Destiny by T D Jakes PDF
Destiny by T D Jakes PDF
Destiny by T D Jakes PDF
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Instinct Plus Purpose
Equals Destiny
Step beyond Instinct
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DESTINY
years with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., including
many moments of peril. As she recalled h eart-wrenching expe‑
riences, she spoke with the compassion of a mother—somehow,
everyone’s mother—and not just the mother of her four enig‑
matic, intriguing progeny.
One of the many topics we discussed that day was a piercing
question I posed, a subject considered taboo by many. I asked
her why she never remarried. Before responding, she looked
at me as if my question was actually rather foolish. Mrs. King
smiled and almost giggled when she responded, “Martin was a
tough act to follow.” Indeed he must have been. Few men have
ever affected the culture, the country, and the world as Dr. King
did. But what she said next took my breath away. “I was called
to be his wife,” she said. “It was my destiny to stand beside him.”
This woman, whose legendary singing voice merited a career
of its own, whose speaking skills and intellect qualified her
for many roles, clearly perceived her destiny. Mrs. King could
have been anything she wanted—from university president to
entrepreneur—yet she chose to support the civil rights move‑
ment, underscoring the mission and keeping alive the dream of
her martyred husband! She shared so many experiences about
her life, little did I realize she actually was reflecting on them
from the posture of her imminent demise. Only in retrospect
did I consider her small plate of slowly consumed fruits, and
her contentment watching me enjoy the ample offering of culi‑
nary delights prepared for me.
Her contented smile betrayed the gravity of her condition,
which I knew to be a battle with cancer, and one she would
shortly lose. Or did she really lose at all? Her smile taught
me the value of contentment with a life well lived, a life that
had run its course. Coretta Scott King lived comforted by her
belief that despite the turbulence of her journey, she had lived
on course with a destiny far more important than the waves of
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Instinct Plus Purpose Equals Destiny
grief and tumult she experienced in the life and in the murder
of her husband. She was at peace!
If only you and I could replicate her resolve in our own lives.
Could it be that we allow the conditions in our lives to distract
us from the meaning of our lives? Is it possible that we don’t
spend enough time checking the dials and reading the compass
of Destiny and its intrinsic pull on the human soul?
If we are wise we will see the predestined purpose we were
created for and, in our brief life span, find it and do it. It is my
hope that each of us will be free from the purposeless living
that causes so many to stumble aimlessly through life.
Like Mrs. King, we all were created to fulfill some role only
through which we can find the great elixir of contentment and
courage. Whatever the assignment, death loses its license to
threaten those who are certain we have lived before we face its
clutching grasp.
As the elevator descended the thirty-nine stories to the lobby,
I reflected on the fact that I, too, have lived a life to which I felt
drawn. I have been pulled by a call that has drawn me from
the mundane acquisition of life’s mementos to the far more
rewarding task of doing something with my life that only I
could uniquely accomplish.
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how, but Destiny reveals why you are wired. I felt particularly
compelled to write this book because the “why” is always more
powerful than the “how” of life. I’m excited about this book as
an opportunity to move beyond the how and explore the why.
Both connect to direct you to Destiny.
It’s a powerful life transition to unleash what lies inside you,
but that unleashing only becomes viable when it can be vali‑
dated by the why. We know how babies are made and, as mys‑
tical as the science of procreation can be, we can absorb that
miraculous information much easier than the why of life. Why
are we born? Why were you born?
One of humanity’s central life questions relates to the why
of life. All of us have grappled with the question of a personal
purpose that confirms our destiny: Why am I here? For some
people, the question is little more than a short-lived intel‑
lectual pursuit. For others, it is a lifelong quest. Yet the mere
fact that the question has been posed through ceaseless gen‑
erations affirms that there is an internal quest that pricks the
human heart. That quest is fueled by humanity’s need to know
that our efforts and actions are congruent with our passion and
purpose.
As we follow the instinctive path of our passion molded into
action, we connect to Destiny. As we explore the path to Des‑
tiny, we gain a barometer by which we may measure authentic
purpose, otherwise known as success. One can’t define success
in dollars or cents. It can only be quantified by the accomplish‑
ment of a predestined purpose! This need to answer the why of
life cannot be satiated solely by fame or wealth or notoriety, or
even education, as none of these acquisitions guarantees that
action has aligned with purpose in our lives.
Destiny is the push of our instincts to the pull of our pur‑
pose. That push-pull is what keeps the sun, moon, and stars
from crashing. It causes the seasons to change from planting
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DESTINY
rare performances and heard her trying to sing like the Queen
of Soul? You’d know something was wrong. The performance
would not ring authentic.
Entertainers, scholars, preachers, and athletes alike all have
admitted to being influenced by the skill and style of someone
who came before them. Michael Jackson and Prince were clearly
influenced by the performances of the Godfather of Soul, James
Brown. Many preachers a generation ago were influenced by
the oratorical styles of Martin Luther King Jr. and Billy Gra‑
ham. Exposure to others who are good at what they do can be
highly motivating and instructional; it helps us understand the
manifestation of our own gifts. Observing others can help us
set the bar of excellence high for ourselves. But there must be a
point where one respects, admires, and learns from others, and
then turns inward to connect to his or her authentic expression
of talent. Robert Frost and Maya Angelou were great poets, but
each had a distinctive style. Your instinct will draw you to the
unique expression of your gifts.
