Wrestling with purpose…
Dana…” Pray the urgent will not overtake the important.”
Amen!! Unbeknownst to her, I needed the prayer more than she did. I just did not realize it until she said it. My friend understood how to pray.
The urgent is relentless. It holds me hostage to its demands. I am bombarded by its’ mandates and yet it never seems to be satisfied. No matter how much I give it, the urgent seems to reappear.
And yet, I don’t want to live a life dictated by the urgent. I want to live a life dictated by the important. I want to be driven by my God-given purpose.
Somewhere along the way, I’m concerned I may have forfeited my purpose. I may have gotten distracted.
Esau got distracted. He sold his birthright for a cup of stew. (Genesis 25:29-32) He was more interested in immediately satisfying his hunger pains, than coming into the full purpose for which he was created. He forfeited his inheritance, living out his God ordained purpose, for one lousy cup of stew. In one rash moment, he gave it all away.
How many times have I forfeited God’s call on my life for a cup of stew? How many times have I compromised? How many times did I say no to God? How many times did I give my inheritance away, one piece at a time? Little by little.
I believe God has big things in mind for each of us. Our very own walking on water moments or parting of the Red Sea. He wants to use each of us to do the impossible for His kingdom and His glory. But each time I compromise, or delay, or say no; I give away part of the impossible. If I compromise the small things the big things are built upon I, in effect, forfeit the impossible. After all, if Peter did not get in the boat when Jesus told him too, he would have never had the opportunity to get out of the boat or walk on water.
I must learn to be faithful in the small things first!!
Jesus prayed…Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10) God keeps pressing into me, first and foremost, my purpose is to be used by Him to accomplish His will on earth just as it is in heaven.
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. (John 6:38)
Jesus understood His purpose. He came to do the will of His Father.
My purpose is to do the will of my Father.
One of the simplest (not easiest) ways to do the will of our Father is to do what Jesus did.
Jesus came to serve. (Matt. 20:28) He came to give life and give it to the full. (John 10:10) He came to proclaim the good news to the poor, bind up the broken-hearted and set the captives free. (Luke 4:18-19) He came to love and to teach us how to love not with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:18) He came to Shepherd His people and to lay down His life as a ransom for many. (John 10:14-18) He was a friend to sinners. (Matt 11:19) He came to take up our infirmities and bear our sickness. (Matt. 8:16-17) He came to heal the sick and raise the dead. (Matt 10:8) Jesus did the will of His Father even when it was hard. (Matt 26:37-39) He came to be rejected and killed and on the third day raised to life. (Luke 9:22)
The truth is today I am challenged to love someone with my actions. Maybe I will be called to sit beside someone who is sick, feed them or send them an encouraging note. Maybe I will be called to speak the truth in love, so God can use the truth to set someone free. Or maybe I will be called to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. (Romans 12:15) Maybe I will need to feed my enemy; or overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:20-21) Maybe I will need to lay down my life for someone else…to put their needs before mine. Maybe I will need to be a friend to the lonely, downtrodden or sinner. Maybe I will need to choose to forgive. (Matthew 18:21) Maybe I will need to be difficult to offend or stay silent before my accusers. (Psalm 119:165 KJV; Mark 14:61) Maybe I will need to bear with someone today. (Colossians 3:13) Or maybe I will be called to keep a tight rein on my tongue. (James 1:26) Or maybe I will be called to keep the faith…to continue to hope for and be assured of that which I do not see. (Hebrew 11:1)
I’m not sure what the day will hold, but I know He has something for me today. We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesian 2:10)
I need to get this right; the world around me is watching. Will my children see a mother pursuing her purpose or compromising her convictions? Will my friends see a woman who knows who she is and whose she is? Will my colleagues see a woman with a deep-seated sense of purpose and the strength, stamina and integrity to walk it out? Will my family know how to press in and press on until they have changed the world for God’s kingdom and His glory??
Lord, teach me to live my life like yours. With intention and on purpose. With a deep-seated knowledge of who I am and whose I am. Press into me where I have come from and where I am going. Give me a clear vison of the work You have given me to do and the strength and fortitude to do Your will and finish Your work.
