jennifer-roberts Do you know your purpose? Are you operating in your purpose? Knowing your reason for being and then working each day to fulfill that mission contributes to your power, usefulness, and impact here on earth. Knowledge is power and knowing why something was created and being able to use it optimally is also powerful.
Think about purpose in simple terms, like a car. My car is a form of transportation that has the ability to take me places and I know how to drive it. It is a priceless resource that helps me accomplish my daily tasks. If I didn’t know what my car was supposed to be used for or how to operate it, my ability to complete many of my daily tasks would be significantly impaired. It doesn’t matter that the car is sitting in the garage, gassed up and ready to work. If I never put the key in the ignition and drive it, it’s useless even though its potential is limitless.
Humans are built very similarly. God has created each of us with a purpose. There are specific tasks that we are designed and assigned to do but if we don’t know our purpose or are not operating in our purpose, our usefulness is diminished greatly, and we are not living optimally. We might be able to make a living, but we will never do the work that God sent us to do. And there is a difference.
Some people are oblivious that their life even has a purpose. Others are so busy surviving that they never get around to thriving. What does operating in one’s purpose feel like? How do you know when you are doing what you were meant to do?
For me, I feel most like myself when I am operating in my purpose; I feel at ease and natural. When I am teaching, sharing useful information, transferring wisdom, empowering someone else to be his or her best, I feel most like myself.
When I was a child, my siblings and I went to a daycare provider of whom I was very fond. She welcomed me and made me feel seen and valued. She affectionately called me “Bones,” as I was a very thin child. I remember her often referring to me as her “right hand” which made me feel valued. I loved my daycare provider and she trusted me with opportunities that would shape the person that I would become.
As a child of seven or eight, I loved babies and children that were younger than me. At the daycare provider’s house I got to “take care of” the babies and play with the toddlers. I got to “watch” them, wash them up and change their diapers and I LOVED it. I fondly remember the smell of the baby powder and Ivory soap that she used. I remember the Vaseline container that she kept on a “wall unit” in her daughter’s room. Her only child, would become my godmother. My daycare provider died last year. I was saddened to hear of her passing but was so grateful for her positive influence in my life.
Today, at age 44, I have no desire to operate a home day care or to “watch” children, but I do have a strong desire to “take care” of my community. I know that I was created to invest in people, including children and help them see the best in themselves and other people. I was created to advocate for the underdogs and the underserved. I was created to teach children and adults about their identity in Christ and help them uncover why they were created. And I am so grateful for my early experiences with people like my daycare provider who helped to illuminate the light inside of me, the light put there by God himself.
We all have a light, even it’s a flicker. I encourage you to pay attention to the flicker; don’t’ ignore it or smother it. No matter what age you are, don’t discount the leap in your heart when you do something that ignites your internal flame. God is always leading us toward a deeper relationship with Him and He is always nudging us closer to our purpose in Him. We will feel the nudge if we choose to pay attention.
Some people think of purpose as an extraordinary gift that only certain people are given. Some people look at movie stars, music moguls and social media sensations and think that they are the only people who have a purpose, or a significant purpose. That’s a lie. They may have a bigger platform but not necessarily a more important purpose. Just because something or someone is more visible, doesn’t mean that it or they are more important. Think about air and gravity. We can’t see either, but we would not be able to live without them.
When I think about moving in my purpose, I immediately think about nature. The Bible makes many references to the beauty and rhythm of nature. We, humans are often speechless when we experience nature in its many forms from a glorious sunrise to a breathtaking view of the ocean. Nature, in all its splendor, does not try to control itself. It obeys God and follows His lead and we are the beneficiaries of its beauty. The sun doesn’t rise when it gets ready and set when it is tired, and flowers don’t decide when to bloom. They follow the divine direction and order of an omnipotent God who is life and the creator of life on earth.
God has given everyone and everything a purpose from the tallest mountain to the tiniest microorganism. Our main purpose is to bring God glory and to accomplish the good works that He created for us to do before the beginning of time. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Satan wants us to believe that we are here by accident or by happenstance, that he oversees this world, that there is no God or that God doesn’t love us. These examples are predicated on lies. Satan is a liar. The Bible tells us that Satan is the father of lies in John 8:44, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Satan is the most unreliable source there is. He is the founding father of the original big lie – that God cannot be trusted. Don’t fall for the hoax. Don’t get so distracted by Satan and his ambassadors of evil that you abort the mission to which God has called you.
If you have not already identified your purpose in Christ Jesus, I encourage you to ask God for revelation. He will answer. This is not an overnight process and there is no Internet search or social media influencer that can give you an instant answer. Seek God, for He is the One who created you and He knows why He created you. Reflect on the times in your life in which you have felt most natural, most like yourself. Think about that thing that you do unconsciously or that thing that you would do for free. Think about the opportunities and experiences to which you gravitated toward naturally as a child or young adult. Did you like to play dress up? Did you enjoy writing stories? Did you enjoy helping people? Did you enjoy cooking or baking? Did you enjoy playing teacher? Did you enjoy creating art? Maybe you weren’t great at it or the experience was short lived but when you did it, you felt alive and full. Lean into those memories and use them as a springboard to launch into your destiny. God’s waiting on you and so is the world.
