The secret to fulfilling your destiny

If you put an orange tree in a pot, bring it up to New York and keep it in a sunny, warm place year round, it will produce fruit—but not much. It may grow one or two oranges and that’s about it. Why? The tree prefers a tropical climate like Florida. Though it will bear fruit in Syracuse, it will be nowhere near the fruitfulness it would have borne in Sarasota.

Any good farmer knows that even good seed requires good soil to live up to its full potential. Good seed alone is not enough. In the same way, spiritual endowment is not enough if the environment we are planted in doesn’t allow us to grow and express those gifts. Eventhough you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, if your environment doesn’t encourage spiritual growth and your gifts aren’t welcomed and celebrated, you will yield less fruit.

Poor soil=scrawny fruit

I know many gifted Christian people who bear scrawny fruit compared to their great gifts because they have planted themselves in poor soil.

They missed their destinies all because they were rooted in the wrong church, married to the wrong person or stuck in a nothing job. Good seed, bad soil. Meanwhile, Psalm 92:13 tells us that “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.”

In other words, finding an environment where you can fully mature as a Christian is imperative to your success. Gifts and talents are not enough.

Change location

I know mighty men and women of God in full time ministry who are making little impact compared to the size of their giftedness. They are simply planted in the wrong place. Transplanting themselves to a better spiritual environment would make all of the difference in the world!

Many of us get stuck in religious structures and habit patterns that hinder the fruitfulness for which God created us. Changing location can mean the difference between producing one orange a year and bushels full every few months.

In the right spiritual atmosphere, you could reach your full God-given potential. Failing to recognize your spiritual environment could cost you your destiny which is to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis.1:26).

See God’s expected end

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to determine if you are planted in the right soil, or if you need to change your environment:

1. Am I being challenged to call upon God Who lives within me?

2. Are my gifts needed and do I have the freedom to express them?

3. Do I discern the presence of God around me?

4. Am I open to change the soil I’m planted in to see God’s expected end fulfilled in my life?

5. Are there people around me who celebrate my giftedness and encourage me to grow? And, finally…

6. Is my thirst for more of God increasing in my current environment and am I encouraged to go deeper? 

These questions will help you to decide whether you stay where you are or move on to where He is. God’s desire for us is to produce bushels full of fruit and glorify His name. Check your soil now and don’t miss your destiny!

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