Philippians 3:12b (NIV®)
“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
Have you ever stopped and thought about why you are here? Do you wonder if how you are spending your days amounts to anything? Do you know your purpose, your calling?
If you have a spouse, part of your purpose is to love and support them. If you have kids, you have the added purpose of loving them and training them up in the knowledge of God. If you work, your purpose is to represent the Lord in how you work and in your interactions with coworkers and customers. If you attend church, part of your purpose is to praise and worship and hopefully serve the body of Christ in some capacity. As a follower of Christ, your purpose is to be obedient, to pray, to share and to live in a way that will honor Him.
I mention all of these aspects of life because sometimes I think we can fall into an inaccurate picture of why we’re here. God created us as humans not super heroes. His intent is for us to live peaceful and holy lives. (1 Timothy 2:2-4) He has plans for us and made those plans before we were ever born, just as he did with Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5). The world likes to push big accomplishments, big money and big power but the most precious and meaningful life can be that of a Mother or Father who loves their kids and teaches them how to know and love God, or a neighbor who shares the love and knowledge of God with others. Don’t misunderstand. If God wants to use us for big things we want to be all in on that. Many of us, however, are called to a simpler life and purpose.
Still feel like you’re falling short? Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t. In the end, God has a purpose and plan for all of us. Do we make mistakes and bad decisions along the way? Of course we do. We are human. But in the end, God’s plan and purpose for us does not change. He saved us for a purpose and whether we figure out the entirety of His plan for us or not, we still work toward it. The only way we fall short is to stop.
Maybe you’re weary in doing good. God tells us not to be. (Galatians 6:9) That is easier said than done sometimes. So if you need to rest, rest. Just don’t stop. We may never know the outcome of our efforts. We can only do what we know to do, but we must do what we know to do. That is the only way we can fulfill the purposes God has for us. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to come to the end of my life and wonder if I did all I could. I may not have some great calling to preach to thousands or to help serve in a foreign country to those in need but I can do what is in front of me. You can too. We do what is next. We do what we know to do. We look for opportunities to serve, to love, to represent Him well. Every day we look for His plan for us that day. We do whatever that is and trust the results to Him. We pause long enough to refuel so we can go again. We never stop. We keep going.
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