Purpose

I once had a conversation with a gentleman whose career for many decades was a department superintendent of a major manufacturer. His position had a high level of responsibility. He related with regret the times when he took his family on a vacation but had to leave them on location and return because of a work problem.

He did not outright say his career was a regret, but I could discern in his tone, “Why was it so important then, but now it seems almost silly?” Or “For what purpose?” I am quite certain when he retired, he was quickly replaced. By the way, the corporation no longer exists and his physical department is rust and dust.

Someone without a purpose is a lost individual. True purpose comes from somewhere outside of us. If we are just a blob of amino acids sailing through space, how could we have a true purpose? If there is no eternal purpose, then there is no purpose (or a very short-lived purpose).

Most human beings do not create, perform, or discover something that survives them beyond two generations. Businesses, farms, public service, occupational work, and such, eventually evaporate from memory and/or existence.

In our evangelical world we often use the term “lost” to indicate someone who has not accepted Christ as their Savior and Lord—someone who is not a follower of Jesus. There are probably many Christians who do not realize they have a true purpose. They too are just aimlessly going along day by day.

One of the words used to define purpose is intention. Intention indicates not by accident or by random means but by design. Here are a few scriptures to get your purpose juice flowing:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” 
(Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV).

“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine” 
(Isaiah 43:1 NKJV).

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, / having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, / to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” 
(Ephesians 1:4-6 NKJV).

We need to get still and quiet before God, and get it settled in our hearts and minds that we are designed and created by God for His purpose even if we do not yet know our purpose.

Destiny is another word we throw around flippantly. Destiny is God’s purpose fulfilled in us. In other words, God’s purposeful design of us being carried out to its fulfillment.

I have often said, “If you surrender to God, follow His will, and obey Him, you cannot miss His destiny [purpose] for your life.” You will not need to “find yourself” or discover God’s destiny for your life—it will find you because God knows where you are.

Difficult situations will come in life. There will be troubles, disappointments, and sufferings of all sorts. If we know we have a purpose from God, then it will give us the encouragement to move forward and not lose hope. Purpose produces perseverance.

I love this quote from Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher (1844-1900), where he said: “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”

The “why” is the purpose and the “how” is any difficulty. Said another way, “He who has a purpose from God can bear any difficulty” (my paraphrase).

In the biblical narrative of Lazarus being raised from the dead, Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 NKJV).

If you had no purpose for being, why would Jesus allow you to live for eternity? Jesus not only died for you so you could miss hell, but He also died for you so you could have a lasting relationship with Him now and forever. If you can grasp that truth, you are not far from your purpose.

LIVE until you die, then LIVE beyond your death.

Yours on the Journey,

Harry L. Whitt