There seems to be a common theme running through my brain and those of my friends lately. It feels like nearly everyone I talk to is wondering what their purpose is. I find that fascinating. Is it just because I’m dwelling on it myself that I’m noticing it in others – sort of like realizing the 50,000 other G6’s on the road as soon as I bought mine? Or am I being allowed this dialogue for a reason? For instance:
Yesterday I had this awesome conversation with a great friend. I was telling her of an incredible experience I had had the night before while teaching. She shared similar experiences of her own. We wondered together how we are to reconcile those experiences with the whole of our lives. Then another great friend posts her own blog entry today on the same topic. In it she asks this very simple (but I think profound) question, “When are you the most ‘the person God created you’ that you have ever been?” Good question. So – if we are able to answer that question, then what are we to do with it?
I look around and see millions of people rushing through their lives working so they can pay the bills, support their habits, finance their hobbies, save for retirement (so they can “enjoy life” for a few years before they die) and educate their children so they can repeat the cycle. Is that really what God has in mind for us? Seriously? I can’t accept that. I think He intends so much more…
Someone told me yesterday that I need to know I’m making a difference. They were right. I do. I don’t want to come to the end of my life and wonder what I could have been when I grew up. I want to make a difference in this world today. I know God has equipped me to do that and yet sometimes I feel completely inept at seeing the opportunities. Maybe I should re-adjust my thinking a bit. Making a difference can be a pretty simple thing, but I miss it because I expect it to be more complicated. Is it right in front of my face? Probably.
My prayer for all of my fellow purpose seekers is this: God, show us Yourself. Help us see you in the places we are. Help us see the opportunities that without You we would gloss over. Acquaint us with your Son in such a way that we would naturally find ourselves emulating Him – much like we would any other dear friend. Cause our passions to burn through us in such a way that will not allow us to contain them, but rather force us to live them out. And in all of this Father – may YOU be glorified by our lives – the lives you’ve created us to live. May we be fulfilled not by our own pleasures, but by the satisfaction that comes from living in the fullness of Your Spirit surging through us. And may this world be transformed by Your power as it is displayed in the authentic lives of your children. Amen.
