This week’s devotions are based on the Week 1 “Explore God” – Does Life Have Purpose? (WATCH HERE)
Perspective and purpose.
Sometimes our perspective gets skewed.
As we go through life we allow events to skew our perspective of purpose. How so?
We have a desire to be a world class athlete and we suffer a career ending injury in high school. Suddenly our purpose in life is shattered.
We have a desire to lead a company and be in a “C” suite job. Only to be fired from the company we thought one day we would lead.
We have a desire to be the greatest parent in the world, only to find out that we are unable to have children.
In these and many other situations we may have our hopes dashed that our purpose is now out of reach. These events may even trigger us to feel like our life has lost its purpose and we are destined for a life of wandering aimlessly.
At times we can fixate our life’s purpose on an event or situation we perceive we will achieve or experience in the future. When we fixate our life’s purpose simply on an event, another event can occur in life that prevents the purpose event from taking place. When that happens we think that we have lost life’s purpose.
Perhaps, though, our perception and perspective have been skewed.
Whenever we wrap up our life’s purpose SIMPLY in something this world offers, we risk the chance of missing really what our purpose in life is all about.
What do I mean?
I am on a woodworking group on Facebook and once in a while a picture of an old or unique tool will be posted with the question, “Does anyone know what this is used for?” After reading through the silly comments and then some of the good guesses and possibilities, someone posts a similar tool picture with a clear definition of what the tool was used for. Only when we understand why we were created from the one who created us will we understand our life’s purpose.
If we think we exist because of a series of random occurrences over billions of years, we will be wandering in empty pursuit of a purpose that is as random as the theory of how we came to be. Without a Creator, we have no purpose.
With a Creator, we do.
A very familiar passage given to the prophet Jeremiah is one that shifts our purpose from just this world to the purpose and plan our Creator has for us.
Jeremiah 29:11-12 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
What does this mean? Well read this verse again with your name in it. This means that even when our plans do not happen, God’s plan will prevail. Even when we perceive the event that happened to us is bad, God’s purpose is always to bring good from the bad. Even when we perceive our life is worthless because our plan and purpose didn’t succeed, we can have confidence in the Lord’s promise that his plan and purpose for us will always give hope and a future.
So we go back to the examples at the beginning. We may have wrapped up our purpose in being a professional athlete, but God’s purpose was for us to use our love of a sport to be a Christian mentor and coach on a youth sports team. Our purpose may have been wrapped up in being a “C” suite leader…the Lord’s plan may have allowed firing from the job to be able to use your skills to lead a ministry that brings Jesus around the world. Our purpose we may have wrapped up in being the best of parents for our own children and the Lord’s purpose was to be godly parents to adopted children who were abandoned by their parents.
God’s purpose for us is to always have us connected to and active in his kingdom. When we have been impacted by our Creator, we will live to make an impact for our Creator.
Apply: Where do you find your purpose today? Is your purpose wrapped up in your perception or God’s promises?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for creating me as who I am and saving me to become who you want me to be. Help me to live and do all that is in front of me to your glory and the salvation of souls. AMEN.