Do you know your purpose in life? Or are you still striving to find your purpose? Discovering your purpose requires that you ask the One who determined your life and your purpose before the foundations of the universe.
Most life coaches, motivational speakers, and self-help authors will tell you that the key to finding your life purpose is to look within. The problem with this advice is that it makes little sense for an invention to determine its own purpose or to look within itself for its purpose. Everyone logically and intuitively understands that the purpose of an invention is determined best by the inventor. The creation doesn’t determine its own purpose or existence. The Creator does that for the creation.
In our case, we must look to our Creator. Finding our purpose requires that we ask the One who created us rather than looking into ourselves for the answer.
In The Purpose-Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren writes: “You were made by God and for God — and until you understand that, life will never make sense.” God created us. God knows us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. God is the One who is sovereign over us – and over everyone and everything. God is best qualified to know our purpose and to communicate that purpose to us.
Our job is not to determine our purpose, but to discover our purpose. Or, more accurately, to receive and properly discern our purpose. And then to implement it.
Some say the best way to discover our purpose is to follow our passions. Let’s agree that our deep and consistent passions can be a strong clue in pointing us to our discovery, but we must exercise some caution. Moses followed his passions, and it got him into trouble.
The best example of this is when Moses murdered the Egyptian slave master. We read of this episode in Exodus 2:11-15. One might be inclined to think Moses’ actions were justified. After all, is slavery evil? Yes. Is cruelty wrong? Yes. Shouldn’t we (if we can) intervene to stop the brutal mistreatment of others? Yes. And was God shaping Moses to deliver His people out of slavery? Yes.
Moses’ outrage at the barbarism of slavery and the beating of the man he observed was both commendable and understandable. Was Moses rightly outraged at the Egyptian’s treatment of the Hebrews? Yes. But…
Ben Franklin once said: “Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame.” And James, in his epistle, cautions us that “the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20, NKJV)
Moses was rightly outraged, but he was wrong to resort to murder. His knee-jerk, passion-driven response to the evil he witnessed led him to kill a man and then be exiled for 40 years in the desert! Four more decades passed before Moses led God’s people out of slavery.
It’s not enough to simply follow our passions. We must exercise thought and patience. And, most of all, we must be in prayer. We must seek God’s wisdom and God’s direction and yield to God’s timing.
Speaking of time, some may feel that it’s too late. They may feel that they’ve already missed out on God’s call for their lives. Well, let me encourage you by saying…
Stop thinking that!
One pastor put it this way: “If you’re not dead, God’s not done.”
Every moment you remain here on planet Earth is an opportunity to serve and glorify God. If you’re still drawing breath, it’s too soon for you to give up on yourself or (worse) give up on God.
Our God is in the Forgiveness business. And He’s in the Second (and Third, and Fourth, and Fifth, and Sixth…..) Chances business.
Don’t worry about being too late. Just obey God moving forward. Take every moment He gives you and serve Him.
As you serve Him, continue in prayer. And continue in reading the Bible. And in surrounding yourself with wise, God-honoring counsel.
As you do these things, God will reveal His plan and purpose for you. The key is to listen to Him, follow Him, and trust Him as He does so.
God bless you and Happy New Year!
