Purpose

I’ve always been taught that God has a purpose for every one of us.  I’ve never doubted that fact.  Oh, I often wonder what my purpose is.  I even wonder if I’ll ever get close to fulfilling that purpose.  But now I’m wondering something else.

What if the “purpose” we’ve been thinking of isn’t a specific thing?  What if His purpose for us is simply to follow Him, wherever He leads?  What if His purpose for me is to simply obey Him in anything and everything?  What if His purpose for me is to point others to Him every day, in every way?

Maybe His purpose is the process of living my life in such a way that I become more like Him.  Instead of spending so much time trying to discern His purpose for my life, maybe I should be spending that time living like Christ.

Making Choices

I’m always questioning what I’m supposed to be doing with my life.  I’ve questioned that many times over those years and once again, circumstances are causing me to question again.  Admitedly, I’m to the point where I’m not sure I want to know the answer.

I’ve been using the “Jesus Calling” devotional by Sarah Young.  Like any devotional, some days it’s spot on and other days not so much.  The past few days (and I said this same thing to a local pastor recently about his sermons) it’s as if she’s been following me around and these are in direct response to my own life.

Yesterday she said, “Do not resist or run from the difficulties in your life.”  Seriously??  I’ve been planning my exit strategy for a while now.  Aren’t adults allowed to run away from home?  She goes on to say, “These problems are not random mistakes; they are hand-tailored blessings designed for your benefit and growth.”  Ummm, yeah, maybe I don’t want to grow anymore.  Maybe I want to stay a selfish, immature person if it means not hurting so badly.

Then she says (remember that she speaks as if from Jesus’ point of view), “Embrace all the circumstances that I allow in your life, trusting Me to bring good out of them.  View problems as opportunities to rely more fully on Me.”  Is it just me, or has anyone else ever wanted to sit down with Jesus and explain that He is obviously mistaking you for someone else?  I’m convinced that if I could just explain to Jesus who I really am, He’ll finally understand and apologize.  He’ll realize that He’s wasting His time trying to mold me to be better.  Then He can move on to someone who has some real potential.

Today she said, “Thank Me for your problems.”  Oh, I’ve been thanking Him, as in, “Thanks a lot for all this junk!  Can’t you just clean it up so I can move on?”  I think Jesus gets my sarcasm.  If you read some of His statements in the New Testament you can catch a twinge of sarcasm there too.  And I’m so glad He loves me unconditionally because I’m not very easy to love these days……ok, any day.

But here’s the kicker!!  She says, “Together we can deal with the situation, either facing it head-on or putting it aside for later consideration.”  Then she quotes Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in EVERYTHING, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  (emphasis mine)

I like her devotion because she’s been where I’ve been.  She must know what it’s like to holler at God and ask Him what in the world He’s doing and why He’s chosen to do it in you.  She must know how bad it hurts when God has to push past my own selfishness so He can put His desires in me.  She must know how earth shattering it feels when the rug is yanked out from under you and you come to a place where you have to make serious decisions about following God, or talking about following God.

I started this off wondering why no one ever writes about these kinds of bad times in their lives.  Then I realized they do, and they have.  And it always leads to a time of admiting our own failures, then praising God because of who He is.  So I’ll stop crying and realize that, no matter how it looks to me now, and no matter how painful it is now, God is still Soverign and still in control.  He knows me and He knows what He needs to do in my life to make me into the person He has planned for me to be.  So regardless of how painful it is, I choose to submit to His plans.  I choose to praise Him for the work He’s doing in me.  I choose to allow the pain so the growth will take place.  And I’ll choose to keep reading that devotional, even though I sometimes want to throw it against the wall!!!