Words To Live By "Manifest Your Destiny" | November 16 2025 (Part 3) (Jonas Opneer)

Good morning is so good to be with you, Forest you.

It's always a pleasure to be up here.

Our foundational texts this morning will be Hebrews 12

Hebrews 12:1–2

verses 1 to 2. So if you have your scriptures

or if you don't, please grab one.

Maybe pull it up on your phone. Hebrews 12 verses 1 to 2.

Hebrews 12:1–2

Now if you don't know, we're in our series Words to live By,

which is where we take popular sayings from the culture and we

examine them through a biblical and Christian lens.

Today's phrase are popular saying is manifest your destiny,

Manifest your destiny. I recently heard a story where a

wife was talking to someone and she used it like this.

My husband is just so much better at manifesting things

than I am. Now you might hear this phrase.

You might be familiar with it. It's very popular in certain

circles in the 21st century. Some of you have never heard

this before. Some of you will hear me say

manifest your destiny and say Manifest destiny is that the

westward expansion of America. We are not talking about that

this morning. Rather, we were talking about

Manifest Your Destiny. Now, it's hard to pin down

exactly what people mean by this phrase.

People use it in all sorts of ways.

When I was researching this sermon, I came across A blog

post by an Eastern Mystic who was talking about how time is

not a reality. And so you can actually think

about the future, what you would have had.

And because time is just an illusion, you can manifest it

back in front of you. So there's that side of manifest

your destiny. And on the total opposite end of

the spectrum is something like dress for the job you want, not

the one you have or fake it till you make it so you have this

massive spectrum of this idea of manifest your manifest, your

destiny. Yeah, thank you if that's your

destiny. But at the core of it, what it's

saying is that if I focus on something enough, if I give my

attention to something enough, I will get it.

OK, so we all understand this. If I focus on something enough,

I will get it. Now, lots of people use this

phrase. I've heard it from agnostics,

people who don't necessarily believe in anything spiritual,

but not religious. This common phrase.

I've heard it from entrepreneurs and even certain Christians,

people that believe in something called the prosperity gospel or

this idea of name it and claim it.

If I think about something enough, then I can get it.

The main thrust of this sermon is to point out that sayings

like Manifest Your Destiny are actually distractions.

They're distractions from the reality of life and an attempt

to take control of uncertainty that lead us to a transactional

view of the universe rather than a relational view of God.

So sayings like Manifest Your Destiny lead us to a

transactional view of the universe rather than a

relational view of God. With that, let's turn to our

passage. Hebrews 12/1 to two.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud

of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders in the

sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance

the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the

pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

And this is the really important section that I think speaks to

manifest your destiny. For the joy set before him, he

endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right

hand of the throne of God. So we're going to be talking

about manifest your destiny this morning.

Here's the path that we're going to be following.

First, we're going to talk about the good intention.

What's good about manifest your destiny?

What's behind it that you go, OK, that's not that bad.

There's a reality to that that I can apply to my life.

What's the good intention? Then we're going to talk about

the grand deception. Where does this phrase go wrong?

Where is it no longer helpful? Where is it going to lead you

into a life that's not good? And lastly, we're going to talk

about the gospel of grace. So of all the things that this

idea of manifest your destiny is trying to do, how does Jesus

Christ and the gospel of his life, death and resurrection

speak to it better? So that's what we're going to be

talking about today, the good intention, the grand deception,

and the gospel of grace. Now just as a preface before we

begin this morning we are going to be all over the Scriptures to

see how the whole Bible speaks to this topic.

Don't worry about flipping around OK to these verses unless

you want to because they will be up on the screen.

So with that, let's talk about the good intention.

What is good about this phrase? Manifest your destiny.

I had a friend in undergrad named Ezra, and Ezra was this

really just wicked smart guy who wanted to be a lawyer.

I was studying political science, and he really believed

in this phrase. Dress for the job you want, not

the one you have. And so Ezra is walking around

everywhere. He wants to be a lawyer.

So he's walking around in a suit.

He's always got nice shoes on, nice Plaid dress pants, a button

up, a good coat over top. So here I am, you know,

strolling into the cafeteria. It's about to close.

I'm in sweatpants and a hoodie. I'm like, you know, I'm just

trying to sneak in there and get a meal.

Ezra's doing the same thing, but he's dressed to the nines.

So he walks in there and he's getting food and he looks good.

I OK, you know, Ezra, I, I see what you're doing.

