Destiny is not just about where you’re going. It’s also about how you get there.
Last week during my quiet time I heard these words, “Carry your heart as you process your journey.” Since then, I have been trying to figure out what that means. It sounds profound, but exactly what is Jesus trying to tell me?
Perhaps, like me, you feel confused about the instructions or clues you receive about your destiny. It’s been a process, but I feel like my journey of discovery has been as significant as the answer.
And maybe that’s the point. Destiny is not just about where we are headed. What we learn as we blaze a trail into the unknown is equally important. In fact, the more we mature, the clearer our destiny becomes.
HOW WE CARRY OUR HEARTS MATTERS
Despair can have a devastating effect on our hearts. Psalm 137 was written after the Babylonians conquered Israel. It vividly describes how desolation and hopelessness affect us. This psalm gives us an inside look at how the Israelites felt about their captivity.
When the Babylonians captured Israel, they also crushed their hearts. Most Israelites were forced to leave their homeland and move to Babylon. Not only were they enslaved, they were extracted from their culture, language, and familiar surroundings.
The Israelites gathered around the rivers of Babylon and wept as they remembered Zion, hanging their harps on willow trees that grew by the riverbanks. However, certain Babylonians came down to the water and asked them to sing the songs of Zion. This request was more than they could bear. Their captors wanted to gratify their curiosity, but they weren’t interested in Israel’s God. To Israel, being required to sing joyful songs when their hearts felt imprisoned seemed like another form of bondage. “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” Psalm 137:4 KJV Their emotions wavered between devotion to Jerusalem and hatred for the Babylonians.
Does this sound familiar? We feel like America has lost her moral compass, and we can’t find our bearings. The pandemic, politics, and the war in Ukraine have shaken us. We believe our identity as one nation under God was stolen, and our hearts yearn for what has been lost. We react in fear and anger.
PANIC AND HATRED ONLY SHUT DOWN OUR HEARTS
When the Israelites hung up their harps, they suspended their hearts as well. Instead of singing about what God could do, they wept over the damage that was done. But hopelessness and discouragement only obstruct dreams. Panic and hatred distract us from the possibilities that God lays before us. It shuts down our ability to see our destiny.
When Jesus fell asleep in the middle of a storm, the disciples panicked. They well understood how quickly the squalls on the Sea of Galilee became dangerous. Jesus had told them they were going to the other side, but they lost sight of their destination as they focused on the wind and waves. However, like Jesus, we can rest in the middle of a storm because we know that Jesus takes us to the other side. Our destiny is in His hands.
HAVE WE HUNG UP OUR HARPS?
Like the Israelites in captivity, many of us have hung up our harps. We need to realize that our destinies are not harsh taskmasters who demand a song from us. We are not required to pour our lives into those who are merely curious. Instead, we seek those who earnestly desire the song we’ve been given.
Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30). He doesn’t demand that we perform for Him. Instead, He writes a song on our hearts that’s meant to be sung. That’s what walking into our destiny feels like.
Do you remember how free your heart felt when you were born again? Too many of us have allowed our hearts to be taken captive by fear, worry, and daily concerns. We’ve lost our first love.
THE LITTLE MERMAID GETS HER LEGS
Remember the movie Little Mermaid? Ariel is dissatisfied with life under the sea. She knows there is a bigger world if she could only get there. She glimpses it, but she cannot walk on land with a fish tail. Ariel must have legs to operate in this other realm. She even sings a melody that rises from a heart that hopes for a better world.
In the movie, wicked Ursula gives Ariel the legs she needs to walk, but she must give up her voice to get them. However, our story is different. When we look toward Jesus, He give us a voice that empowers us to fulfill our destiny. He puts a song in our hearts and provides us with legs to walk in a new dimension. He offers us new insight and a new way of thinking that enables us to follow our vision.
So how do we do that? If we want to know where we’re going, we’ve got to learn how to get there; and we only get there by letting go of what holds back our hearts. Then we are free to hear the song He placed in us. Like the Little Mermaid, we are coming up into a new realm to complete our destiny with the Lord.
