Most people spend their life looking for meaning. They are chasing their purpose. Some have tried to classify this as the reason why we were created, but these are two different things.
I have spent my whole life trying to understand value, and looking for my worth. The enemy has a way of tricking us into chasing value through the world around us. This actually destroys out value and makes us puppets. I know that we have inherent value. Jesus paid such a high price just to get us back into His family. That we have value is without question. Yet we still chase it. We even use God to try and find value, asking Him if He loves us, hoping that He will display it and come comfort us. Not that experiencing the love of God is wrong, but we chase it as if we have no value and need it to pacify this feeling. Our struggle comes from the fact that we don’t feel valuable. It actually is an issue of faith.
But when you are caught in a life where you ‘feel’ like you are not making a difference, it is very hard indeed to believe that you still matter. Alternatively, it is hard to not put your value on performance when you ‘are’ making a difference. Most have even spent their whole life just trying to be worthy of God and His love. So we can see that performance has a direct impact on our perception of worth. I have spent years trying to believe that I matter, divorced from performance, and I can tell you that I not sure that it is possible.
So what are we to do? Well, recently I was talking to God about the reason for my life, my purpose. Now just to frame this right for you, I believe that there are multiple reasons for a life. I know that God’s reason for my life is to love on me. Most people have a problem with that line of thinking because they are trying to connect every purpose for living into a single one. As if my purpose for living should be the exact same as God’s purpose for creating me. But scripture clearly tells me that God created me for fellowship. Many are trying to make serving God the ultimate purpose for living, but that diminishes my God given value as a son, I am not a servant.
To break it down a little more. My purpose for having children is to have little me’s that I can mature into my image (approximate) by pouring my knowledge and wisdom into, and to pour out my love upon. But I don’t want them to live just to make me happy. I don’t want me to be there only drive in life as if they have no will other than my happiness. This is what we do with God. We think that God create us just so that we can spend our every waking hour trying to make God happy. But this destroys the image of love in God. “Love seeks not it’s own.” Love looks to cause fulfillment in others without looking for attention in that fulfillment.
So God has a purpose for my life – to love me and mature me into His image of selflessness.
I have purposes for my life – to express love, and provide and nurture those I care for.
But I also have a purpose for living, but it is not a destiny as some might assume. My purpose for living is the thing that causes my heart to pound. It is the thing that drives me.
Let’s back up and talk about destiny. Destiny can be described as all the great things I will do and accomplish with my life. For instance, feeding the poor, becoming president, starting a non-profit organization, healing 4000 people (random number), saving 2000 people, doing tent meetings, holding crusades in stadiums, etc. You get the idea. If this is the thing that gets my heart pounding then it would be easy to think that my purpose is my performance and if I don’t perform then I have no purpose and therefore no value. Can you see why destiny is not the same as purpose?
So let’s talk about what purpose really is. If I start looking for value through doing then I am doomed. Purpose has to be a reason for living that is independent of other people’s desire for us, even God. Purpose has to be the focus of my life without turning my life into one big crusade to find meaning. Purpose is the thing that make my heart tick. Purpose is whatever I am passionate about. Purpose is something that God created in me, but He didn’t create it for Himself, He created it to give my life meaning. He created my purpose for me. Purpose let’s me see why I matter without stealing my value if I don’t reach it. Purpose is the thing I long for. Purpose does not make me important, it allows me to give away importance. Purpose is always in agreement with love.
Alright, so this might be confusing. But let me add clarity by telling you what God said is the why behind my life. I asked God to tell me the thing that my heart is desiring, to show me my reason for living. What is it that I truly care about and long to do with my life?
He said that the thing I longed for was to see His image rise up in other people.
The moment I heard Him say that, I knew that it is true. See this is not my destiny. It is the thing that makes my destiny happen. It is the why behind everything I do. Sometimes the enemy has tried to trick me into thinking that the elements of my destiny are the things that I really want. He promotes fortune and fame, acceptance and itching ears. But my destiny is not what I want. What I want is my purpose. What I want is to see God shining through the life of other people. What I want is to see individuals step into deep relationship with God and come out changed.
See, now I don’t have to chase destiny and feel like I’m always failing. Now I can chase my own purpose and see my destiny handed to me. God’s purpose for my life is to help me fulfill the purpose He gave me. He is my Father and He just want’s to have a relationship with me as He teaches me to do what He put in my heart to do. I get to ask Him how and when and what about all the things He hid in my heart. We get to be partners in my purpose.
Remember that I said that we have multiple purposes. Remember that every relationship I have has a purpose attached to it. With my wife, my purpose is to prove that she matters to me, over and over again. With my children my purpose is to help them become all that God has created them to be. With God, my purpose is to learn how to become utterly surrendered to His love and trust Him in all things. But in all these relationships, my overall purpose is shining through. Now I know how to have a proper purpose for my relationship with myself. See, I’m longing to see the image of God rise up in me too. This is also my purpose for knowing you.
If you want you know you God created purpose, the thing that your heart longs for, you only need to ask Papa God.
