Destiny will cost you. It will cost time, commitment, perseverance, will, sanity; it will cost YOU.  There is nothing about destiny that is supposed to be easy, but there is a reason you won’t get there. It’s you.

Your weapon is your will. The most difficult part of walking out purpose and fulfilling your destiny is letting go.  The biggest thing we have a problem with letting go is ‘our’ plan.  Please don’t misconstrue this by thinking to just be lazy and that you don’t need a plan. You need a plan. Here, I’ll just clarify—your plan needs to be aligned to God’s plan; simple, right? (Not simple.) It’s not simple because we need to let go of our own plans and our will. Why? Because they are selfish—they are always “I”, “I”, “I”. I promise you, your purpose on this Earth has nothing to do with you—it’s starts with you (a realization and internally), but it’s always about others.  What you must do is align your plan and will to God’s plan and will for your life.

Time for Inventory

Businesses do this silly thing every year called “inventory”.  If you’ve ever worked in management or have been a part of a team when it’s inventory season, it’s a very pain staking process.  I hated inventory time, but it serves a purpose. It requires time and attention. From collecting information about inventory, you know what to keep and what to disregard.  Stores gather information on what to reorder, what to discontinue, and sometimes create best practices.  If you applied inventory principles to your personal life, it could help you realize as an individual that you have great qualities about yourself and also what needs to change within.

If you are not constantly evaluating yourself, constantly evolving, or questioning how you can better yourself- you are NOT growing.  A part in taking personal inventory is personal accountability. Personal accountability humbles us.  Today, we live in such a selfish society, it’s easy to get caught up in self and become very prideful. People nowadays have this mantra that they don’t need anyone and become very selfish and self serving, but if you are walking in purpose, you cannot be self serving.

A symptom of being self serving and ‘all about self’, is that you open yourself up to become very susceptible to opinions, unforgiveness, and easily offended. (Unforgiveness is a beast of a topic, that I will cover, but not in its entirety today.) A lot of times we become very offended or easily bothered by little things that accumulate and tend to dictate our moods and our days. There’s a simple cure to this—let it go.  When we come to a place of not sweating little things, life becomes a little less hectic and little more meaningful each day. BUT, it’s a choice.  You must choose not to get angry at the car driving slow on the way to work. You must choose not to get angry and hold grudges against people who are on a different level than you are. (People cannot give more if they don’t have it; they give on the level they are on.)  You must choose not to get angry at the process.  The process is not comfortable. The process is not pretty—you’re probably just too cute and prideful to endure the climb.  It’s time to tough it out.  The conquest is guaranteed, but the climb is grueling.  (Good news—if He called you to it, He can bring you through it!)

Isaiah 40:29 (GW) “He gives strength to those who grow tired and increases the strength of those who are weak.”

Be Fully Committed

I’ve found that being a Christian doesn’t change the issues you deal with; it changes how you deal with them.  You hold yourself to a different standard. You try your hardest to live what you’re taught. Are you (or Christians for that matter) perfect? Heck no!  We’re people living by a set of morals and principles in a crazy, susceptible, enticing world.  What you must overcome is being so easily offended and defensive.

You must realize that you control your destiny through the lens of knowing your purpose is divine. 

You must stop blaming others for their contributions to the mishaps in your life.  You must admit our own faults and be open to change.  You must be open to be renovated from the inside by our creator. You must realize that you have a single story that can be used to change one life. You must be fully committed to see out this process, no matter how long it takes.

Many times we fail before the battle is even won.  Conflict is not your greatest barrier—complacency is.  The primary battle you must overcome is unbelief and doubt. Don’t become complacent, find the ingenuity within to break past the unbelief.  You can get to the Will a variety of ways, but the Will will stay the same. If you become complacent, you’ll never discovery your purpose.  God will not change His will, but He will help accommodate a different way for you—because where there is a will, there is a way.

You’re already winning.  You’re reading this. You’re still here. You still have an opportunity. It’s a win! Destiny is expensive; it’ll cost you YOU. You are expensive.  Don’t cheapen yourself and not fulfill the one life you have.  Manifest, to be what God’s called you to be!

Philippians 1:6 (TLB) “And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished.”

(Suggested Reading: Purpose Awakening by Touré Roberts, Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer, The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, Destiny by T.D. Jakes)

Be Phenomenal,

Charisse