plan and a determined outcome for every life (Psalm 139:16) and an eventual victory over the fall (Genesis 1-3) that will bring harmony to heaven and earth (Revelation 21), every person must choose their path and make decisions based upon the desires of their heart.

This is where the work of God in this world makes an impact. God is in the heart business. He is love, and while His love is given to all, it is also focused in a unique people in whom He intervenes and gives a new heart and new spirit (Ezekiel 11:19-20). These redeemed people of faith are compelled by God to desire His grace and enabled to live uniquely by faith in the power of His life giving Spirit based upon the living hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:3-9).

When it comes to our destiny, God does not hand us a cooked meal and say, “Here it is! Enjoy!” Instead, God gives us the ingredients and His instructions. He then commands us to obey Him and make our life about what is best. What are the ingredients? These are the gifts, abilities, opportunities, relationships and desires that are in us and around us.
Every person is uniquely made and placed by God in a unique life circumstance. Each redeemed child of God is remade and is being transformed into the image of Christ in a specialized way. All who are saved are saved the same way, but each person redeemed by grace is given a distinctive set of gifts and abilities that are revealed in the unity of the church through the opportunities, relationships and desires within and around each person in God’s body (1 Corinthians 12:1-27). What are the instructions? These are the laws of love that God has given in the Bible.
It is only by repentance and faith that a person can fulfill God’s law of love. Repentance is what happens when a person decides that the way they are going on their own is not the best way, then reject that way, and instead choose the better way of God. This way of God is by grace. It is a path that is provided by God’s mercy and is the free offer to all who will receive it. This way of God is by faith. It is the path that is pursued by those who believe who God is according to His Word, and choose to love God, which is seen in their obedience to Him.

What is so amazing about God is that in the end after all the choices are made by billions of people, each life, like a strand, is eternally intertwined in the tapestry of reality. In the end, God’s mosaic is seen. The final picture will reveal the majesty and power of God. Each life will be seen to have worked together to accomplish what God promised in Scripture and reveal the God of the Bible to be the One true God and the only One worthy of worship and praise.

— Shared with you by Rev. Jason Pettus senior pastor at Living Hope Baptist Church.