LIFE WITH PURPOSE

To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose
under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1

I'll call her Jane. She had served her church faithfully for many years and yet it would appear to any person because of Jane's age, that she had many other years to the same thing. She was, however, stricken with cancer and passed into Heaven after a very strong and brave battle. This was going on many years ago and I was relatively new to our church. I didn't know her in her healthy days, but determined to visit her in her home even though we didn't know each other well. Jane made our first visit so easy, but that's the way she was. She was in bed, in terrible torment from the pain. Medications were no longer much of a relief for her. All of the spiritual cliches that ran through my mind seemed so insignificant as I watched that godly lady in what were probably her last days of life.

I recall Jane, looking up at me with eyes full of agony saying to me, “Glendarae, why, why doesn't my Lord take me on home? I'm no good to anyone like this.” I remember praying to myself one of those quickie prayers for wisdom. I found myself responding to her in a way I knew wasn't my own, but remember to this day the thoughts the Holy Spirit gave me in those moments. In so many words I told her that no matter our circumstances, I believe we are here until God is finished with us and that He doesn't waste a single crumb of our lives. I told her that she was still here for purpose.

Whether she realized it or not, she ministered still in the lives of every person who came into her room...nurses, family, home health care workers, church members, neighbors, etc. She may have felt because of being so confined that God was finished with her. God brought folks to her for ministry. We don't know much about those things until Heaven.

I wish we could come more to grips with God's sovereignty. I realize there are those who have warped that concept in their spiritual thinking. However, God is in complete charge of EVERYTHING. There isn't a single thing or person that slips His mind. How He tracks everything, I don't know but I don't have to know. I just rest in the fact that He does all things well and has purpose in my life and in yours as well.

The word “purpose” has more than one meaning, often depending on how it is pronounced. For instance, purpose can be:

*spiritual...from salvation to spiritual growth and activity
*aim or intent...as in a marriage proposal
*goal or meaning of one's life
*a person's view of doing or becoming

At the time of conception, Psalm 139 tells us that God knew us at conception and even before. Every single human being is born with a purpose in life. That purpose isn't confined to our teen or early adult years. God has purpose for our lives until we draw our last breath and find ourselves in His presence.

Many Christians flounder because they lose a sense of purpose. They feel no sense of destiny in God's overall plan. I don't understand how there can be so many folks in any one church who are so different and yet, when following God's will, can do so much for Him. He works in the oddest of situations to bring glory to Himself and to give each of us a sense of purpose. God fits us together like puzzle pieces, each with their own purpose, to put together something beautiful for Him

God's purpose in my life isn't going to be like it would be in the life of another. Christians should never compare themselves with other Christians they admire, wanting to be just like them. We are individuals in God's sight and my plan is designed just for me and I'm not to borrow from someone elses. God has known through these years who and what He has wanted me to be. He has gifted me for service just like He has every other Christian.

Who (Jesus) hath saved us, and called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works,
but according to His own PURPOSE and grace,
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began.
II Timothy 1:9

On days when you feel God is finished with you or that you have no purpose in life, both concepts are wrong. God is never finished with us and has His purpose in our lives until we step into eternity. Our problem often is that we've lost sight of what we know His intent is for us. We may even want to change God's mind as to who we think we ought to be. Remember in His sovereignty, He WAYS knows what He's doing. He has His purpose for us down to our last breath.

Remember, as I told Jane, that God doesn't waste a single crumb of who we are. We must determine that our purpose is the purpose He designed for us in His all-wise sovereignty.

Dear Father, forgive my wanting at times to do my own thing my own way when You, in Your wisdom, have chosen purpose for my life. Thank You for Your direction in my life and for giving me the honor of serving You. Thank You for Jesus who through Your loving grace has made purpose a wonderful reality for me. In His precious name....Amen