Reverse Engineering Your Destiny

The seventh trumpet.

It’s the moment everything changes. It’s the reason “the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Romans 8:22). It’s the reason “we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23).

As Christians, that trumpet will be the moment that defines us for eternity. As our Lord and Savior descends through the skies and voices from heaven proclaim Him King of kings and Lord of lords, we’ll either rise up to meet Him…

…or we won’t.

Those are the possibilities. There isn’t a third option. If our minds are open to God’s truth and we’ve accepted His calling, then this is our chance. This is our day of salvation. We don’t get to scoot into the second resurrection with the rest of the world and try again in round two. “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12:48).

We’ve been given much. How we live now—right now, today and every day that follows—determines what happens to us when Christ returns.

Do you want to be there on that day? Do you want to be made fully and completely into the image of God Himself? Do you want to live forever as a child of God?

Then reverse engineer it.

Start with the finished product—the moment you want to get to—and work backwards. The seventh trumpet sounds, and you’re transformed into a spirit being.

How did you get there?

Step backward in time. What kind of life did you live? What kind of choices did you have to make along the way? What did you value, and what did you let go of? What did you have to overcome? What aspects of your character changed—and what stayed the same?

Take another step backward. How did those changes happen? What habits did you develop or break that helped lead to them? Who influenced you—and who did you have to step away from so they’d stop influencing you? What sacrifices did you have to get used to making, and what things were so important that you vowed to never let go of them?

Keep stepping backward from your future until you get to the present, then connect the dots.

God’s Word lays out the causes and effects pretty clearly. It explains how to fail and how to succeed. It’s our compass and our map, and God’s Spirit helps it all make sense. Using the tools we’ve been given, we chart our way to the finish line, plotting out a life that leads to hearing, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

Or we can ignore all that, let life push and pull us wherever it wants, and let the finish line catch us unprepared and unaware.

Because the seventh trumpet is going to sound. We will be judged based on how we live our lives in the days and years to come. What we have right now is the opportunity to course-correct, to take a closer look at the direction we’re heading and to make sure it’s the direction we want to be heading.

This isn’t just a thought exercise.

Your destiny hangs in the balance.

If you want to make sure it’s a good one, now’s the time to reverse engineer it.

Until next time,
Jeremy

Leave a Reply to George GrantCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Pin It on Pinterest