The Purpose-Questioned Life

“For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep..” Acts 13:36

I want this to be said of me when I die. When I leave this earth I want to know that I served the purpose of God in my own generation. I want to feel confident that I did everything God set out for me to do while here. But, if I’m honest then I have to say that as inspiring as this scripture is, it is equally as terrifying. It is terrifying for those of us who, like majority of the world, have at one point or another wrestled with the question of our purpose. You see, the question of purpose is a question that, when lacking an answer, can often riddle us with low self-worth, shame and a sense of feeling lost. So, today I want to encourage those of us who struggle with this idea of purpose. Those of us who are plagued with the questions of, “Do I have a purpose? And how do I begin to find it?”

You see, one of the biggest lies of the enemy is getting believers to doubt that God has a specific purpose for our lives. I’m not talking about the general purpose that we all have to give Him glory in all we do, or to live lives that honor Him. I’m talking about the specific works that He has set out for each one of us to complete. You see, the enemy tries so hard to convince some of us that we have nothing to offer and therefore are of little value to the Kingdom. He attempts to strip us of our purpose and callings by magnifying the gifts of others, thereby causing us to minimize our own. Friends, this is nothing but a lie from the pit of Hell.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Eph. 2:10

Do you realize that you are specifically and uniquely created to do very specific and unique works in this life? There is nothing about you that is an accident and there is nothing in your life that is happenstance. You are a masterpiece. Skillfully put together to serve a specific purpose of God in this earth. Yes, you have a place! Yes, you have a calling! And it’s a good one that is meant to do good things. Friends, you are not here to merely exist. You are here to accomplish works that were planned out for you before the foundation of the world was even made. No man can question it and no devil can stop it. You were created with specificity in mind, and you were created with purpose in heart.

Wow! What a great reminder that is for us. Friends, it is time for us to rise up and fight against the Enemy and His lies. We are on assignment, just like David was. And if we don’t complete it then no one will. You see, just like David, we are masterfully wired for a specific purpose that only we can do. David finished his assignment and his generation and the ones to follow were blessed because of it. Friends, if we don’t buy into the fact that we have purpose, then we will not seek to fulfill it, and I honestly believe that generations will miss out because of it. We can’t be fooled into thinking that our one “little” piece of the puzzle doesn’t matter. It matters. You matter. The works He set aside for you to complete in your own generation matter. Let’s not allow the enemy to magnify the gifts and calling of others at the expense of our own, and at the expense of those that are supposed to benefit from them. You see, the first step in living out our purpose is actually believing that we have one.

But then what?  I mean we all clearly know that there is a difference between believing you have a purpose and actually knowing what that purpose is. You see, it can become so easy in life to slip into this role of trying to find our purpose. But, have you ever thought about the fact that maybe God never called us to “find” our purpose?

“The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people.” 1 Sam 13:14 

You see, David was able to serve God’s purpose in his generation because He was first sought out by God. And he was sought out by God because he was first seeking after God’s own heart. Friends, what we have to understand is that, David never “found” his purpose. David found God’s heart and then God’s purpose found Him. You see, oftentimes we focus on the wrong things. The fear of not having a purpose causes us to chase after it with vigilance and sometimes negligence. But, what we fail to see is that Christ never called us to chase our purpose. He called us to chase His heart. You see, chasing the heart of God is what put David in the position to serve the purpose of God. It’s the sole reason he was found. So, the question is where will purpose find you? Are you running fervently after His heart? Or are you only consumed with the questions and timelines of your own?  Friends, purpose gets revealed when we are least obsessed with looking for it. The object of our obsession must always be Him and Him only. David chased His heart and God brought Him into His purpose.

We have to get to a place where we abandon the questions and simply accept the quest. The quest to run after His heart with all that is within us. The quest to align our minds, bodies and spirits with His, in order that we might accomplish everything that He has set out for us to accomplish in its due time. Friends, the purpose is in you, but the plan is in Him. So, what do we do when the purpose is unclear? We determine to become more concerned with His heart than we are with His hand. We fall in love with our Creator and trust that eventually He will show us the exact purpose and works for which He chose to create us. We become children solely after the heart of their Father, so that when He comes seeking, it is there that we may be found.

Friends, He did not create us with specific works in mind just so He could keep them from us our entire lives. They are just hidden so deep in His heart that in order for us to be found by them, we must first go hard after Him. We have one job; Chase. His. Heart. For it is in the chasing of His heart that the details lose their value and the enemy loses his power. It is in the chasing of His heart that our hearts becomes softened and our hands become open. Open to do whatever it is He calls us to do, whenever it is that He calls us to do it. Friends, we have a purpose and He has the plan. All we have to do is put ourselves in a position to be found by them.

Questions to Journal Through

1. Have you ever struggled with questions of purpose? Spend some time journaling about it and being honest with your feelings.
2. Force yourself to make a list of the ways God has gifted you and spend some time thanking Him for His masterpiece. This may be hard but resist the temptation to focus on the negative and zone in on the positive aspects of your character.
3. Are you chasing after the heart of God or are you chasing after your purpose? Spend some time repenting for the misdirection and ask God to re-align your heart. Determine from this day forward to only concern yourself with running hard after Him and to begin trusting Him for the rest along the way.