Have you ever been on an airport, waiting patiently at your assigned gate and just before boarding time, your flight gets delayed for a few hours? I know you have experienced this before, and it usually upsets people. I know it upsets me for sure! Hahaha. But here's the kicker, usually these delays are not caused by us. These delays happens due to weather the majority of the time. Now, if we get angry and upset at things that gets delayed by uncontrollable forces, have you ever wonder of the things that do get delayed because of our own choices? I was recently invited to a podcast to share my testimony and the vision of Fulfilled, and during the conversation I shared how my vision and purpose in life was delayed by my own decisions. After the podcast recording stopped, the host—a great friend of my family—pointed out that so many people have this misconception that God "will delay" your purpose if it's not "His timing," and how we use that as an excuse not to take action. I do believe that God "has a season to everything and a perfect time for every purpose under the sun"(1), but I do not think that God intentionally delays your purpose. I think that our purpose gets delay by our own decisions, whether you made those decisions consciously or unconsciously. As the great Dr. Myles Munroe used to say, "your existence doesn't guarantee the fulfillment of your purpose; you must decide to accomplish your purpose."
For instance, do you think it was God's purpose and intention that the nation of Israel wandered for 40 years in the dessert? Of course not! That wasn't God's original plan for them. God's true intention was for them to get to the promise land in 40 days! Their time to enter the promised land got delayed because of their disobedience towards God. Their own choices delayed their promise for 40 years! I wonder, what decisions have you made that has caused your purpose to be delayed? God will work with you based on the decisions you make. If you make a decision that moves you away from your destiny, God will redirect your steps to get you back on course but that doesn't mean that it was "God's will" for your purpose to be delayed. Purpose gets delayed by the decisions we make.
In this blog I would like to go over the four major factors that delayed my purpose for about eight years, and might be delaying yours too.
1. Misconception of Purpose
I was 20 years old when I had my very first encounter with God and Jesus. Prior to this encounter, I had absolutely no idea or revelation of the things of God, let alone how God communicates with His children. This absence of knowledge and experience in God led me to develop two misconception about God and purpose that delayed me in finding my true purpose and were: (a) I had to had an "out-of-the-ordinary" visitation from God similar to Abraham or Moses, or God had to give me a supernatural dream like he did to Jacob, Joseph or Solomon, OR I had to had an angelical visitation of the Lord similar to Joshua, Gideon, Samson's mother or Mary, and then, (b) I was conditioned to believe that God would only reveal and confirm His purpose over my life through a spiritual authority. As I think back, it's so clear now how wrong was I, but the sad truth is that no one ever corrected me either (SMH). These two criteria that were set before me hindered my ability to discover God's purpose over my life for years! And in many instances, I know that just like me, there are hundreds of people who have been tricked into believing these false concepts about God and purpose, hence, why I want to share the truth.
I remembered the days and nights when I used to literally cry, tears down my eyes, begging really begging God to show me my purpose. I wanted to know so bad why God created me. I was desperate to find out what was the reason of my existence. I remember when I used to cry out, just hoping and wishing that that night would be "the night of my supernatural visitation," to only hearing the "silence" of God—silence because I was trained to boxing God on those two fake criteria. Every single one of those nights, God always spoke to me and show me my vision and purpose but I never heard it because I was never taught or trained to listen to God in my imagination.
Through my own personal experience—a combination of frustration and revelation—I now possess the full understanding that God reveals His purpose to us in a sequence of three simple steps.
1) You have to ask Him what your purpose is:
God is the only person that can show you and reveal to you what your purpose is because He was the one who created you. No other person know what your purpose is. Only God knows it, therefore, only God can reveal it. Listen to what God said through Jeremiah to Israel, "for I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."(2)
2) He will show you your purpose in your imagination:
When you ask Him for your purpose, God will show it to You personally in your imagination. You must trust and believe in your imagination. Every time I asked God about my purpose, I always saw myself speaking to people teaching His word to educate and train others in His ways and in the principles of purpose and fulfillment. God will inspire you to dream and He will fill your imagination with the work He chose for you.
3) He will give you a passionate obsession to fulfill it:
Purpose will automatically ignite a passion and an obsession in your heart for its fulfillment. A person who has no passion in life is a person who has no reason for living life. Once God shows you your purpose—in your imagination—it will consume you until you accomplish it.
The first factor that delays our purpose in life, are all the concepts and myths that we have learned about purpose that are pure lies and lead us astray. Before we go over unto the next element, I would like to finish this one with the following:
“For this [purpose] which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But [your purpose] is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it."(3)
Purpose is not something that is "outside" of you or that you have to go somewhere or to someone to "find" it. God placed your purpose on the inside of you and is just hidden in your heart. Your purpose is already in you. You are carrying your purpose right now! Not only are you born with your purpose but you were created because of it. It is simply unknown to you. But it is in you, and it's in your heart. If you want to know your true purpose in life, follow the three step sequence that I outlined above and God will show it to you.
References:
(1) Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)
(2) Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
(3) Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NKJV)
Great practical advice, to something deep. I loved reading….