Finding Purpose

As an early believer in Christ, I think we often look for God to pop up in our life and perform a miracle like some magic trick or a genie in a bottle ready to grant our wishes. We look at the darkness in this world and ask, “How can God allow this?” These types of thoughts can really cause a person to struggle with their beliefs or may cause us to form a distorted view of God. Spending time in God’s word has taught me that God works through people.  In Colossians 2:9 the Bible tells us “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”, telling us that Jesus was God in the form of a man. 

When I found Christ my life was in turmoil. I was desperately looking for a better way of life. I was eager to learn and make changes. I have heard that God has a purpose for my life and that our goal as Christians should be to walk “in purpose.” Have you ever tried to figure out what that means? I personally found it challenging to understand as a new believer.  I thought if my purpose was from God then it had to be this great and mighty role. I kept my eyes open for an extraordinary task I just knew God would put in front of me and I would spring into action like a superhero from the movies. I thought about the way David beat Goliath with a stone and a slingshot in the first book of Samuel or how Moses parted the sea with a staff leading the Israelites to safety in the book of Exodus. This was my thought process because my knowledge of the Bible was limited to the stories from Sunday school and my experience of the world was through Hollywood movies. Both of these stories from the Bible sounded like a blockbuster hit, so that MUST be how great God’s calling was going to be, right?

As I continued to seek this purpose for my life, I continued to ask God questions. I started learning what the Bible had to say. The Bible is full of stories about how God worked through people to share a powerful message. I learned that there are many people in the Bible that played a significant role by doing small tasks. The book of Matthew tells us how the disciples fed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. In this story the miracle came from God, but the disciples are the ones who passed out the food to the people. Their task was simple but made a powerful statement. It must have been difficult for Joseph, the man who helped raise Jesus, to stand by a virgin wife: believing in her and trusting the Lord in a time where such a thing would have carried great shame for a man. When reading the book of John it tells how the servants retrieved the water for Jesus to turn into wine. This was a labor-intensive task. Have you ever carried the groceries from your car to the house? Imagine carrying stone jars filled with water sloshing around. All of these stories from the Bible are well known but often these individuals are overlooked because they are not the main focus of the story, however their role was significant in Jesus’ work.   

Realizing my purpose could be simple and still make an impact was significant for me. I had unknowingly been putting a lot of pressure on myself to “get it right”. I wanted to please God so I was determined to find my purpose. The truth is God was showing me my purpose all along. It’s to listen to the still, small voice inside of me, directing me to act on God’s behalf. It allowed me to see the opportunities in front of me to be the feet and hands of Jesus without the pressure of it needing to be a giant taks. I recognized those small moments that tug on my heart are the areas I am being called to be a part of the solution. 

I remember a day when I needed some extra money for our family so I was gathering items for a yard sale. While cleaning out the kids’ dressers and bagging up clothes to sell, I learned a family in our community had tragically lost everything in a fire the night before. I realized that I had plenty enough to give them what they needed and still have enough left over for my yard sale. It was out of the abundance my family had that I was able to meet the needs of others while still providing for my family. Around this same time I was going through a divorce, I spent many days crying on the way to work so that I could be strong for my family. I walked into a store to grab a few items and ended up being the last person in a long line. As I got to the register I looked up and saw the cashier was in tears, silently checking people out. I was caught off guard that no one before me seemed to notice. I asked her if I could give her a hug. She looked up at me, tears falling and wrapped her arms around me. She broke down. I told her that I didn’t know her situation but I knew it would get better and that I was walking proof God would help her carry the load if she asked him to. She thanked me and seemed to feel better as I left. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." These acts are our purpose. It's not one big act but a lifetime of acting on God's behalf. 

Living My Purpose, Sharing My Stories, Spreading God’s Love

I feel led to speak about the struggles in my life to share how God blessed me on my darkest days. How he gave me peace amongst the chaos I had created for myself. And how he guided me out of my misery.

History is nothing more than learning from people sharing the stories of the past. What is not shared is lost. God still works miracles, he just does it through those who are brave enough to act on that small voice inside telling them to do something that would only make sense through God.What small act of love or kindness is God calling you to share today?