Destiny Too Soon

Part 5 in the Series:

The Bezalel Blueprint

By Don Enevoldsen

We have examined two reasons why people don’t achieve their Destiny: 1) Trusting Fate to get them there rather than taking some initiative, and 2) stopping short of God’s purpose by self-centered obsession with their own purpose. There is also a third reason:

Many do reach their Destiny and it destroys them.

King Saul is a good example. He was chosen for a great Destiny—to be king over God’s chosen people, a position of great honor and responsibility. However, the kingdom was torn away from him because of his disobedience (1 Samuel 15:28).

But have we stopped to think about what that implies? If it was torn away, that means it was in his hands. Saul had the opportunity to be as loved and revered as his successor, David, became. But something went wrong. He was plagued with fear and paranoia. The more powerful he became, the more powerful his flaws became, until they finally proved his undoing.

Saul’s pattern of life is remarkably typical, for reasons directly connected with the concept of holiness, as we have seen it described in Leviticus.

It basically works this way. Holy, clean and unclean interact with each other, giving predictable, consistent results. There are three possible combinations:

1. When clean comes into contact with unclean, clean becomes unclean.

Of course, this is not what we should strive for. In the context of achieving Destiny, this means that anything not consistent with your purpose will pull you away from your purpose. Addictions will obscure purpose. Unhealthy relationships will distract from purpose. Bad attitudes will sabotage purpose. Any number of other problems and dysfunctions will contaminate purpose in a multitude of ways.

2. When clean comes into contact with holy, clean becomes holy.

This is the ideal. God’s plan is for each of us to move from unclean—through the redemptive process of salvation and sanctification—to clean. Once we understand our purpose and begin living in it, we then should touch God’s divine purpose and move to a whole new level.

3. When unclean touches holy, it is destroyed. Quite simply, sin can’t exist in God’s presence.

Within these characteristics lies the third reason so many are frustrated in their Destiny. They have character flaws (uncleanness, things that keep them from being purely what God created them to be). They either ignore these flaws, or they justify them and defend them. They are unclean. Instead of cleansing the impurities and becoming clean, then pursuing God’s purpose, they aim directly for Destiny. And the flaw they ignored becomes their undoing. Consider a few examples.

• An actor strives for fame and fortune, works hard, and achieves success. He moves from the self-fulfillment of being an actor (clean) to a position of national or international prominence and influence (holy). He is conscious of the potential of his position and realizes that he can impact the world around him far beyond just the fulfillment of being an actor.

But he never took the time to deal with his addictive personality. It had minimal effect on his life when he was a struggling artist. Now that he has achieved his Destiny, what is he likely to spend his fame and fortune on? His addiction. His success gives him sufficient resources to destroy himself. His holiness is undone by his uncleanness. This is a Hollywood story that repeats itself often.

• A pastor throws himself into his calling, teaching, praying, counseling and changing people’s lives. But he never dealt with the lust that lurks somewhere inside him. He achieves his Destiny and finds himself speaking every week to many thousands of people.

What is the result of his success? Numerous women (and men) now see him as desirable and throw themselves at him, hoping to take advantage of his unresolved character flaw. He fights it for a long time, struggles secretly with it, believing that he dare not expose his weakness in fear of people’s reactions. The more popular and successful he becomes, the greater the temptations, and eventually he succumbs. He cheats on his wife, perhaps is blackmailed, and ultimately the secret is exposed. His success gave him the visibility and the access necessary to destroy himself. His uncleanness ruined the potential for his holiness, hurting many people besides himself through the loss of confidence in him and the sense of betrayal felt by so many.

• An entrepreneur strives to succeed in business. He possesses the God-given ability to excel. He works hard and he achieves his Destiny, a thriving and profitable business. He finds himself in a position to support and engage in all kinds of activities of benefit to his church and his community.

But he never took the time to acknowledge and deal with his abusive and controlling personality. He has a driving desire for power and control. How does he respond to success? He uses money as a means to control people. He is generous with his money, as long as it obligates people to him. He begins to believe he is entitled to power and control. He is above the rules that govern the rest of society. He breaks laws, takes advantage of employees, coerces and threatens any who oppose him. His success enables him to create powerful and implacable enemies, paranoia, and constant fear that he will lose everything. His uncleanness nullifies the benefits of his holiness, and ultimately undermines his success.

Examples could be multiplied indefinitely, but I hope you get the idea. Being chosen commits you to a process. You must take the initiative to pursue it. You must avoid stopping in the fulfillment of only your purpose and channel your Destiny outward to the benefit of those around you. And you must work toward cleansing yourself of the things that can ultimately destroy you.

With this background, some of the terms used in Leviticus should make a little more sense and be easier to apply to everyday life.