Sometimes I'd be in the gym and there's Ezra in a button up

doing pull ups and I'm like, OK, as we're like, you know, this is

maybe excessive, but there's something in it that worked for

him. Ezra was incredibly hard

working. He believed in this idea that if

I do think about a goal enough, I can achieve it.

And so Ezra went on to be very successful in this classes and

he almost won student body president at the end of his

second year, which is like unheard of.

He didn't win, but he was really close.

So this idea dressed for the job you want, not the one you have.

Focus on your goals. Do things in your life to try

and promote those goals. That's not a bad thing.

In fact, the Bible talks about this.

It's good to have goals. In Proverbs 21 verse 5, it says

Proverbs 21:5

the plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste

leads to poverty. Humans have this God-given

creative capacity. Seriously, you all have it to

act out your will and make changes in the world.

And one of the way that you do this is through hard work.

Hard work. And the Bible also speaks to

this. Proverbs 134A Sluggard's

appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are

fully satisfied. There's nothing wrong with

setting high expectations for yourself, having goals, and

working hard on the other side of it.

Laziness is likewise condemned in the scriptures we see

especially in Proverbs, but also in the New Testament.

Proverbs sits 6 to 9. I like this.

I think this is very funny. Proverbs 66 to 9:00 It says go

to the Ant. You sluggard, you know, you lazy

person, look at the Ant, consider its ways and be wise.

It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its

provisions in the summer and gathers its food at harvest.

And then it goes on to say, how long will you lie there, you

sluggard? So this is kind of intense

language. Maybe you're feeling slightly

convicted. We moved to the New Testament

and Paul is right into the Thessalonians.

He says, For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule.

The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.

Such people. We command an urge in the Lord

Jesus Christ settle down and earn the food they eat.

So there's this idea, not only are we supposed to work hard,

but it's good to have plans. It's good to work hard for those

plans. Laziness is not good.

And more than this, even to make the case even stronger, we are

actually instructed in these plans and goals to ask God for

things and expect that we're going to receive it.

In Matthew 778, this famous passage from the Sermon on the

Mount, Jesus says ask and it will be given to you.

Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be open

to you. Why?

For everyone who asks receives the one who seeks fines, and to

the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

We find a very, very similar idea in Mark 1124.

Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that

you received it and it will be yours.

Manifest your destiny. There's something behind that

saying that is true. It is good to have goals.

It is a Christian virtue to work hard.

It is not good to be lazy. And even more than that, it's

good to ask God for things and believe that you will receive

from Him. So that's the good intention

behind Manifest Your Destiny. But as we will see, these

promises that we find in the scripture have a larger context

that the rest of the scriptures delivered to us.

And that leads us now into the grand deception.

What's happening with this phrase, manifest your destiny?

That is actually not true. And it's not going to lead you

to true life. It's not gonna ground you in

reality and it's certainly not going to lead you to Jesus.

To preface, if you have heard someone say manifest your

destiny, if you yourself really enjoy this phrase, I am not up

here condemning you. I'm not saying you're malicious

or that person that you know is malicious or that you know

you're trying to mislead people or anything like that.

But what I am saying is that this idea of manifest your

destiny is not going to get you where you want to go.

The truth is, is that this idea of manifesting your destiny is

an anti type to prayer. OK, anti type, that word there,

how it's being used. It's something that represents

something else, but it flips it on its head.

Manifest your destiny is an anti type to prayer.

It comes from a human urge for control.

We want control. There are so many things in our

life that we do not have control over.

Where you are born, who your parents are, what gender you

are, these sorts of things we don't have.

We are born into these things and we want control.

And this urge for control leads us to a transactional view of

the universe. If I'm manifesting my destiny,

if I do what's right, then I will get what I deserve.

If I do this, then I will get that.

It leads us to a transactional view rather than a relational

view of God, which says I trust that what he has for me is

actually best for me. So I'll say that again, Manifest

your destiny comes from a human urge for control that leads to a

transactional view to the of the universe rather than a

relational view of God. So let's break that down.

What's going on in this grand deception behind Manifest your

Destiny? There are two assumptions that

are being made in this saying. 2 assumptions being made in

Manifest your destiny. The 1st is that you will

actually get what you want. If I manifested enough, if I

focus on it enough, I am guaranteed to get what I want.

That's the first assumption. The second assumption is much

more inherent to humans. What I want is actually what's

good for me. The two assumptions that I'm

going to get what I want and that what I want is actually

good for me. So first, is there any guarantee

in life that if you manifest enough that you're going to get

something? The short answer and the

intuitive answer that we all have is no.