You can prosper effectively only by drawing on what is
authentically in you. The drawing process starts from your
core. You can only be fruitful out of your understanding of and
connection to what is in your core. In the movie Ray, as singer
Ray Charles tries to establish a recording sound, he mimics
the styles of his contemporaries until he hits upon a style that
is uniquely his own. In real life, Charles was criticized for his
innovations in music, but he carved out a new blend in music
and found his authentic sound.
It can be frightening to own your authentic self. What if
other people don’t approve of the authentic you? What if they
criticize or make fun of who you really are? That’s a painful
prospect to consider, especially when disapproval or criticism
comes from the people who mean the most to you. Are you
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rooted inside. No matter how gifted you are, you need a place of
expression. That place is Destiny.
Your instinctive gifts are the metal inside you. Your destiny
is the magnet that draws you to its predestined arena. People
who have instinct with no apparent destiny are waiting to be
lifted by something higher than what led them to tune in to
instinct. We must be drawn by something deeper. Destiny pulls
us beyond the familiar toward our future.
Even if you’re not a Bible reader, you’re probably familiar
with the biblical story of Moses at the burning bush. This great
leader of Israel was drawn to a bush burning in the wilderness
because he noticed the leaves did not burn off. Destiny is the
fire that attracts us to come toward her. She ignites our curi‑
osity. Moses’ entire world had been turned upside down. He
was a fugitive who fell from sultan to shepherd. His traumatic
ouster from Egypt helped connect Moses to his instincts. When
he was no longer a pampered prince, he got in touch with the
gifts and abilities that God had given him to survive a wilder‑
ness existence and prosper in a life of hard work caring for a
flock of animals—exposure that would be essential to Israel’s
survival when God used him to deliver Israel from slavery in
Egypt.
There at the burning bush was the cross point at which
Moses’ former life met his future life. It was the place where the
instinct that pulled him to the burning bush connected with
the destiny that would push him back to Egypt and beyond and
connect to his destiny. Like Moses at the burning bush, we may
not comprehend why we are thrust beyond our familiar sur‑
roundings, but we can trust that we are being drawn by Des‑
tiny. Instinct and purpose often operate like a marriage. It’s not
always a fifty-fifty proposition. Sometimes you may function
more from a sense of instinct, while at other times the quest
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If you think of the human mind as the steering wheel that deter‑
mines the direction of one’s destiny, then we are transform‑
ing our lives by the way we turn our minds. You limit yourself
when you operate only on an intellectual or psychological level
and refuse to pay attention to the spiritual inclinations residing
in you.
You can turn your mind to education, but somewhere along
the line, even a PhD will leave you lacking. You can turn your
mind to logic or reason or common sense or even coincidence
in search of life’s answers, but all of these will leave you lacking.
Tune in to the fact that the instinct pushing out from you and
the purpose pulling at you are a part of God’s larger plan for
you to fulfill your destiny.
Your mind may guide you in what you do, but your heart
affirms your passion to do it, and that leads you to resolve
the why of your life. Within your passion lies the clue to your
deeper purpose—and ultimately, your destiny. As you stand
back from yourself to see the push of instincts welded with the
pull of purpose that leads you to Destiny, you will know the
events and circumstances in your life equate to more than coin‑
cidences or mere facts. The coming together of all these events
and connections, some seemingly random, are the result of
divine orchestration to empower you to accomplish what God
has placed you here to do.
Destiny is so much bigger than you. Trust that the results are
not in your hands. An encounter with Destiny generally comes
only after intentional exposure and heeding the pull of purpose.
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book titled I Had No Father but God. What I said during that
clip inspired him to share aspects of his story that he had wres‑
tled with taking public.
As I stepped into my car to leave Mrs. King’s building,
I thought that if the late Paul Crouch had walked away from
the TV to get a ham sandwich, he never would have seen that
brief video clip that moved him to invite me to appear on TBN,
and later inspired him to offer me a network time slot. With‑
out owning a camera and with only one person on staff, I was
about to broadcast on the world’s largest Christian television
network and be drawn more deeply into my destiny. All of this
was thrust upon me without me ever inquiring about a tele‑
vision show or passing a business card to anyone. You have a
purpose and a destiny.
Maybe your destiny is being birthed through a failed busi‑
ness or bankruptcy. Perhaps the downsizing of a company
was really meant to shake you free to a life of purpose. It is not
always the best or joyous moments that direct us to Destiny.
Sometimes deep pain and torturous emotions later help to
maneuver, mold, and position you into your life’s purpose.
The overarching pull of Destiny helps you accept events and
circumstances that, examined in isolation, may look like fail‑
ure. Upon deeper reflection, however, those seeming tragedies
are the catalysts that shift you into your place of destiny. The
Bible rightly says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God
causes everything to work together for the good of those who
love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” The
things that are working together may not feel good. They may
not even seem fair. But if you allow them to, they can usher you
into arenas and opportunities that shift your life into a pattern
of focus and purpose that work together for your good and the
good of humanity. Perhaps we all can lessen Destiny’s learning
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curve and say, like Mrs. King so eloquently stated, “I was called
to play this role in life!”
Find the destiny your Creator has designed for you. Have the
courage to live with a consummate decision to say yes to what
Destiny invites you to. Instincts are the internal guidance sys‑
tem that will empower you, and Destiny is the course that you
will run, ignoring distractions that could divert you. Destiny
gently pulls us through wandering mediocrity.
It is the destiny of this preacher from the hills of West Vir‑
ginia to help you discover your destiny. Reflect on your own
life. If you have ever sensed the pull of Destiny aligning you
with people, places, and things, I will help you find your way.
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