I was discussing with one of my protégés recently. She’s being mentored on purpose and destiny. In excitement, she testified how much of encounters and discoveries she’s made in God. But she also added a line that I needed to correct her on. She said; “Sir, I have told God, I don’t want to be a pastor.” I wondered why she’d tell God such a thing. But I realised that this is the mindset of a lot of people. They want to dictate for God.
Friend, don’t dictate for God. Why would you ask God to lead you when you have already listed out your conditions of obedience? You have told God what you want and what you don’t want without waiting to hear what He would say (Habakkuk 2:1). Listen, divine leading is not about what we want but about what God wants (Matthew 6:10, 26:39).
A lot of times, what we want and what God wants are miles apart. If you come to God telling Him how He should lead you, it is not divine leading you are looking for; it is a divine stamp (Matthew 19:16-22). A lot of people just want God to put His stamp on their opinion. They come to God with their sentiments and presumptions. Little wonder many people are not able to hear God easily and accurately (Ezekiel 14:1-5).
God will first break you before He leads you (Acts 9:1-6). He would first break your pride. He would break your tradition and wrong mindset before He would show you His will. This is why people who encounter God are first disappointed before they can have an appointment with destiny. God does not continue with you from your past. He separates you from your past and opens you up to a new direction for your destiny (Isaiah 43:18-19).
Divine leading is for those who are surrendered to God’s will alone (Matthew 26:39). It is for those who have allowed God the freedom to lead them however He wills. Like the clay in the hands of the Potter, they have given God the permission to mould them the way He deems fit (Jeremiah 18:1-6). They have accepted Him as the master porter who knows what is best for them.
Sometimes, it is the things you do not want that God will ask you to do (Jonah 1:1-4). Some ladies have ended up as pastors’ wives even after they have vowed that they will never marry a pastor. Some are in the location that they once resented. Be careful what you say no to God about. It may be what you would eventually do (Acts 10:14-15). Sometimes, our no is a reflection of an internal struggle between what the Spirit of God is saying and what our flesh wants (Galatians 5:17). Don’t dictate for God.
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria