"No man or woman is an island. To exist for yourself is meaningless." (Denis Waitley) "To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity." (Nietzsche) "Our prime purpose is to help others, and if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them." (Dalai Lama) "You keep waiting for the (purpose) of your life to become obvious, but it never does. Work, work, work. No moral. No plot. No eureka! Just work and schedules and days. You might as well be living inside a photocopier." (Douglas Coupland) "What is the chief and highest end of man? To glorify God and fully to enjoy him forever. (The Catechism- Westminster Assembly, 1647) What is man that God is mindful of him? Are we here to serve God in little, but powerful ways- to touch others and be touched by others, so that we and they become more than we were? Someone once told me that when I stand before God, he will have but two questions: 1) what did you do with the talents I loaned you and 2) what did you do with my Son? Is this, then, my purpose- to love God with all of my being and to faithfully serve others with every talent that I have?
I want to talk about purpose for a moment, but I confess it at the outset: I lived much of my life without purpose... and didn't even care! I simply followed my feet, or my heart, or my desires... from one place, one job, or one cause... to another. I didn't have any purpose in mind when I enrolled in college, when I started my career, or when I reared our family- I just sort of reacted to things as they popped up. Matters of emotional, physical, and spiritual health were not given much, if any, thought by me. I was hopelessly unreflective and entirely unaware of who I was, whom I ought to become, and what direction I was heading in. Frankly, though I had some good times and a modicum of success, I didn't have a clue. I simply came and went, showed up and left, and I neither felt bad for the things I did, nor felt guilty for not doing more. BUT I WAS SUFFOCATING FROM AN EMPTINESS THAT WOULD NOT LEAVE ME ALONE. I wasn't aware of much, but I was aware of the void in my soul and the emptiness that was engulfing me. Praise God, I felt entirely empty... because I believe that emptiness in one of the ways in which God speaks to us.
I didn't know much about the meaning of life then, but I did learn that an empty life isn't worth living. Take my word for it- your own emptiness will crush you if you lead a life without purpose! At least mine did. It was the emptiness that did me in! Long before I was given a purpose, I began to see that I was badly lost. I didn't know how or why, but I knew that I was lost... and that I absolutely had to find a purpose! So, without really believing, I prayed the same prayer again and again-"God, if you're listening, please show your face and take control of my life." I've had enough, I said. I'm tired of just wandering around, Lord. Please, take my life and do what you will with it. And He did! Praise God, my prayer was answered, and I came to see enjoying God's blessings and sharing his love was my purpose. It is still my purpose, and it will always be my purpose. I'm not talking about perfection... but purpose- and my purpose is to give as much of myself as I can to as much of God as I understand, to love all of you at least as much as I love myself, and in word and deed, to let people know... that they're forgiven, loved, and freed in Christ... and that God has a purpose for them- a purpose that will fill them with joy and advance His kingdom here on earth/
I am convinced that everyone alive today is alive for a purpose. They may or may not claim it, or come to know it, but they're in God's plans! He's known us from the beginning, and those whom he's known, he has predestined, and those whom he has predestined he has called, and those whom he has called, he has justified, and those whom he has justified, he has glorified. Friends, we are an integral part of God's plan. We are entrusted with talents and opportunities given to us, and we're charged with the task of making things right and whole in His name. We are part of God's great work of forgiveness, renewal, and salvation... and not molecular accidents going nowhere for no purpose. This is the great truth of Genesis, and we can claim it boldly because we are in God's hands. Yes, as the song goes, He's got you and me brother in His hands, which doesn't mean that we're the center of everything, that we'll always be pampered, or that we'll always walk downhill, but it does mean that we can fulfill our purpose without fear ...because God is with us and within us. He surrounds us, and leads us, He gives us drink and pasture... and carries us. O yes, we are God's. We're in His hands and we can be great... if we find our purpose in Him.
God has a plan for each of us, which doesn't mean that we'll win the lottery, or cure cancer, or become a movie star... but it does mean that we can transform things and lift people up... in His name... and it does mean that there's a purpose for us, in which we will be fulfilled... and be of some good to the world at the same time. God has a purpose for you... which is not you, although it will give you joy. I am sure of this because, in God's hands, everybody is SOMEBODY and nobody is ever NOBODY. Amen.
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