The "Magic" Of Destiny: How Does
It Exist and Who Is The Author?

By T. Phillips

It was meant for me to be here.  You were meant to be here with me.  Together, we were meant to meet at this very moment, in this very place, through simple words typed on a screen.  Some might even say it was destiny that we should meet.

Destiny, which is defined as an inevitable course of events, is something many people find easy to believe.  The romance of it all, the unexplainable power, is like a fairytale that has come to life to describe the indescribable.  When a person declares a situation or circumstance was meant to be, or was meant to happen, murmurs of acceptance are exchanged, with maybe a nod or two of approval, with the unspoken understanding that an unseen magical force is obviously at work again.

It isn't often when one would question who this "unseen magical force" truly is, or how destiny itself can even exist.

Destiny's True Author

Many have labeled the author of destiny as fate.  The American Heritage Dictionary (based on the second college edition) gives the definition of fate as being "the supposed power or force that predetermines events."  The Bible gives a similar description of One who has predetermined events; however, it also rightly disputes any unknown power, other than God, from receiving this credit.

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure....yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it." (Isaiah 46:9-11)

Fate, being the undeserving fictitious power of this praise, proves to be nothing more than its definition provides – the supposed power or force that predetermines events, while God is Divinely declared as the actual power behind all things from the beginning to the end.

This is not to say that God is also the author of sin – for God cannot sin – but it is to say that He and He alone is the true author of destiny and that all power, in heaven and on earth, is His to do as He should please.

"And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and [God] doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" (Daniel 4:35)

How Destiny Can Exist

In order for any type of destiny to exist, regardless of what the situation may be, there must first be a plan.  This plan is what would be termed as the predestined arrangement for any individual or group.

Predestination has become a "bad word" among some religious organizations, but consider this: If you believe in destiny, you also believe in pre-destiny.  There is no way around it.  If there is a destiny, an event that is meant to take place, then there must also be a predetermined plan to decree when, where, how, and why the event is to happen.  It is only logical.

For example, if you were to stub your toe, you can figure it was either meant for you to hop around on one foot for a full minute, or it was meant for you to take a deep breath and count to 10.  Either way, it was meant for you to hit that particular toe at that particular moment in time.  This is the "when."  The "where" was the place it happened, and the "how" was the piece of furniture that jumped into your path.  The "why" can be varied, but, basically, if you can learn from the experience, be it patience or tolerance, you can say the lesson you learned was the reason for the event to take place.  As insignificant as it may seem, in this one instance, stubbing your toe was a predetermined destiny of your life.

Another destiny for certain individuals born into this world is salvation, and how this destiny can exist is the same as with any other event – by predestination.  Without the Author of Destiny and His predetermined plan leading to the saving of souls, there could be no hope of salvation.

"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." (Ephesians 1:4-5)

Being chosen by God before the foundation of the world, we understand that our personal salvation was prearranged long before we were ever born.  Because of this, we live with the knowledge and the security that when Christ went to Calvary, He bled and died for a reason – one that included all of the whens, wheres, hows, and whys.  It was His personally chosen destiny to give His life for us, and it became our destiny, an inevitable event forbidding any choice on our parts, that, on the day appointed, we would be saved unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to God.

More On Predestination

Even though many people find the idea of destiny to be one that is easy to believe, there are some who feel the doctrine of predestination is taking things too far.  If predestination is true, after all, then we would have to change our entire system of beliefs.  Before we know it, we would also have to believe in the teaching of election, the sovereignty of God, and so on.  It's less offensive, and certainly more "politically correct," to simply continue believing that salvation is a work of man ("For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God..." Ephesians 2:8), that we found God ("For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10), and that it was our choice to be saved.

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," Christ said in John 15:16.  No other words are needed to be contributed to this, but, to clarify thoughts of who found whom in salvation, it is a well known fact that Jesus Christ is often referred to as The Good Shepherd.  A shepherd is the owner and caretaker of the sheep.  He loves and protects them, he sees that they are nourished and fed, and, should one of his flock be lost, he will search the wilderness over until he finds that one sheep.

"How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?" (Matthew 18:12)

If a person is lost, he or she obviously needs to be found.  Thankfully for us, there is One who loves us enough to do just that.  "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.  As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." (Ezekiel 34:11-12, which speaks of Israel, but can also be applied here.)

There is comfort in the knowledge that we are cared for, in the realization that we are loved and known by the Lord Himself.  "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine." (John 10:14)  However, it is more than only a basic knowledge – it is a foreknowledge.

In Romans 8:29-30, the Scriptures confirm, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."

This is predestination.  This is election.  This is what some people call the "magic" of destiny – a prearranged, predetermined destiny – by God, for you and for me.  It was meant for me to be here.  It was meant for you to be here with me.  Together, we were meant to share these few moments in wonder of The Lord.

Some might even say it was destiny.

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