When my 7 year old grandson was passed the ball in his first basketball game he was overwhelmed with excitement. Being so young, he was confused as to what he was supposed to do. Instead of dribbling, he set the ball down and showed off his best soccer moves; kicking it down the court and sending it sailing towards an imaginary goal. Instead of cheers he was drenched in silence and stares. The players were confused, the coaches were confused and the game came to a complete stop.
When we don’t understand life’s purpose it’s easy to lose sight of why we’re here, especially when things get difficult. Before we know it, we’re making up rules, pursuing our own goals and living a completely different life than we were made for. Then we are filled with disappointment when things don’t work out.
Psalms 119:130 says that our God is a God of clarity, and when it comes to our purpose I love the clarity that His Word provides:
“For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen” -Romans 11:36
The purpose of our entire existence is to show Him, to see Him and to know Him.
To Show Him - Acknowledge What You Were Created To Do
C.S. Lewis said, “It is easy to acknowledge, but almost impossible to realize for long, that we are mirrors whose brightness, if we are bright, is wholly derived from the sun that shines upon us.” We are useless without God. When we attempt to take control of our lives things become dim, uncertain, hopeless and chaotic. That’s because we are created to reflect the sun, our God, and in that we find peace and stability even in the midst of the most terrible storm.
To See Him - What’s His is His, What’s Mine is His
God is the explanation for and the meaning of everything. History is His story. He created it to be exactly how it is and it cannot be changed. In Acts 13:27, Paul speaks of people who didn’t know God or study the scriptures but still did what He had prophesied. The whole thing revolves around God, and whether we acknowledge it or not, every person will fulfill their purpose: to see God get the glory forever.
To Know Him - The greatest privilege imaginable
Every child has a longing to know and to be accepted by their father. God, our Father, has given us His beautiful names and majestic attributes to meditate on. Like a child, expecting awe-inspiring greatness, we find purpose by boldly entering into His presence; knowing Him and experiencing the amazing privilege of worshiping God for all that He is.
Our purpose is simple: To live for Him, through Him, and to Him! When we live contrary to how God intended, we’re left confused, with a deep longing and feelings of hopelessness.
But when we realize that creation, including us, is HIS STORY and the plot never changes, we’ll see THE COMFORTER in heartache, THE HEALER in sorrow, THE WISDOM-GIVER in confusion, and in our need we will find in Him, THE ANSWER.
The rules in this life are His and cannot be broken or changed. The entire plan is His and the way to succeed is His. If we fail to understand this, we’ll be running this race aimlessly. Just like my grandson who kicked a basketball in the opposite direction instead of swishing it in the hoop successfully.
The yearning to know what cannot be known, to comprehend the incomprehensible, to touch and taste the unapproachable, arises from the image of God in the nature of man. Deep calleth unto deep, and though polluted and landlocked by the mighty disaster theologians call the Fall, the soul senses its origin and longs to return to its source”
A. W. Tozer
To God be the glory forever,
Colette
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