One of the greatest fear that man struggles todays is to have lived a life that lacks purpose. Everyman asks for what purpose his existence has been granted in the council of the Eternal One, and almost everyone either ends up finding one or they are bent looking for it in the wrong places. Do we have a purpose? Shall I answer this in 40 points like Rick Warren did? Neigh, but let’s get down to the basics. God created man for a purpose, that no one can doubt but as to why He made you and me and for what reason, which is our basic lesson for today.

Laurie Beth Jones in her book, the Path wrote that, “People with a clearly defined mission have always led those who do not have one. You are either living your mission, or you are living someone else’s.” It can be said based on her statement that those who have clear vision of their purpose in life are the ones who would inevitably achieve them. To achieve our goals we need to define our mission and then do it, but finding our mission does not preclude that we have also found our purpose in this life. Sometimes we can comply to having our own vision by copying others vision or mission in life. This is a widespread practice among those who do franchising as well as to many local churches who found their mission by franchising another church. Instead of dwelling in the light, looking to the Lord for the blueprint of their ministry and purpose in this life, they sought the easier way by finding it in business directories and googling it in the web. Man cannot achieve a lasting purpose, and man will inevitably fail to achieve the most fulfilling task at hand, when he resorts to artificial aims and devices.

Greatest fear

Richard Leider and David Shapiro found that neither shark nor snake bite is the number one fear of people but living a purposeless life! The only cure is to find it back by returning where we have lost it in the first place. In Genesis, God declared, “Let there be light” and there was light. This light speaks not only of the kinds and nuances of light e.g. short wave (ultraviolet, x-rays), long wave (infra-red, radio waves), and heat and other electromagnetic radiation but it encompasses also the revelation of light, that light which was first revealed here like the Day is no other than God Himself. “In the beginning,” the Word says, is God, and the succeeding verses only describes what the nature of this beginning was, “Light.” More than all the descriptors that can be put about light, light means revelation, it means the nature of God, which is to reveal out of deep secrecy or out of nothing that which is first conceived in His heart. He is the God who calls out of nothing, the God who searches the deep things and bring them to the surface, the God who understands everything hidden in our hearts.

Are there things you do not know or understand today? Basically, one of the most misunderstood or sought for question is to find ones’ purpose in this world. We frame it up differently, depending on our backgrounds, for the businessman, he asks, what enterprise am I called to build? In which area should I find my niche? And where should I locate my business so that it will flourish with customers that can become loyal buyers? For the aspiring and motivated pastor who wants security more than simply throwing foods in the fishpen, he wants to get the church with the biggest number. For the newbie scientist, it is to find which area to excel and which possible subject matters of endeavor to explore. For the budding teacher it is to find the right grade, location and specialization; and for the High schoolers like most of everyone here, who are anxious to get into college, it is to find the right course that could land them with a good job security afterwards. All of these things have not been pre-written by the Lord nor the Holy Spirit have spoken of it to your pastors, teachers, mentors or parents before you were all born.

Led by the Spirit

The Bible is very general when it comes to finding one’s purpose, or calling in the Christian vocabulary. Our call does not come down from heaven like a falling banana leaf then ka-boom, there you are, you must become a missionary to Timbuktu. This is not how God works in the life of a maturing Christian, He would rather us, filled with the Spirit, use our minds based on the Word of God to find our destinies in Him. There are many helps that can direct us to the right one. It is the characteristic of achievers to know well where to find the right resources that could equip them. In fact Paul and Barnabas and the disciples of Christ were not led by hands to do everything that they need to do; they used their minds! Paul exclaimed, “For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ,” (1 Corinthians 2:16), to show us God appropriated each one of us with a portion of the mind of Christ, the wisdom of God.

It is therefore not surprising that the Spirit inspired prayer of the Apostle to the Ephesian church is, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:18-23).

