Destiny

I once watched an interview with Dame Judy Dench.  She talked about what led her to become involved in acting.  One of the things she mentioned was being involved in drama from a very early age.  I am sure I have mentioned before that my first appearance on stage was as a pygmy in a local pantomime “Robinson Crusoe”.  As I listened to her answers to questions it was fascinating to discover that our lives ran pretty much parallel in childhood and teenage years.  I’d always been involved in drama right through university. She went on to a great acting career and I went on to a teaching career.  Come to think about it there are times when acting comes in handy in the classroom.

Acting was never my destiny. It would appear if you talked to my mother that teaching was the one and only thing I wanted to do.  I don’t remember this business of lining up my dolls and teaching them what I had learned in school that day.  It feels too much like a cliché.

Last night’s Women Aglow meeting with Alyson Sim from Fire Ministries International was really inspiring.  She was talking about finding the treasure in each other and pulling the destiny out.

She began by talking about Barnabas in the book of Acts. I had never thought that without Barnabas there might not have been a Paul.  It was Barnabas that stepped in to open doors that others insisted should remain closed.  The disciples were suspicious of Paul, with good reason, but Barnabas chose to see what Paul could become rather than what he had been. He took Paul at his word choosing to believe that God had spoken on the Damascus road and turned his life around.

When interesting things were happening in Antioch, Barnabas fetched Paul and the two of them joined in the fun witnessing an outpouring of the Spirit there.  Barnabas was a link man – linking Paul to his destiny.  Later on he did the same thing with John Mark – choosing to leave Paul to travel with Silas and Timothy, while he and John Mark ventured elsewhere. 

When we are in the place where God planned for us to be there are blessings to be had.  That doesn’t mean to say that we are in the wrong place if there are trials to be lived through.  There is a whole long list in 2 Corinthians 11 when life was not a bed of roses.

What God wants us to do He prepares us to do.  He makes the necessary changes to fit us into the place He has planned for us.  Square shapes in round holes and vice versa are not part of God’s plan for anyone.

God links us up to the people who speak into our lives, who see the treasure there that we are sometimes blind to and are able to draw it to the surface.  And it’s never too late to look for the treasure and find the path of destiny.  Some people never get to be the people they were meant to be.

I had a dream one night, many years ago, about a homeless man who was meant to be a great opera singer.  Childhood had messed him up and thrown him into a path of drugs and crime.  Then one day there was a microphone set up in a city centre street.  There wasn’t a stage, or lights like the Britain’s Got Talent show.  It was just a single microphone and people were encouraged to take a turn – tell a joke, read a poem, dance or even play the spoons.  My man sang a song.  He had a wonderful voice, rich and vibrant.  People just stopped to listen.  In the dream Marie Osmond, who just happened to be shopping at the time, joined him and sang a beautiful harmony.  Afterwards my homeless man went away.  He didn’t give a name, or a contact number – he just sang and walked away. He was eventually tracked down and offered a music deal and a slot on a TV show.  I don’t know whether he took it up or not.  Yes, it was a very cohesive dream.  It had a feel good factor to it.  

I am not sure that at the time I read anything into it. I wasn’t conscious that I was about to be presented with a super-duper opportunity and God was saying not to let where I had been stop me from being where I should be.

But today I am thinking about what Alyson said about the treasure in my life and being pulled onto a path of destiny.  I am also challenged by her insistence that it’s never too late.  I have had treasure pulled out of me by my church.  Their generous funding to publish a poetry book drew out treasure inside.  I have embraced the poet in me and found myself on an amazing path.

But there’s more treasure to be unearthed and more of the path to tread.

Life continues to be an adventure.