Do you ever question God’s purpose in your life? Do you ever find yourself dreading Mondays and yearning for Fridays? Have you ever become angry at God because of the circumstances you find yourself in? You’re not alone if you answered yes to any of those questions.
Many people doubt that God is actually at work in their lives. Many hate the jobs they go to on Mondays and simply exist Monday through Friday, just to live a little over the weekend. Many look at their circumstances and blame God.
But what if there were a way where you could begin to see God’s purpose in your life? What if you could see that your circumstances – good or bad – have a purpose? What if you could see that your job is not simply something to just get by at, but something you can do for God’s glory? Would you be interested in such a change in your life?
God’s Grand Purpose For Your Life
It’s easy for us to ignore the truth of what God’s grand purpose for our lives is. He has made it clear in Scripture and it’s vital that we understand it. Don’t just skip over this because you already know all this. Read it and then live it.
To love God.
Jesus said that the number one commandment we are to live out – the one that brings the entire law together – is to love God with everything we are and everything we have. Everything we do, everything we think, is to be filtered through our love for God. It changes our perspective of everything.
Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.[shareable]Everything we do, everything we think, is to be filtered through our love for God.[/shareable]
To love others.
Jesus said that the second commandment we are to live out is to love our neighbor – other people. How we interact with people, how we judge people, how we react when they hurt us is to be filtered through the lens of love. No exceptions. Allow me to make this clear: following Jesus isn’t easy and it’s not for sissies who want to handle conflict like children. He calls us to something greater, something much harder, something much better – sacrificial love TOWARD EVERYONE!
Mark 12:31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”[shareable]Following Jesus isn’t easy and it’s not for sissies who want to handle conflict like children.[/shareable]
To have a hope and a future.
As much as I can’t stand Jeremiah 29:11 being blindly quoted without its context being considered, it still does apply to our because of its position in the grand narrative of Scripture. Jeremiah is telling the Israelites that even though they are about to be in exile, God’s ultimate plan and purpose for them is greater than they could imagine. That hope and future is ultimately realized in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The same hope and future Jeremiah spoke of for the Jews is available to you and me. The hope and future is, specifically, salvation and resurrection to eternal life with God in the new earth that is to come when Jesus returns.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
To be witnesses to this hope.
Jesus’ last words before He ascended to Heaven were a promise that His disciples weren’t alone and that their mission is of utmost importance. He gave them their mission and subsequently gives us our mission today. They were told to be God’s witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Likewise, we are told to be God’s witnesses in our community, region, country, and the whole world. This is all done through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
God’s Grand Purpose For Your Job
Much of the reason that you may dread Mondays and yearn for Fridays is because you have lost sight of what God desires from you in your job. Obviously, at the outset, I must make clear that your job can’t honor God if what you do doesn’t honor Him. Simple, I know. But necessary to say, for sure.
God calls us to work in some way. Stay at home moms, CEOs, electricians, burger flippers, you name it. We are all called to work. The first job that was ever given to mankind was the job of a farmer. But here’s the thing, you can do your job for God’s glory.
Take a look at these verses:
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
This is taken from the context of Jewish food restrictions and whether or not they are now valid for all people to follow. The principle, though, is relevant. Paul says that this filter is relevant to all things we do – do all to the glory of God. This certainly relates to your job as well as to everything else in your life.
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men
God’s Grand Purpose For Your Suffering
One thing that sticks out to me when I read the book of Acts is the fact that, when the disciples faced opposition, when they were beaten for their faith, they thanked God that they were WORTHY of suffering. How crazy is that?! We always ask God, WHY am I suffering? But these guys THANKED God that they got to suffer. Maybe they saw that there was a connection in following God’s mission and suffering. Maybe they saw that there was an enemy who was trying to stop them from doing what God called them to do and they also saw that God was consistently, without fail, flipping the script on their suffering and growing them through it.
Hmm. What if we saw the truth of this passage:
Romans 5:3-5 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
The Life-Changing Power of a Perspective Pivot
As you can see, I haven’t actually tried to show you some 14 step way to see God’s purpose in your life. I’ve done one thing. I’ve showed you passages of Scripture that relate to your life, job, and suffering.
So often we end up complicating the purpose of God, explaining some grand opinion of our own. All the while, we have His very words in our Bibles and they sit there on the bookshelf or our night stand collecting dust.
Want to see God’s purpose in your life? Open up your Bible.
Do what He says to do. Realize who you are in Him. Pay attention to how His Spirit is leading, molding, and changing you.[shareable]Want to see God’s purpose in your life? Open up your Bible.[/shareable]
There’s power in a perspective pivot.
You may question whether or not God is working in your life or whether or not He cares for you. Pivot your perspective so that your eyes are on His promises that He has given you in His word.
You may question the purpose in your job. Pivot your perspective so that your eyes are on what God has said you are to do in your job and in your life.
You may question the purpose in your suffering. Pivot your perspective so that your eyes are on what God is doing in you in the midst of your suffering.
In all things, pivot your perspective in the direction of God’s word. You’ll be glad you did.[shareable]In all things, pivot your perspective in the direction of God’s word.[/shareable]
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