There has never been another human just like you. There never will be another human just like you. This means your Creator has put things in you he hasn’t put in anyone else, at least not with the same specification. It’s so easy to feel like there’s nothing special or significant about who you are or what you can bring to the world. In fact, it’s become way too common for many of us to apologize for who we are or to feel bad about what we can’t do. If there’s a Grand Designer behind your life, wouldn’t you love to discover how to live the life you were made for? Today we kick off a new series called Bring It Out: How to Cultivate the Unique Gifts and Assignments You’ve been Given. Here’s the big idea we’ll carry throughout this entire 8-week series:

Whatever God put in you, he wants to bring out of you.

I’m not simply talking about starting a church or a business or becoming famous or doing something the world would think is amazing. What I’m referring to is you getting in on whatever God may have for you in this life. It could be losing weight or losing your short temper. It could be running a marathon or running an organization in your community. It could be enjoying a healthy marriage or enjoying a global adventure. It could be making a difference in your neighborhood or raising kids who will change the world.

We all know what it’s like to have dreams. Or maybe the more accurate way to say it is, we at least know what it’s like to have had dreams. There was a point in all our lives when we knew where we wanted to end up, but relatively few of us arrived at our preferred destination.

Have you ever had a moment or season in your life that left you saying, “This wasn’t the dream”? The dream was to have an amazing marriage; you weren’t supposed to divorced. The dream was that you would be an executive by now; you weren’t planning on being stuck in your career. The dream was that your new company would get off the ground, except it never really took off. The dream you had for your life didn’t include anxiety and depression, yet these emotions have become daily companions for you.

Do you have more dreams behind you or still in front of you?

Most of us don’t have a desire problem. We want so many good things to be present in our lives and yet, many of these things remain absent. Why? Something seems to always get in the way. Someone seems to always get in the way. And that someone is usually you. And when it comes to my own dreams and desires going unfulfilled, I’m often the one who gets in the way. But what if you don’t have to push away those desires or let your dreams die?

Before you push away whatever God put in your heart, I want to encourage you to open yourself up to the possibilities we’re going to explore over the life of this series. It’s our hope that you will discover the pathway to your preferred future. Don’t worry, I’m not going to promise you anything is possible in your life. But I do believe way more is possible than what you might be experiencing right now. Even if it’s hard to believe the following statement, I want you to say it out loud with me:

Whatever God put in me, he wants to bring out of me.

“What am I supposed to do with my life?” This is a great question. It’s one I have asked throughout my lifetime, and I get asked some version of it on a regular basis. When most people ask this question, here’s what they mean: “What am I meant to do?” And even more specific than that, they usually mean, “What work am I called to do?” I think what we do really matters. But before we get into what you are supposed to do, there’s something even more fundamental you can nail down. Here’s the formula I want you to embed in your heart and mind:

Who > Why > How > What

Who you become matters more than what you do. Why you do what you do matters more than what you do. How you do what you do matters more than what you do. And what you do still really matters.

If you become the right kind of person, it is likely you’ll do the right thing. If you don’t become the right kind of person, will it even matter what you do?

It is so easy to let who we have been keep us from becoming who we can be. We all have things in our past we are less than proud of. While it’s okay to regret who we were in previous seasons of our lives, we cannot stay consumed with that. If we stay fixated on who we have been, we will never become who we can be. I think about Paul, a guy who wrote about half of the New Testament in the Bible. He was very religious in his past, but he hated Christians – so much so that he had them arrested and approved of their murders. He meets Jesus along the way and realizes he can be a whole new person.

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

You cannot move forward when you are fixated on what’s behind you.

The world is going to tell you to work on your skills, grow your competencies, become more productive…and I’m all for those things. But when was the last time someone out there encouraged you to work on your character, the essence of who you are?

“The most important thing in your life is not what you do; it’s who you become.” -Dallas Willard

While it’s okay to think about your career trajectory, I want to encourage you to care even more about your character trajectory. It really matters who you’re becoming. Whoever you are becoming – this is the person you bring to your parenting. This is the human who goes with you into your dating relationship. This is the only person you can bring into our church community. This is the man or woman you bring to work with you every day. And this is the human being who will step into eternity with you one day.

