Render your purpose...

Render your purpose.

I Chronicles 28:9-10
9"And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. 10Be careful now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it."

Just when you think what you do doesn’t matter.

I think that everything in life should be done with purpose. Yes, we do things like watch movies or football games and many times, personally I am not sure if the purpose of that is really life changing. Of course entertainment is something that relaxes us and can be used to bring people together. I like my fair share of movies, music, theme parks, etc. But this is not what this is all about. I think that the things we do in life, like work, building relationships, service, etc. should be done with a greater purpose than our just fulfilling some need in our lives. Some of us work at jobs that we do not necessarily see the results of what we are doing. Some of us work at jobs that seem to only be putting food on the table and taking care of one’s family. Only enough to make ends meet per say. There are times, however, when we find ourselves on a mountain top. I think Oswald Chambers calls it a mountain top experience. However, most days for a person are “normal.”

We often times do not know what impact we are having on another person. I have had experiences since I was in middle school that have solidified my belief in a beautiful God I cannot see-a God that is all knowing and gives me unconditional love despite the fact that I do not deserve Him. I often need reminding of this. When I ask God to remind me of His love and His purpose, He answers me. He reminds me of the purpose in life. He shows me that He loves me and shows me that He is faithful to complete a good work in me that He began many years ago when I decided to follow Him (Philippians 1).

Sometimes when I do the same things over and over again every day at work or in completing my school work, I think I lose sight of what my heart’s desire should be. I lose sight of where I have been and what God has used me to do in the lives of others. My heart is the way it is for a reason. My will is the way it is for a reason. My mind is the way it is for a reason. My life has been what it is for a reason. Nothing is a mistake in the eyes of God. Even when I think that I am not good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not eloquent enough, not purposeful enough, God reminds me that those are all lies. This is not to say I cannot improve myself through God’s Word and His Spirit…we cannot excuse our flaws, though we all have them. But we can say that there is a purpose (probably more than one) for the way that we are made, the way we love God, the way we love people, the way we carry burdens, the way we talk, the way we live…

Just today I got a surprise from God in allowing me to reconnect with a mountain top experience that changed my life in high school. Three of my favorite moments in life have been forged in foreign countries among foreign peoples. That is something I often forget in the place that I currently am. Every once in a while too, the enemy lies and tells me that I should not be the way I am because it is not good enough to make a difference right now. I am beginning to remember where I have been, where God has brought me from, to the place I am now-that there is a purpose for everything under the sun. Why do what I do, why say what I say, why feel what I feel, why love, cry, hurt, rejoice, if not for a greater purpose than my own selfishness. That is not a purpose at all. I only share my personal experience right now in hopes that those of you who know Jesus Christ can understand that we get lost-lost in the everyday experience, lost in our selfishness, lost in a false feeling, lost in a pointless relationship, lost in a greedy job-But there is a greater purpose than all of these fallible things that do not last.

I pray every day that God will show me how to love as He loves and to help me to see others through His eyes. This is difficult if I cannot allow God to love me, all of me, and give myself up in such a way that the purpose of my heart and its passions are served for something and someone beyond me.

I encourage you all to look at where you have come from and where you are. God does not make junk. He does not make mistakes. He had and always will have a purpose for our hearts. To love Him, to know Him and to make Him known through His love. If you feel you have not had a mountain top experience with God then pray for one. Pray for revelation. Pray for God to show out in your life. But remember that the Devil shows up to steal what it is you are doing for God’s kingdom. He will lie to you and tell you that you are not accepted by others because you are not good enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not loving enough, not charming enough, not strong enough, not _______. You get the point I think.

Sometimes after I have a broken moment, like the one down on my knees in the rain the other day I realize who God has made me to be and who He wants me to be. There is a reason for every part of who He has made me. There is a reason for every part of who He has made you. God reminded me today that times I have thought did not make a difference actually did. He reminded me that I may not be able to see the instances right at this moment that are touching the lives of others, but He is not wasting my time, my heart, my pain, my love, or anything else that I give of myself. He is part of each day, each minute that I allow Him to use me. He does the same for you. God does not waste a moment.

Render your purpose to God’s will. To His love. To His affection. To His strength. To His refining fire to forge something that allows you to freely give of yourself to change the lives of others regardless of where you find yourself at this exact instant. Zechariah 13:8-9 says “9And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"

John 15: 12-17
12"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”