Searching for Your Purpose

“What am I supposed to do with my life? What is God calling me to do?”

I’ve heard others ask those questions, even asked them myself a zillion times or so. It all reminds me of picking blackberries.

Let me explain.

When I was a little girl, my brother and I would follow the trail behind our house and into the woods as we searched for blackberries. Not the green or red ones, of course, but the dark, fat ones.

Usually, I could stay on the path and pick enough to contribute to Mom’s cobbler. But sometimes I’d spot a ginormous berry in the middle of the blackberry bush, so I’d work my way through those pesky briars as they tugged at my clothing and scratched my skin.

When I’d finally reach for the prize, that one blackberry I knew would be worth the bloody scratches on my arms and legs, my slightest touch to a nearby branch would send the thing plummeting to the ground.

Sigh.

So without my top berry, I would maneuver my way out, carefully backing up as I tried to avoid more snags and cuts. After feeling defeated and a little beaten up, I’d realize there was a whole mess of blackberries on the outside of the bush hiding under the canopy of leaves. I’d missed them because I’d had my eyes fixed on that berry in the middle. The one that looked the best. The one that would be the most difficult to pick.

What looked the best and what I knew would be the hardest to reach seemed to be the one I needed. Or so I thought.

And isn’t that what we do sometimes when we’re searching for our purpose, God’s will for our lives?

We use our eyes or our logic and we dive into something we have no business diving into—all because we think it’s the real “prize.” It makes sense to us. We know it’s going to be a lot of hard work, but we rush right in there after it, believing it to be “God’s best” for our lives without stopping first to check with Him.

We get banged up, scratched up, left feeling defeated because when we finally reach “it,” the thing falls away and we’re left standing there looking at the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. We wonder if it’s too late to turn around and ask God to show us His plan. (Hint: As long as you’re still walking around on planet earth, it’s not too late.)

If we would just stay on the trail God has us on, He will show us. If we stay close to Him and keep talking to Him even when we don’t feel like it, even when the answers are SO slow in coming, even when we don’t feel Him, and even in the midst of a pandemic when things seem to be out of control, God will show up and teach us through His Holy Spirit what we’re supposed to do with our lives.

My friend, your life’s purpose may be closer than you think, easier to recognize than you realize, and simply not at all what others believe you should do with your life.

Go to God. He’s the One growing the berries, after all. And He’s the One who has the best recipe for your life.

“I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.” (Psalm 57:2. ESV.)

“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” (Proverbs 19:21 NLT.)

 

Photo from pexels.com.

 

 

 

A Distracting Itch

Have you ever been so eager to do something or desperate for change that you feel antsy, even itchy in your own skin?  It’s enough to drive you crazy.

Or enough to distract you.

Distract you from what?

Well if God has called you to do something but you’ve been pulled away by the “itch,” then perhaps you’re distracted from God and His will for your life.

Let me give you an example:

Like so many bloggers out there, I’ve written a book.  Correction: God and I have written a book.  It’s in the final revision process and it’s not going to go anywhere until I submit it, which I can’t do until it’s ready.  So I need to get to work.

Along comes fall, an extremely antsy time of year for me, and I’m ready to start something new and I want it to be big.  I’m ready to start a business, ready to find a job, ready to have an income to help my husband who’s been carrying the load for far too long.

So I look online at jobs and inquire about an opening I stumbled on while out running errands. I go to the library and search for hours for the right “business.”  I research online sales, craft, and baking ideas.

Why?  Because the itch to “do” is constant and won’t go away.

Meanwhile, the book lies dormant within my laptop.

And God is waiting on me.

I have a choice to make.  I can either abandon the task God has given me for a quick fix or I can go the long haul and finish what He and I have started.  Perhaps a blessing will come from the finished book.  Or perhaps the blessing will simply come from obeying Him.  Either way, I have to ignore that antsy feeling, forget about going my own way, and finish the book.

Satan would love it if you and I would never finish our God-given tasks because we’re too focused on the itch of our flesh.  The enemy will use whatever he can to distract us and lead us astray (read The Monster in the Closet ).  Remember, he’s at the head of the line when it comes to rebelling against God.

Are you feeling antsy, impatient in your spirt because the task God has given you is taking way too long?  Is your flesh itching to do something else and you’re not sure what to do about it?

Friend, pray about those antsy feelings and hold on tight to God’s hand.

It would be a real shame for you to let go of Him now just to scratch that annoying itch.  You may just miss what you’ve been praying for.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16 NASB.)

A Spiritual Intersection

Have you come to a spiritual intersection in your life and you’re waiting at a red light?

This is different than a fork in the road where there are two similar paths and you have to choose between the two. And it’s not a bend in the road either where the destination ahead is shrouded in mystery.

This is an intersection. There is commotion and movement.  There is also stopping and waiting.  But not for long.

If you’ve arrived here, change must be happening for you. Perhaps you’ve prayed for it or perhaps this intersection comes as a surprise.  Whatever the reason, you have to make a decision.

Should you continue on this road you’ve been on or should you turn right or left?

As you sit here and wait with your mind scurrying, your sweaty hands gripping the steering wheel, maybe you’re wondering where those who have the green light are going with such confidence and certainty. Perhaps the longer you sit here you begin to doubt your own direction.  It would be so much easier to follow everyone else, but that’s not what God calls any of us to do.  You’re to follow God’s direction for your life, to follow the calling of your Savior, and never settle.  Settling would be if you choose to follow someone other than God on a road that, for you, would lead to the dead-end town of Disobedience where the mayor, Misery, would welcome you with open arms and offer you immediate residency in a prison cell where the walls of those who’ve come before you reek from the breath of their discouragement.

So let me ask you this: Are you trying to lead your own life or are you allowing God to lead the way?

If you’re still trying to figure it all out, trying to glance over at the map you brought along so you wouldn’t get lost, don’t panic. If you’re allowing God to lead the way, He won’t concern Himself with your narrow-focused map or the surge of rush-hour traffic that’s about to swarm.  He knows what lane you need to be in, and He knows how hard this turn is going to be for you.

He will help you if you ask.

So pray and ask God to lead you right where He wants you. And when the light turns green, hit the gas and go.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”  (Romans 12:2 NLT.)

The First Snowflake

I remember art class in grade school and how we passed around a leaf pattern made of cardstock. After we traced, cut-out, and colored our leaves, our teacher would hang them somewhere in the classroom or out in the hallway.

The leaves were basically the same. There was a difference in the way we colored them of course, but the shape and size were identical.  Why wouldn’t they be?  We used the same pattern.

The idea of using the same pattern as everyone else is fine for an elementary art project, but what about real life? Are you using the same pattern as everyone else so you’ll fit in or you’ll just feel better about yourself?  Maybe you’re afraid of letting other people down instead of considering that you’re letting God down.  Are you choosing that worn-out, old pattern others are using instead of being who God wants you to be?

It’s hard to turn down the pattern, to go against the norm and stand alone. But sometimes you have to do it to become who God wants you to be.

He doesn’t want you to be just like everyone else, or He would have made you that way. In a world full of cut-out leaves, He wants you to be His one-of-a-kind masterpiece, unique and memorable like that first snowflake of a new season; one that will astonish the world.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2 NIV.)