I know you’re thinking this is the moment where the inspirational music starts playing and I tell you (using loud and excited voice), “You can be anything you want to be!” I’m not going to do that because I don’t actually believe that. But I do believe this:

You cannot be whoever you want to be, but you can be whoever God wants you to be.

When it comes to who we are and who we will become, it doesn’t rest entirely on our shoulders. God has a part to play and we have a part to play. Often the problem for us is when we ask God to play our part while we go and try to play his part. Let me offer you some encouragement and a challenge. God is always going to play his part in who we become. He’s not holding out on us. Be encouraged by that. The challenge is whether we will be willing to play our part.

Matthew 4:18-20 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me, Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

These original disciples didn’t have to come with the plan, but they did have to leave their nets. Jesus promised them he would form them, as long as they chose to follow him. If you’re like me, there are days when you wonder if you will ever become the person God intends for you to be. We’re always judging ourselves as though we are a final or finished product. I like how Ken Costa phrases this idea:

“Jesus knows who we are. But he also knows who we are becoming. He has a vested interest in seeing us flourish in the future.” Ken Costa, Know Your Why

Here is an equation that can be helpful as we seek to become who God wants us to be:

Direction > Destination

Your direction is more important than your destination. God isn’t simply fixated on who you are today; he’s also very interested in who you are becoming. And he doesn’t merely see you as you are but as you will be someday. What would it look like for you to prioritize who you’re becoming more than you prioritize all that you want to do?

Because we want our lives to matter, we think they cannot be ordinary or mundane or – God forbid – boring. But what if ordinary is what most of our life is supposed to be? What if all that gets portrayed through social media isn’t real life? And what if how we live these kinds of normal days has implications for the days that aren’t so normal?

How is your ordinary life preparing you for extraordinary moments?

When we think about our favorite stories from the Bible, they usually involve these incredible, extraordinary moments. Because we’re familiar with these moments, we forget that these moments weren’t the norm. Think about the life of Daniel. You probably recall how he interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. Perhaps you remember what happened when his three friends were thrown into the fiery furnace. And surely you know how Daniel survived being thrown into the den with lions. These are extraordinary moments. But what was Daniel doing on the other days of his life?

When we’re first introduced to Daniel in the Old Testament book that bears his name, things are not good for the Jewish people. In 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian arm besieged Jerusalem and carried some Jews back to Babylon, where they lived in exile. Daniel was part of this group. The reason he was chosen had to do with his looks, his lineage, and his aptitude for learning. In other words, he was chosen because of his giftedness.

Here's the plan Nebuchadnezzar has for Daniel and the other young Jewish men who are part of this group: They are to learn the language and literature of the Babylonians, they are to have a specific diet of food and wine, and their training was to last for three years. What’s the point of this plan? Nebuchadnezzar wants to form these young men, including Daniel, into particular kinds of people. He even goes on to change their Jewish names and bestow on each of them a Babylonian identity.

Are you self-aware enough to know how the world around you is seeking to form you?

Early on, Daniel determined that he was going to be formed by his faith in God, not by his environment that was seeking to form him. He made a pre-decision about what he would do and what he would never do. Do you make pre-decisions before you get to the specific decisions of your life? Have you made a decision about what you will do and what you won’t do with your life?

If you don’t make intentional decisions about your own formation, then you will be formed by everything around you.

Can you see how your daily decisions are turning you into a certain kind of person?

Formation takes place by what you do repeatedly, not by what you do occasionally.

Do you remember how Daniel ends up in the lions’ den? There is an edict issued that anyone who prays to a god or human except the king will be thrown into the lions’ den. When Daniel finds out about this new rule, what does he do?

Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

What part of this verse do you think is most important? It was significant for Daniel to pray with the windows open, facing Jerusalem, but this was not the most significant part. It is important that we pray with a certain frequency, and Daniel prayed three times a day, but this isn’t the most important thing we read about him. I believe how we posture our bodies during prayer matters, and Daniel got down on his knees to pray, but this isn’t what matters most for him. I believe the last phrase is the most important thing we read about Daniel – “just as he had done before.” Daniel had a pattern to his life. He did not have a faith-filled moment; he lived a faith-filled life. How are you currently being formed so that you can make it through whatever is coming for you? What are you doing with your life when no one is watching? What kinds of decisions are you making during your ordinary days?

It is what you do when no one is watching that produces what everyone eventually sees.‍