Apples of Gold

You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail. Proverbs 19:21

When my husband started preaching yesterday I wondered if he had been reading my blog-until I remembered that I hadn’t actually written this one yet. It was still bouncing around in the conceptual atmosphere of my busy mind.  When God speaks something so similar to both of us at the same time, and without conferring with each other, I assume someone (besides me) would benefit from hearing it. 

I can’t speak for everyone, but so many followers of Jesus have expressed the desire to fulfill God’s purpose for their lives but they struggle to really understand exactly what they have been created to accomplish. 

I have no desire to return to the Old Testament code, and especially the limited access to God, but sometimes I wish the voice of God would cut through the noise around me as vividly as it did then. Directions seemed a bit more loud and clear. Listen to how specific God is with Moses:

What is that in your hand? A shepherd’s staff, Moses replied. Throw it down on the ground, the LORD told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back. Then the LORD told him, Reach out and grab its tail. So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand. Perform this sign, the LORD told him. Exodus 4:2-5

The obvious specificity here is what many of us long for. Write it in the sky, send an angel with clear directions. Uncertainty paralyzes us as we wait to “know for sure”. It seems as if God gives us a glimpse of our calling and then disappears behind a wall of doors, leaving us to discern which one we are supposed to open and terrified of picking the wrong one and missing out on his best for us. 

Jeremiah also received clear direction:

I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5

Most of us would probably say we have had this conversation with God, listening intently for the big reveal only to find ourselves buffering endlessly just before he gave us clear direction. 

Perhaps it is the multiple options available to each of us today that causes some of the confusion. Sometimes we aren’t really listening for the voice of God or we have a predetermined outcome in mind and our blinders prevent us from seeing God’s hand and hearing his voice. 

Jesus was asked how to receive eternal life and he laid it out clearly. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the answer the man was looking for.

But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Matthew 19:22

We must be careful to have a humble heart that is willing to embrace the answer that we didn’t want. We might not like God’s direction, we might have preferred different timing, his answer may call for us to lay down things that are dear to us. Our stubbornness can be detrimental to hearing and understanding what he is speaking to us. 

Teach me Your way, LORD; I will walk in your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. Psalm 86:11

Perhaps the next step to discerning our purpose is to tackle the division lurking within our own hearts. What I prefer must be to have what he prefers (like it or not!).

It is quite possible that we are making this more difficult than God intends. What do we know about God’s purpose for our lives? The Westminster Catechism provides some thoughts on this:

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever. 

I think most of us would say, that I can do. Clear direction at last! 

Perhaps that is not as simple as it seems. Glorifying God in our lives can be quite challenging. It requires putting others first, being a servant, caring deeply about the eternal destination of every soul and generally living according to all the teachings of the Scripture. Glorifying God is a purpose worth pursuing. 

How many of us spend little time enjoying God because we spend a whole lot of time worrying about whether or not he is pleased with us, or if we are fulfilling his purpose? 

God wants an intimate, personal, interactive relationship with us. There are so many benefits available in this relationship that we fail to tap into. We run ourselves ragged trying to earn the favor that already belongs to us, solely because of what Jesus did for us on the cross! 

Perhaps as we concentrate on fulfilling our chief purpose, we will find the path to discovering our specific calling and purpose easier to navigate. When we lay our own desires down and take hold of His we are well on the way to fulfilling our purpose. 

The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Psalm 37:23