And this comes from the Scriptures.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 9 verse 11 says it very well.

Ecclesiastes 9:11

The the preacher in this context is saying, I have seen something

else under the sun. The race is not to the swift or

the battle to the strong. Nor does food come to the wise,

or wealth to the brilliant, or favor to the learned.

We wish these things were just true, he goes on to say.

But time and chance happen to them all, and this is just the

reality that we live in. You don't need Ecclesiastes to

tell you this. We all know this intuitively.

We don't always get what we want.

Maybe from a young age, maybe your mom.

My mom certainly told me life isn't fair.

Life isn't fair. I heard that all the time

growing up. Life isn't fair.

We just know that. So someone into manifesting

might say, Oh well, you know, you're just not manifesting hard

enough. OK, that's a fair argument.

I'm not manifesting hard. I'm not focusing enough on it.

Or even someone in the extreme Eastern Mystic side of it will

say something like your karma isn't good enough.

You don't have good enough karma.

That's why you're not getting what you want.

And I, I want to tell a story just to illustrate this

principle and just maybe how silly it is to go against your

intuition on this, that life in truth is not fair.

There was a teacher in my grade 11 year.

I was at a massive public high school.

His name was Mr. Finnegan. His, his name was Michael

Finnegan, believe it or not. So he was Mr. Finnegan and he

was this exceptionally popular teacher.

He was a he taught math. He was heavily invested in his

student success. He's 5 out of five on rate my

teacher hard, but but realistic. You know, this guy was just

awesome. I remember they'd always bring

him up for the pep rallies. He was like the student mascot,

but, you know, because they just loved him so much.

Now, Mr. Finnegan one day is my friend still.

I never had him, but my friends were telling me that, you know,

they showed up to class and he just wasn't there.

You know, they were so excited that Mister Finnegan teaching

the math because he's this awesome guy.

And they show up to class one week and it's only a few weeks

into the semester and he's not there.

And they're told that he's actually gonna be gone for a

month, and they're not told why. So everyone's confused.

This kind of spreads through the school, everyone speculating,

you know, is it this is it, this, you know, something

happened. So a month goes by and I asked

my friends, you know what happened and and they they tell

me that Mister Finnegan had been working on a a math thesis.

He was trying to prove something in math.

He was trying to prove it was a mathematical proof, and he'd

worked for the on this proof for 10 years in his free time.

Most of his free time devoted to proving this mathematical

concept. And the night before that he

took a month off. He used also vacation, whatever

it looks like, for teachers to take a month off impromptu.

He came to the realization that it's unprovable, it can't be

done. He spent 10 years of his life

looking to cement himself, even in a small way in the history of

math, and after 10 years of devoting his free time to this,

it wasn't provable. It didn't work and and he needed

to take time to process that, you know, did Mr. Finnegan not

focus enough on this math problem?

Did he have bad karma? No, the truth is, is that even

though life is often joyful, especially with Christ is

joyful, the truth is that the reality of things being out of

our control and the reality of suffering are just real.

They're real and they're intuitively real.

You feel it in yourself. You feel it every day in John 9

Jesus, Jesus disciples asked him about a blind man.

They say is this man blind because of his sin or is it

because of his parents sin and Jesus flips it on him.

He says guys false premise. It's not because of his sin or

anybody else's sin, but in some way that God's glory is going to

be revealed in his life. So this idea that we have, that

we can, you know, that the universe is transactional, that

if I do the right things, I'll get what I want.

These are generally true. If you work hard, you will

profit in some way. But are you always going to get

what you work for? The answer is no.

No, it's not guaranteed to you. And that's just the reality of

life on this side of the fall. It's a hard reality now.

We'll get to the gospel of grace, don't worry.

But we're still dealing with the grand deception.

What about the promises in the Bible that we talked about that

the modern day Navin it, name it and claim it prosperity gospel?

What about those promises that we read?

Well, those promises all come in the context of the rest of the

the scriptures, so let's read some other passages.

Luke 1215. Jesus speaking, then he said to

them, Watch out, be on guard against all kinds of greed.

Why? Because life does not consist in

an abundance of possessions. You got to get the focus right.

Life isn't about getting everything that you want first.

Peter 412 to 13. This is so real, dear friends.

Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on to test

you as though something strange were happening to you, but

rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of

Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is

revealed. So when a promise is made about

something in the Bible, it's in the context that God is going to

give you what you ask for, if it's good for you, if it's His

will. Psalm 37, four says take delight

in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

It's not God's going to give you the desires of your heart so

that you can delight in Him. It's take delight in Him,

because in delighting in God your will will be united to His

and He will give you what's good for you.

So that's the grand deception going on in, in, in, in

manifest. I'm forgetting the phrase

manifest your destiny. But there's the second question

that we asked is what you actually want good for you.

And we're gonna spend less time on this.

Is what you actually want. Good for you.

And the answer is, and we all intuitively know this, no, we

have a sin nature. We have a sin problem inside of

us. It's the lie that pervades that

it goes all the way back to the garden is that God is holding

out on you, that there's something good for you that he's

not giving. We read Genesis 36.

It says when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good

for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for

gaining wisdom, she took some of it and ate it.

So she sees this fruit. It looks good, it's pleasing,

it's desirable. God says don't eat it, but God's

holding out on me. So I'm gonna take it and eat it

and give some to my husband who's with me.

That's what's happening here. So to summarize this whole

section, the grand deception, I find that James 4/2 to three

tackles both of these points. Will I get what I want?

The answer is not always and is what I want good for me?

The answer is no and James says it well.

He says you desire but you do not have, so you kill.

There's something I want, I'm not getting it, so I'm going to

do what I need to do to get it. You covet, but you cannot get

what you want. So you quarrel and you fight.

You do not have, because you do not ask God.

But when you ask God, you do not receive.

Why? Because you ask with the wrong

motives, that you may spend what you want on your pleasures.

So ultimately, the two principles that manifest your

destiny are built upon are just not realistic.

They're just not true to reality.

Is it true that you always get what you want?

No. Is what you want always good for

you? No.

So what is the Gospel of grace? What is the Gospel of grace for

what Manifest your destiny is trying to accomplish?

How does Christ accomplish it? Even better, how can we ground

ourselves in the reality of the gospel instead of turning to

something like Manifest your destiny?

This saying Manifest your destiny, at its core, what it's

trying to do, and we spoke of this, is it's an attempt to

control the fact that uncertainty and suffering are a

reality. No matter how hard you focus on

something, no matter how bad you want something, it's not

guaranteed to you. You may never get it, and that's

the truth. Manifest your destiny is an

attempt to control this fact. And in fact, every worldview and

religion tries to answer this question of suffering.

Why does it exist? What?

What do I do about it? And Manifest your destiny is

just another way of trying to make sense of this idea.

Why do I experience lack? Why does it hurt?

That's what Manifest Your Destiny is trying to do.

The problem, like we've been saying, is that the universe is

not transactional. It's not transactional.

You won't get what you want all the time, and you can't

completely escape the reality of suffering.

But this leads us to what is true, and this is the gospel of

grace. The biblical response is not to

look at suffering and uncertainty and to try and

control it, but rather to turn to God and trust that His

destiny for you is what is going to lead you to true life.

So instead of trying to manifest a new reality for yourself, what

would it look like for you to turn to God and see what He has

for you? Now we look back to the end of

our Hebrews passage. It says For the joy set before

him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and he sat

down at the right hand of the throne of God.

So what is this saying? Why did Jesus endure the cross?

Why did he go through the suffering and uncertainty that

was the cross? It's because He knew, as we all

need to learn, that God is not holding out on you.

God is not holding out on you. The work that God wants to do in

our life, the work that's good for us and necessary, is often

on the other side of suffering and pain.

And Jesus knew this. And this is the sad reality of

life after the fall. The posture we need to adopt is

that of Jesus, of true trust. But I don't want that to just be

like a heady concept. You know that like, you know, I

need to reject, you know, reject, manifest your destiny

and adopt A posture of trust. What does this look like

practically? Jesus knew the joy, but he had

to injure the cross. He didn't get to skip it.

So what does that posture look like?

And I want to read to you from Matthew 26 versus 39 to 42.

In prepping this sermon, I just found this so moving, it says.

It says going a little farther. He fell with his face to the

ground and he prayed My father and it mark the language is

ABBA, which is Dad, You know. Dad, if it's possible, may this

cup be taken from me yet? Not as I will, but as you will.

Then he returned to the disciples and found them

sleeping. Couldn't you men keep watch with

me for an hour? He asked Peter.

Watch him pray so that you do not fall into temptation.

The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

And here's Jesus. He's facing suffering.

