“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-12 (NLT)
“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously.
If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” Romans 12:6-8 (NLT)
When my son was 16 I took him to the doctor for a skin issue. We expected the doctor do the usual things: check his skin, ask about diet, then write a prescription and instruct us how to remedy the problem. She did all those things, but not until after doing something we did not expect. As this doctor was asking general questions about his life, information came out about his GPA and scholastic accomplishments, and she began to “prophesy” over him! She began to tell him that our country needs young men like him to go into the scientific and technical fields to get our nation back on track. She told him that he is a leader in his generation, and he needed to “go for it”! She began talking about men like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and how they have helped to shape our nation and influence the world. She encouraged him that it was “O.K.” for him to be intelligent and to be wealthy, because he was one of those people that was made to be that. As she began to look at his skin and tell him what she would prescribe she said, “benzoyl peroxide, and I’m thinking MIT for you”. Right in the middle of her doing that for which God had created her, she began speaking into the destiny of my son. I do not know if my son will go to MIT, but I do know that she was absolutely correct in her assessment of what his destiny is: to be a leader in his generation, to go for it, to be intelligent, to be successful, and to influence the future of our nation and our world. If an unbelieving doctor as she is writing a skin prescription can call forth the God-given destiny of a child, how much more should we as believers be doing the very same thing in our “places of influence”?
One of the goals of the Christian school my children attend is to train leaders in this generation, and the leadership speaks it over the students often. The principal will often say during our chapel services “the next President of the United States is in this room. The next Nobel Prize winner is in this room. The person to discover the cure for cancer is in this room”. She declares destiny over her students. She speaks to what God has for them and calls forth great things in them. My doctor did not know this when we went to see her. And as she spoke, she unknowingly confirmed what he had been hearing from his parents and his principal his whole life. I do not know if my doctor is a believer in Christ, but I do recognize Christ’s anointing, and whether or not she knew it, she stepped into it in that moment and made agreement with Heaven about the destiny of my son, and that truth resonated within his spirit.
Father, as we speak your words today, may we be the ones to equip others to embrace their destiny in You. As we embrace our “occupation” may we impart wisdom, courage, strength, and clarity into the lives of those around us, so they can operate in every gift and “occupation” you have for them. Thank you for every Divine appointment you have scheduled for us today, in Jesus’ Name.
— Kristie Shuman
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