The real substance of unclean is confusion. Your Destiny is contaminated with distractions and obstacles, confused and difficult to attain.

The root meaning of clean is purity. It refers to becoming normal, that is, what you were created to be.

The root meaning of sanctify is setting apart. Sanctification is the process of connecting clean with holy.

The root meaning of holy is wholeness or completion. Achieving Destiny means becoming complete, without confusion, without dysfunction, committed to your purpose without distraction, and willing to let God turn you into something greater than yourself, for the benefit of humanity.

Bezalel was chosen. So are you. That means that you now have some work to do so that you are ready to step into your Destiny when the opportunity comes.

Go to the beginning of the series, The Bezalel Blueprint:  Part 1, The Artist Bezalel

Do you have an additional thought on this subject? Please join the discussion and share your insights.

Destiny Too Soon

6 thoughts on “Destiny Too Soon

  • August 2, 2013 at 11:55 am
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    Well done again, Don, It reminds me of the work of changing our character defects which many mistake to be their personality. When I sobered up years ago I went to AA and they concentrated on recognising and asking God to remove such chacter defects as they know that many defects eventually prompt one to drink because of the suffering they ultimately bring. They have what is called a 4th step inventory and I still have a copy of the long list of good and bad defects., that they elore and work on. Until then I had never seen it put so simply. I knew I had some issues but was never aware of the many things that drove me. Of course these concepts came from the Bible. I see such programs as an introduction to spirituality. It is in such programs that many find a belief in their Creator.They learn until they get rid of such glaring defects they can not stay sober or find any serenity. With that in mind , it reminds me of a previous comment to you that the musical talent I have would had more than likely been my demise as one puts the cart before the horse, so to speak. There are few with a bigger ego than a practicing alcoholic who knows he can capture an audience and experiences the accolades.So , great lessons in humility as a prerequisit to our destiny and purpose. Oh the suffering and pain the poor soul goes through who has not been taught such lessons and once taught ignors them as we see so often in celebrities who are in and out of recovery centers. It is no easy task for some to find that humility that leads them to work on their issues especially if they reject Gods help.

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    • August 2, 2013 at 2:04 pm
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      Thanks, Earl. That demonstrates how much this basic principle regarding holiness and cleanness and how it works is applicable to any area of life, not just art. We all have things that need work, and we ignore those things at our peril.

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  • October 19, 2018 at 5:18 pm
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    I certainly agree that being holy, following God’s pattern and seeking to, endeavoring to holiness, but I really think that the crux of the issue is more that Protestant Churches do not teach or model being with God. The emphasis is always doing for God, and part of that is the nearly constant admonition that “You gotta study your Bible. You gotta study your Bible. You gotta study your Bible.”. This is all ‘discipline’, while the opposite aspect, the ‘romance’ of the relationship is mostly ignored.

    The art of being with God is hardly taught, and for the Artist, it is certainly the being with God that is the most important and attractive side of the balance between being and doing.

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  • July 25, 2020 at 5:44 pm
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    Wonderful concepts, Don!

    I was a musician from age 14–30. Got saved at 29. Made very good money from 25-60 after I slowed playing around the same time and eventually judged myself incapable of making it as a musician and quit in discouragement. My dream was finally killed off when I assumed God didn’t want my drumming skill in His Church because I associated my music with former drug use and the accompanying shame of that. I didn’t look back, just forgot. Gave a lot of my expensive stuff away in defeat and…’Christian giving’??!

    Until age 58 after an unusual chain of events.

    After that prophetic conference I picked up a pair of sticks and have been practicing somewhat, enough to get my left hand somewhat stronger. It’s not enough but it’s better than I had ever imagined would occur. At age 63 I own three drum sets. I play in church sometimes, but before I began reading your article by ‘happenstance’ today I thought maybe I was just chasing an old dream. But it’s still there, amazingly. Hmmmm.

    Holy Spirit has taken me through dozens of character lessons until finally the big one during the last few days, breaking my pride (which I kinda thought was present but wasn’t sure). It probably still is, just in smaller pieces now. Anyway this seems to have been the big one, somehow. God is on the move. All your stuff on ‘calling, destiny, clean, holy’ is VERY relevant and precious to me right now, and is front and center for me, while I try to sort this out. Even more so in the last few hours. I even bought another drum because of you…

    So thank you for your sight and I celebrate your writing skill. You’re a great writer!

    I’ve been here before, bookmarked your site, and forgotten about you for a while. But today was my day to back up a track and get an axle-crunching load.

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    • July 26, 2020 at 12:05 pm
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      Glenn, I am tearing up a little as I read your comment. These are the moments that make ministry worth while. All I can say is that I’m glad you are pursuing your calling and that you shared this with me. Thank you. I am encouraged myself.

      Reply

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