Who Am I and How Do I Find Out?

‘Do what you want to do, be what you want to be – YEAH!’  You could say that these song lyrics are the anthem for our generation.  We sometimes use phrases like ‘express yourself,’ ‘find your own way’ ‘become self-actualised’ be ‘self-made.’  In contrast to this there is the idea of destiny.  The word ‘destiny’ may remind us of the popular movie, ‘Star Wars’, where a main character says those famous words ‘it is your DESTINY.’  Destiny is not a new concept. Indeed ancient Greek mythology says that destiny is unavoidable.  So how do we find out who we are?  Can we choose our own path, or make ourselves into whatever we want to be? Or is our destiny set and unavoidable?

The Bible shows us a different way altogether from ‘destiny’ or ‘self-expression’.  God speaks about our ‘pre-destination’ (Eph 1:5).  Predestination is God’s plan for us, but unlike destiny, we can choose whether or not to participate in our predestination.  God wants us to be His sons and daughters, but He clearly does not force us to be so.  We can refuse His predestination for us – God gives us the dignity of our choice if we seek to become ‘self-made.’  When we choose our own way above God’s way, we choose to be forgotten by God.  If, however, we choose to become a son of God (Gal 3:26) then we must search out this way.  We could say we need to ‘fill out’ or ‘complete’ our predestination.

Contrary to what many believe, giving our heart to Jesus, or becoming a Christian is not the beginning and end of the story.  We don’t simply become a Christian and then try to stay as such until we die or until Christ returns.  Our whole life is a journey to fulfil our predestination.  Read further to find out more about walking in the predestination that God has for your life.

Further reading:
The following articles are able to be downloaded from the internet free of charge from www.visionone.org.au

Whose Life are We Living
(by Tim Maurice in the ‘Take 10 Minutes’ Series)
We need to start at the beginning of the Christian walk, for it is here that we sow the seeds of what we are to become. It needs to be said from the start that none of us begins life with any material advantage over anyone else. From God’s perspective, until we are known by Him, we are forgotten, dwelling in death in the ‘land of forgetfulness’. Ps 88:12. In fact, the Bible calls us enemies of God.

Searching out a Man
(by David Falk in the ‘Fruit of the Vine’ series)
One of my favourite passages from Scripture is, ‘For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose hearts are completely His’. 2 Chron 16:9. I remember how powerfully it impacted upon me as I began to realise that God was for me. If you have a victim mentality or if you feel that life is somehow against you, then you need to rethink. This is not what the gospel teaches, and it is not the Christian life. God is proactively for you. However, we note in this verse that God is searching. He is not supporting just anyone. He is seeking to support those whose hearts are fully His.

Understanding in Writing
(by David Baker in the ‘Fruit of the Vine’ series)
If you desire to be a genuine and fervent seeker of the Lord, you will need to pray in the secret place. And more than this, you will need to maintain a devotional journal. Many Christians, who have been doing this over many years, could testify of this truth. A devotional journal is an essential tool in helping us understand the will of God. I’ve been inspired for some time on a little passage about King David. He said, concerning the tabernacle and his own life, ‘All this … the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me’. 1 Chron 28:19.