What is directly embodied here is that God wants to enlighten us, not to cloud our vision. And God wants us to find out what are the glorious and surpassing riches that are in store for us in Christ. First, we are sure that since Christ was brought from the dead, and now lives to intercede at the right hand of the Father, we who now live have a living hope which is the anchor of the soul. Anyone who has hope does have it because they have the goal to live by faith, to seek new directions and find meaning and purpose for their lives. The main point of Jesus telling us here that all authority and power have been given to Him, that is, “He is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.” This is because the Father has “put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Or in short, the surpassing greatness that is noted here is for every Christian, that is in the Lord. Because His promise to us is yes and amen, and that as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

United with Christ

A basic way to find our purpose in the Lord and in our life is to be joined with Him in a relationship. When we are united with Christ, we are abiding with Him, not in sin anymore which can cloud our vision but in light and life because Christ is the Tree of Life. Jesus encouraged us, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4). Our fruitfulness in this life is determined by how close we are in the Lord. Therefore Christians are supposed to be the most disciplined and extraordinary people living on earth today, a force that can be reckoned to do mighty exploits on earth just as Joel prophesied, “A fire consumes before them and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run. With a noise as of chariots they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,  like a mighty people arranged for battle” (Joel 2:3-5).

Our union with Christ produces no greater motivation than that we seize the vision of eternity and plant it in the soil of our lives. This eternal vision produces no better vision than that we live our lives always looking forward to the crown that the Lord would one day give us, crown of righteousness such as what Paul wrote about, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8). Paul’s life, works and writings probably continue to bear fruit and save millions of lives because though he is dead, yet he is alive well in his writings and his legacy. Those who touched the hem of the garment of the eternal One are also imparted with the vision for eternity that continues to burn.

Removing the scales from our eyes

Paul who confessed that he was formerly a blasphemer, persecutor and violent aggressor first found the call of his life when Jesus called him to preach the Gospel, through a blinding light encounter on the road to Damascus. What is not often discussed here is that Saul was breathing with a violent rage to throw all Christians into the prison halls. Yet it is also written that on the third day when the disciple Ananias laid hands on Paul’s eyes, “something like scales immediately fell his and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened (see Acts 9:17).” Once Paul got up, he never look back and finished his course with exemplary performance that few would ever venture to. Because our mind and body can’t settle for anything less, and since the Lord has called us to be like Him, we need to find our purpose, a first step to do away the masks that we often wear is to draw nearer to the Lord. If one day you were walking at the beach and saw a Mercedez-Benz complete with its manuals and breaks, you know that someone has designed and manufactured this car. You also know that it is wise to first read the manuals before actually driving it. Likewise, we need to be connected to the Lord, our Creator, there is no other way to understand our deep longings and find them out except in the context of an ongoing and growing relationship with the Lord. Christianity is not a religion nor simply a way of life, it is a relationship between two persons, a sharing of life, character, secrets and works. There is no better picture than that it is a marriage of two lives, the cleaving of two different entities to become one! When we walk as one with the Lord, then we will understand His ways, know His thoughts and do His works. For as Christ has spoken, I do not do the works, but the Father in Me doeth them!

Removing the veil

Once we are connected with the Lord, drawing nearer with Him everyday through reading the Word and fellowship with other Christians, the thick veil of darkness that wrapped our hearts are being washed away. Just as a pelting rain will eventually mark its way through a rock or pavement, the light that we have increases daily as we grow in Christ and this pierces and breaks the darkness and bondages in our lives so that we can really know what is important, what is urgent, what is right, and what is our purpose. The following verses have guided me in my personal journey to seek God’s purpose in my life and remain firm to the end.

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8

For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world. Philippians 2:13-15

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; Colossians 4:2

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.
Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Colossians 4:5-6

But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:6-8

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience… Colossians 3:1-6

The main thing here is, first find your Maker, draw near to Him in humility and He alone will direct your paths so that it will shine like the noonday Sun, ever brighter each day. Trusting the Lord for the purpose of our lives and its fulfillment is not a passive act of waiting, rather it is continually seeking and doing things from the basic of what is already revealed by the Scriptures such as the Ten Commandments, prayer and reading the Word to detailed and specific guidance. Faith always starts as a seed that grows to a tree until it blooms and bears fruit. The basic idea is we align ourselves to the purposes of God and He supernaturally awakens in us the desires that He has placed in our hearts, this is how God wills His good pleasure in us so that we do them. Thus, purpose (direction, guidance, mission) tells you of what you should do. Your needs (food, clothing, shelter) dictate what you must do now while your desires (passion, enjoyable work) point you to what you want to do. Taken individually all of these three will give you a picture, a starting point towards the specific direction that God may want you to do.