“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I set you apart.” Jeremiah 1:5 NIV
Have you ever felt deep inside your belly that you were not living up to your full potential or that God has a more fantastic plan for your life than you are currently experiencing? That was my situation before my move to the Central New Jersey shore area in 2015. God changed my life overnight, or that is how it felt. Before the move, I was self-employed. I loved the freedom that came with running my own business and having the ability to set my schedule. I knew that my clients valued me, yet something was missing. Deep in my soul, I knew I wasn’t yet doing what I was born to do.
My life had a higher calling. After three years of being self-employed, I began to pray to God. Do you want to get God’s attention? Quote His words back to Him. I became good at saying, “My darling Ishi, before I was born, you had a plan for my life (Jeremiah 29:11); please share some of these plans with me. What do you want me to do? What are my next steps as far as a career is concerned?”God answered me, and in 2015, my favorite consulting client presented me with a full-time employment offer with his company. The total compensation package was a God-sized offer that I could not refuse. So, in my early 50s, when most people started thinking about retirement, I decided to reinvent myself and move to the New Jersey Shore.
Your Birth Was Significant
In Jeremiah 1:5, we learn that God appointed Jeremiah as a prophet before his birth. Did you get that? God had a plan for Jerimiah’s life before his conception!! It’s no different with you! Before birth, God gave you a unique mixture of spiritual gifts, passions, abilities, personalities, and experiences. No one is exactly like you in the entire universe because, in part, there is no one with your distinct blend of talents. Before you were born, God hard-wired you with particular ambitions, traits, skills, and desires to play a role in history in expanding His Kingdom. It is an assignment that only you can play. It is your destiny; not your mother’s, not your father’s, not your husband’s or wife’s or even pastor’s destiny; it is yours!
Faith Requires Action
However, here is the painful part: You can miss God’s calling for your life. People do it all the time. You can go through your entire life and miss God’s purpose for your life — because getting to your destiny will require hard work and cause you to step into the field of the unknown. Often, you will be required to take a leap of faith and take action without being able to predict or plan the outcome. But remember, in Psalm 23, God promises that He will guide you just as the shepherd guides his sheep. You make the first move, Believe, and hold Him to His promises! He is a keeper of His word. He will do it for you just as He has done it for me repeatedly!
My Prayer for You
Dearest Father,I thank you for designing an excellent plan for the person reading this journal entry. Speak to them, Lord, and show them the direction they are to move. Guide them, Lord, just as you promised that you would. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.