We are all created with a God-given purpose and destiny. Paul says, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph 2:10). Yet many believers go through life without a clear sense of what they are destined to do. Trials and obstacles seem to derail us from our destiny.

The problem in understating destiny from a biblical perspective is that we define destiny by the dreams, goals, and aspirations that we attain in our futile life on earth. If life were just about living it out on earth, then that would be sufficient of a definition. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ‘Destiny’ as “a predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power or agency.” Our eternal predetermined course of events is that we were created in Christ Jesus for good works to glorify God. And it is the irresistible power through Christ that is holding us and leading us (“in Him, all things hold together” – Colossians 1:17).

Now Paul reminds in 1 Thessalonians 3:3, that in our faith journey to produce good works, we are “destined for trials.” It is imperative that our eternal destiny that is created in Christ Jesus for good works is destined for trials. So, when we get unsettled, disturbed, or waver amid trials, we are essentially putting our destiny in jeopardy. Our destiny flows out of a relationship with God. We will never discover our destiny without embracing a revelation of Christ and what He has done for us. The various gifts, passions, skills, talents, and much more that guide us in walking out our calling or destiny are only effective and eternally worthwhile when rooted in Christ and driven by the Holy Spirit’s leading.

The devil will do its best to derail us from our God-given destiny through trials and obstacles. But the truth is that these hurdles are part of our destiny.