KNOW YOUR PURPOSE IN 5 MINUTES

So much confusion has attended the teaching of purpose sometimes through a well-intentioned zeal to motivate people for exploits. I have listened to preachers make reference to the late pop music icon, Michael Jackson as an example of one who discovered his purpose. Others point to some famous footballers as examples of persons that have discovered their purpose. The popular belief is that discovery of purpose is what makes one to excel and become wealthy and famous. Is this really true?

I had many questions such as; who determines my purpose in life? Is it me? If so, I would have to determine my success too? That does not make sense if I did not create myself. If my soul is designed to live forever, is my purpose for existence limited to life in this world only or does it continue in eternity? Do I have one reason for existence here on earth and another reason for existence in eternity?

The other option is to believe that God determines my purpose. This looks more like it because the purpose of a product is always determined by the manufacturer. As for me, God made me in His image and I did not evolve from either lower or higher animals. However, how am I supposed to know what His purpose for creating me is?

I was hoping to see a vision or somehow hear a voice telling me what my purpose is. However, that did not happen and many years of my life have already been spent. I began to wonder, what happens throughout the time of waiting to know my purpose? If I wait for 15 years before the answer, I would have spent 15 years wasting away. Is this what happened to Joseph and Moses? Was Joseph’s life before he became prime minister in Egypt a waste? What about Moses, how do we account for the 80 years spent before God called him to lead Israel to freedom? Did their purpose for existence begin with these significant assignments? What about people that may never receive such dramatic call from God? There were many unanswered questions in my heart.

Then came the idea that circumstances of life will impose a demand on me that can become my purpose for life. I was told that it may be something that infuriates me or something I am deeply pained or concerned about. At first, I was excited because I could identify immediately many things I was very passionate about. It did not take long before I began to question it. The idea sounded to me like leaving my purpose to chance without any objective standard for measuring whether I am right or wrong. What demands of circumstance will be big enough to qualify as my life’s purpose? What if I am deeply concerned about many things? Which one will qualify as my purpose? My questions where still not answered.

Then this one came and it got me. I was taught that my gifts and talents will determine my purpose in life. I loved this and taught it to many. I combined gifts and talents with desires and dreams and it almost looked perfect except for two things. I was multitalented with very many interests. I wanted to do everything and to make matter worse for me, I could pretty well do most of the things I set out to do. How then do I identify which of the many interests of my heart is the one my many gifts and talents are for? I started wishing I had just one gift or talent. Maybe that would have made my job easier. The second problem was the question of those that don’t know God but have just one gift and one interest. These people may have excelled in one thing and may have become reference points in their different fields. Does it mean that they have identified their purpose in life and have accomplished them? Can an eternal God that made us to live forever create us for temporal purposes? Why then did Jesus say “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (Joh 15:5 KJV). Why did He use the word ‘nothing’ to describe what is done without Him? Can one that is not abiding in Christ fulfill God’s purpose for his life?

Thanks be to God who is faithful and keeps His word that says “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jer 29:13 KJV). My cries before God for answers resulted in God opening my eyes to see that my purpose in life has already been spelt out in the His Word, the Bible.

Evidently, it is better to get my purpose from the manufacturer than other products. This makes sense since we will all give account to God for how we lived our lives on earth. It also means that God is the one who determines whether my life on earth is a success or not. To do that God will measure my life against His purpose for me. Therefore God is the one I must go to for my purpose. I just didn't know how to get it.

Then I found out that the bible teaches that all humans exist for the same purpose. An Old Covenant prophet Isaiah, heard God say He created humans for His glory. The bible stated it this way; “Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” (Isa 43:7 KJV). Paul the apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ brought it home succinctly when he wrote “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1Cor 10:31 KJV).

It follows that your life has just one purpose; to EXIST FOR GOD’S GLORY. You will receive many assignments from the Lord according to your seasons of life. Some people may receive assignments to be pastors, business men/women, sportsmen/women, musicians, prophets, housewives, teachers, politicians, etc. Some of the methods already discussed above may help us identify which assignment we should pursue. A call into any of these fields is often mistaken as our purpose for existence. No, these are not your purpose for existence, they are your assignments from God. God’s design is for you to use these assignments as vehicles for fulfilling your purpose of existing for His glory. You live for God’s glory by discharging your assignments and roles in ways that please God. 

Therefore, when you discharge your assignment/roles as a footballer, entrepreneur, husband, prophet, son, daughter, neighbour, pastor, politician, doctor, etc. in ways that please God, you are living for God’s glory and are fulfilling your purpose for existence. This is why the bible says “… Do all to the glory of God” (1Cor 10:31). When we fail to live out our roles and assignments  for the glory of God, we are living in rebellion and that is what the bible calls sin. Apostle Paul put it this way, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23 KJV). It means we have all at one time or the other failed to exist for God’s glory. This is our sin. Just as we burn unworkable items as refuse in the city kiln, many are in danger of burning in God’s garbage kiln called Hell unless they repent and make Jesus the Lord of their lives.

How do you know what pleases God in your roles or assignments? You have to study the bible to know that. The bible contains how God want us to relate with our parents, how husbands should love their wives, how wives should respond to their husbands, how employees should work for their employers, how leaders should lead and to what goal we should do all things. This is why God says in the bible "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is" (Eph 5:17 KJV).

We please God by submitting to the will of God in all these areas. It means I should realized that being a pastor is not why I exist, it is simply  my assignment from the Lord. I can live out that assignment to God’s glory in which case I will be living up to the reason God created me. Or I can use that assignment primarily for fame and wealth in which case I will be pleasing me and not God. While doing that I may be deceived to think that I am fulfilling my purpose but I will be wrong. This is the reason many pastors and ministers may find themselves in Hell.

My dear brothers and sisters, no unbeliever can fulfill his purpose for existence. He/she must first come to Christ for this is the will of God. After that He/she must exist for the glory of Christ in all things. It is written, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Col 2:6 KJV)

You can fulfill your purpose at all times through all seasons of life by making sure that you exist for God’s glory in every assignment and role of your life.

Written by Ifiok Ukobo