The Girl Who Ran Toward Destiny

 The Girl Who Ran Toward Destiny

By Harold Mawela | From my study in Akasia, Pretoria

The jacaranda trees outside my window have shed their purple confetti onto the streets of Akasia. I sit here on a Tuesday morning—the hum of generators a familiar lullaby, though by God's grace we have now gone over 441 days without load-shedding. Yet even as Eskom reports progress, with five provinces now free from load reduction, the cost of living still bites like a hungry dog. Inflation jumped to 4.5% in May 2026. Electricity tariffs have risen 5.3 times faster than inflation since 1996. More than a third of South Africans live below the poverty line.

In this environment, many are asking: How do I run toward my destiny when I can barely afford to stand still?

The Law of the Willing Runner

Let us define our terms clearly. Destiny is not a passive inheritance you wait to receive. It is an active pursuit you run to possess. Calling is not the whisper of privilege; it is the cry of obedience. And willingness is not the absence of fear it is the refusal to let fear have the final word.

The argument can be formulated thus:

Premise 1: God's providence works through human responsiveness.

Premise 2: Rebekah demonstrated immediate, energetic cooperation with God's unfolding plan.

Premise 3: Therefore, your destiny is unlocked not by cautious calculation but by courageous running.

The Scripture declares unequivocally: "The girl ran and told her mother's household about these things" (Genesis 24:28). Rebekah did not walk cautiously toward her calling. She did not deliberate. She did not consult a committee. She ran.

Now, a common objection: "But Pastor, running is reckless. What if I run in the wrong direction? What if I embarrass myself? What if I fail?"

I hear you. I have stood at the edge of my own unknown, heart pounding like a taxi's kwaito beat, afraid to take that first step. But this objection fails because it confuses running with rushing. Rebekah ran toward something—she ran to tell her mother's household. She had clarity of direction even in her urgency. Running is not recklessness; it is resolve with rhythm.

The Small Yes That Carries Nations

Picture Rebekah at the well. A stranger approaches. He asks for water. She offers not just a sip but a well and then she draws for his camels too. Ten camels. A thirsty camel can drink up to 100 litres. Do the maths. That was not a small favour; that was back-breaking labour. But here is the mystery: a small yes carried the weight of nations. That ordinary chore drawing water became the entrance to her inheritance.

Is it not true that we all feel the tension between the mundane and the magnificent? You sweep the floor; you pack the parcels; you punch the clock; you fetch the children. And you wonder: Is this all there is?

But I tell you today: God does not always announce your future with trumpets. Sometimes He announces it with a stranger, a jar, and a thirsty camel.

Your destiny is decoded in your daily habits. What you do daily determines what you become permanently. The woman who runs toward her assignment in the small things is the woman God trusts with the big things. The man who serves faithfully in the shadows is the man God positions in the light.

The War in Your Will

We must sound the alarm against a gospel of convenience that has crept into the church. Too many of us want the promise without the pursuit. We want the prize without the race. We want Rebekah's wedding without Rebekah's water-jar.

But true liberation is found only in submitting to God's call even when it disrupts your comfort. Rebekah's family asked her: "Will you go with this man?" (Genesis 24:58). And she said simply: "I will go". She did not know Isaac. She did not know the land. She did not know the future. But she knew the God who had orchestrated the meeting. And that was enough.

Attack is the proof that your enemy anticipates your success. The enemy does not attack what he does not fear. He attacks your destiny because he knows what it will produce. So when the voices of doubt scream louder than the voice of God, remember: the opposition is the confirmation.

Running in a Nation on the Brink

South Africa is a nation holding its breath. Our reform momentum has turned negative for the first time since 2024. Anti-immigration tensions persist. The repo rate sits at 7%. Many are unemployed, many are hungry, many are hopeless.

But I declare to you: your circumstances are not your conclusion. The same God who led Rebekah to Isaac is the God who leads you through Akasia, through Tembisa, through Khayelitsha. The same Jesus Christ who calmed the storm is the Christ who calms your anxious heart.

Each relationship nurtures a strength or weakness within you. Choose relationships that call you higher. Each day presents a choice: run toward the water or sit by the dry well. Run toward the will of God or retreat into the comfort of the familiar.

The Prize of the Called

The apostle Paul wrote: "I run toward the goal, so I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done" (Philippians 3:14).

Notice: Paul runs toward the goal. He does not stroll. He does not saunter. He sprints. Why? Because the prize is not a trophy on a shelf it is the very presence of Christ. The prize is knowing Him, serving Him, and being transformed into His likeness.

When you run toward your destiny, you are not running toward a what; you are running toward a Who. Jesus Christ is the destination. Every assignment, every errand, every ordinary chore is an opportunity to encounter Him.

The Call to Action

Therefore, reason itself, illuminated by Scripture and confirmed in our deepest longings, compels us to acknowledge that running is the posture of faith.

So I ask you today:

What are you running from?

Fear? Rejection? Failure? Poverty?

And I ask you:

What are you running toward?

Your assignment? Your calling? Your destiny?

Do not despise the errand; it may be the entrance to your inheritance. Do not neglect the daily habits; they decode your destiny. Do not fear the stranger at the well; he may be the messenger of God.

Run toward the water. Run toward the will of God. Run toward the One who is already running toward you.

Prayer

Lord, give me a willing spirit that runs toward assignments, however small they seem. Forgive me for the times I have walked when You called me to run. Forgive me for the times I have sat when You called me to stand. Today I declare: I will go. I will run. I will trust. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, my prize and my pursuit. Amen.

From my study in Akasia, Pretoria, where the jacarandas have shed their purple and the generators have fallen silent—but the call of God still thunders. Run, child of God. Run.

Harold Mawela is a Christian author and pastor based in Akasia, Pretoria. His writings focus on practical faith, spiritual growth, and the intersection of biblical truth with contemporary African life.