Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
12/8/2021
Searching for your purpose.
My youngest daughter is a senior and my other daughter at home is in her first year of college. They are both deciding on their purpose in life. They are searching for what their majors will be. What they want to be when they grow up. And they carry more than a little bit of urgency to find that out now.
Psalm 138:8 (ESV) says: “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” This verse tells us that God has a purpose for our lives, and He will accomplish it, in his time.
Purpose guides life decisions, influences behavior, shapes goals, offers a sense of direction and creates meaning. For some people, the purpose is connected to vocation—meaningful, satisfying work, but there is much more to life than the altars of man.
But how can you begin any journey without a starting point? You know, “I am here!”
We first must ask whether we are seeking our personal purpose in life or God’s. It’s a simple question, but not everyone asks or even thinks about it. (isn’t there something wrong with that?) Over time we grow up. We were totally reliant as young children; we moved into our teenage years and found an ounce of maturity, and then it was time for college. Every parent goes through panic when their child becomes a senior; Have I spoiled them too much? Have I taught them enough about life to turn them loose on some right-wing college campus? OMG, I don’t think I took the job of preparing them seriously enough.
So off they go to discover a new world of sight and sound and morality and a new right from wrong that they never heard much of at home. And they grow up some more. But God! Yeah, that’s the question in many of our lives. Where is God in all this? There hasn’t been much time. I’m buried! Who has time to pray and ask God for wisdom, let alone his direction or his purpose for my life? (And we wonder what is happening to our world!)
May I say, it isn’t just our kids. Too many of us have been caught in this labyrinth for decades, searching for our life purpose. We carried around this heavy bag of guilt, mistakes, hollowness, and emptiness. Never really fulfilled.
Let’s start at the beginning. God created us with a Godly purpose in mind. We were specifically chosen to do a God work in this world with responsibilities that go far beyond finding our vocation and livelihood. To be chosen not only meant to be favored, but it required responsible actions. This blessing came with a condition as recorded in Exodus 19:5, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.”
Your life purpose should consist of the central motivating aims of your life—the reasons you get up in the morning. If that isn’t God, then we missed the train, and we probably left a similar legacy for our children to move forward on. That misstep accounts for so many divorces, broken homes, families without fathers, children raised in the vortex of randomness, and self-survival, looking for a place to find some kind of peace. After years of searching, it is …any kind of peace.
Again, let’s go back to the beginning. God’s plan for his kids.
YOU. How do we get God’s purpose?
1. Commit all the areas of your life to God.
2. Turn to life’s instruction manual he gave us: The Bible.
3. Pray and ask Him for direction and help in everything you do. Then trust him. He wants to empower you with all you need to fulfill your purpose. Do not lean on your strength or understanding but draw from God’s strength every step of the way
4. Follow the Will of God and learn of his promises.
5. Live a God-centered purpose-driven life.
6. Don’t walk alone or be unequally yoked with friends who do not believe like you do. They will draw you away from God. (I promise!)
1 Chronicles 28:9
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever”.
1 Kings 2:2 ““I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways”
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Too many people link their career accomplishments with their identity, which will lead us to fall short of our true God-given purpose in life. (Isaiah 43:7)
I did that, on and off, for too many years in my life.
I pray you to stop if you are on the course. Stop!
Ask God for forgiveness and begin with God’s purpose in mind. Stay at his feet until you know it. Pull in Godly counselors to help your find it.
But don’t leave home another day without it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pze_mdbOK8
Whitney Houston I look to You.