He knows what's coming. It's the cross, and He knows the

joy on the other side. But he still says he went away a

second time and prayed. My Father, if it is not possible

for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will

be done. For the joy set before him, He

endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right

hand of the throne of God. Jesus is a model for us in our

deepest hurt and suffering. We know intellectually that

there's joy on the other side. But what does that look like?

And that's what Jesus models for us in the garden in Mark.

Christ says everything is possible for you.

Take this cup away from me yet not what I will, but what you

will. And the anxiety he's

experiencing in this moment. It's not like this is some, you

know, like I was saying, intellectual assent that you can

just get to now. This is real, suffering is real.

But how do you walk through that in a posture that leads you to

the joy that's on the other side that God has for you?

Luke even says his sweat was like drops of blood falling to

the ground. So you picture Jesus in this

moment. He's filled with fear.

He's filled with anxiety. He knows what's coming.

But what does he do? And he didn't, you know, he

didn't manifest a new reality and get out of the garden.

Now he's, he resigned to submit to the Father's will.

And Hebrews tells us that it's because he knew something.

He knew that there was joy on the other side of it.

Sometimes we have this view of of God that's that's distant is

a God that does he sees our suffering, he sees the hell of

fire that's going on in the earth and and he's indifferent.

He looks away, He doesn't care. But in the story of Jesus, what

it tells us, the truth is God looks down at the fire of

suffering that that you're in, and he rushes headlong with his

arms wide open to embrace you in it.

He's right there with you. Not only is God going to redeem

our suffering, but He's intimately close with us in it.

And that's our comfort. So to grasp the joy that God has

for us. And the truth is, is that on the

other side of suffering, on the other side of uncertainty,

there's true joy. God has a good plan for you to

get there. Sometimes it takes suffering,

sometimes it takes uncertainty. But with Jesus as a model, we

submit to the Father's will. We accept what he has for us,

and we trust Him because he's the guy who comes to meet us.

He knows our suffering. He doesn't let us go through it

for nothing and we trust Him. So if I can summarize the gospel

of grace, for what Manifest your Destiny is trying to accomplish

is that God is not holding out on you.

He wants what's best for you. He has a good plan for you, and

that's genuinely true. That might be on the other side

of suffering, and that's a reality that you can't avoid.

But that doesn't change the fact that God has a good plan for

you, that He's with you, and that He loves you.

So to close, we've identified the good intention behind

Manifest your destiny. It's good to have goals.

It's good to work hard. It's not good to be lazy.

You know, you sluggard, we've talked about the deception that

Satan wants us to believe that God is holding out on you.

That's the core deception. And he does that by making us

believe that what we want is what we deserve, and what we

want is what's good for us. And we know that neither of

those things are true. And lastly, we we've looked to

the gospel. God is not holding out on us.

He has something so good for you planned.

But sometimes it's going to be on the other side of suffering,

and we need to adopt the posture that Jesus did in the Garden,

that even though I'm uncertain, even though I'm afraid and

anxious, I trust that God has a joy for me on the other side of

it, for the joy before him. He endured the cross, scorning

that shame, and then he sat down at the right hand of the throne

of God. And that's what God has planned

for you is joy. What's the application here?

You know, if you've been using the phrase manifest your

destiny, consider stopping. It's maybe not helpful, but even

more of that, where in your life are you trying to take control?

In what way have you sidelined what you know is good for you to

do because you know that God would want you to do it and

you're trying to take control instead?

And how can you give that control back to God, saying,

even though I'm suffering, maybe I'm anxious, I trust that you

have joy for me on the other side of this.

I need this reminder daily. So with that, let's pray.

Father, you are so kind to us. You're so patient with us when

we grasp for control in our lives.

You are holy, Your eternal, your unchanging.

You don't. You don't need us, but you look

at us and you have so much patience and grace for the ways

that we try to usurp your authority on our lives.

Father, I just ask that for anyone in this room that's

that's feeling, you know that you know I have not submitted

this to God. Father, would you press on their

hearts that now is the time to do that?

That would ever suffering or anxiety they're going through,

that you'd remind them that there's joy on the other side of

that in the Christian walk, that you are their God.

Lord, if anyone here doesn't know Christ, they don't know the

joy that can be on the other side of suffering.

Father, would you speak to their heart?

Would you give them a sensation of your reality?

Would you be close to them, Lord?

For everyone struggling with seasonal sadness, depression,

Lord, would you be with them closely?

Would you remind them that you're the God who runs into the

fire with them and ultimately died for them on the cross?

Jesus, thank you in your holy name, Amen.