Have you ever doubted your purpose in life? Have you ever thought, “What am I supposed to be doing?” Or why am I here? Why don’t I have a mission in life?
I have, with increasing intensity these last two weeks. I’ve been wrestling with the question, “What’s next God?” I’ve been reading books about purpose and listening to great sermons like Craig Groeschel’s “Warrior” series. I started asking God, “What do you want me to do? What would you have me do for you? What did you put me on this earth for? What is my cause?”
I wanted him to tell me to start a ministry or be a spiritual warrior in faraway lands on a faraway adventure. I wanted him to give me a big cause so that I could do big things for him in big ways. But last Monday, in the midst of working through the weight and burden of feeling like I didn’t have a cause, I felt like God reminded me that he doesn’t think like I do. Maybe, when he hears me crying out for a cause, when he hears me asking him to transform me into a spiritual warrior, he wants to cry back:
"You want to be a warrior? Be a warrior of need and surrender. Make fighting for a relationship with me your greatest cause and see what other causes come out of that. See what other causes I put in your path. I can bring you adventures, but those things are small. Those are tiny compared to the cause of surrendering your heart and soul to me. That's your cause right now. Daily, hourly surrender of your heart and soul to me. You are on an adventure, make no mistake, but the real adventure, the big one that I cheer loudest about from the bleachers of heaven is for your heart. The adventure that begins every morning. That is the adventure I care about. Don't miss that one."
And I do, I miss it all the time because I focus on "what's next" instead of "what's now." I get so lost thinking I need to “do something for him” instead of “be in a relationship with him.” Like it says in Revelation 2:4, I forsake my first love. Repentance. Forgiveness. A minute by minute, all consuming need for God.
I don't want to miss that adventure. I don't want you to miss it either. God has big, crazy things planned for all of us. But the biggest adventure, the greatest cause, the grandest purpose, is the one that starts in our heart.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
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89 comments:
Jon,
This was exactly what I needed to hear this morning. Thank you!
I'm joining you on that adventure, brother....
But seek ye first his kingdom and righteousness!
Very true and always good to be reminded.
Thank you! I really needed to hear this!
Reminds me of some thoughts I've been having on that two-pronged purpose - 'to know God and make him known'. Usually I forget both. But sometimes I focus so much on the second I forget about the first.
Thank you.
Hin-Tai
That's a really beautiful, succinct way to look at it. Thanks for sharing that.
Jon
Ha! I laugh because that's what I have been praying lately. I love God's sense of humor.
Thanks for reminding me I need to be focusing on 'what's now' instead of 'what's next'.
Best post, hands down. What you just wrote is the single most important Truth we can ever wrestle with. And I do wrestle with it, too.
Thanks for telling it like it is, and sharing it here. Even more, I'm thankful God has shown this to you.
In being away from the Institutional church for a year and a half I have realized that many sermons I heard preached about doing BIG THINGS were actually like the infomercials on TV. The purpose of the infomercial is to create a void that can only be filled by their product. Sermons, if not given in the right spirit, create a void that can only be done by doing the 'big things.' and since not many of us actually do 'big things' on a daily basis, we live our life in a void. The Kingdom of God asks us to be as a child. The big things will come along as the Father wills when we are walking in hand with Him. You have said it so well. Our biggest thing is to be loved by Him.
Ohhhhhh, yes. I'm in college right now, after raising two daughters. And I so want to know what He wants me to do with the rest of my life, I can hardly stand it!
I just want to be where He wants me, but there are so many times I don't know where that is.....
Amen, bro. We pray to God to show us what He has in mind for us. Then He says, "What you're doing right now." Oh. I guess I'd better pay attention to what I'm doing, then.
I'm on one of those "faraway adventures" and I still ask these kinds of questions. The adventure is great, but definitely not enough without the first love. It is easy from anywhere to focus too much on what the next best thing may be instead of the now. Good post.
Jon,
Quit reading my mind.....
Wow. Either you read my mind, or... your purpose for today was to write that post!
Two thoughts:
- Moses was 80 when he got his mission
- I think you're right in the middle of your adventure...this site and your words reach thousands each day
The thing we need the most is the craziest, wildest, most dangerous adventure, but instead, we're out seeking our own personal action movie for God.
Thanks for this, Jon.
awesome Jon, once again you go straight to the heart of the issue and once again you have taught me something.
I think you are doing bigger things right now than you realise.
Thanks for this post, Jon. I also needed to hear this. Really good good good.
So true. I've been thinking about this lately too. It's so easy to think you're not doing "enough" or things that are "big enough." I love a book by Debi Pearl and in it she says - in essence - forget all that jazz about trying to discover your purpose. Once you know Jesus, your purpose is to know and have a relationship with Him. (She also went on to say that once you have a family, your home and children are your primary mission field, something this stay at home mom needs to hear often.)
Barb - I couldn't agree more about the sermon infomercial selling doing "big" things "for God."
Perhaps the most difficult truth I've ever had to embrace is that being is more important than doing. I must constantly remind myself that "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28) is an actual physical reality.
i love this. God's been telling me this very frequently these days, and through several different people.
Such a great post. Thank you.
Awesome. Thanks.
I'll join the chorus! I cannot express how discouraging it is to realize that perhaps the "Big Things" are not in God's plan for me. Almost like I'm gonna be in line behind Mother Teresa. How could I follow that?
But it's good to remember that it's not about me and what I do, it's about loving God and showing the world what He can do through me.
Thank you again for your honesty!
wingnut
Beautifully done, Jon.
Ps:46:10: Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
This is so true. I am always so worried I don't do enough for God. But consisitently seeking Him and being in His Word would be a good start.
I appreciate the encouragement.
I have been searching and searching and searching for my purpose ove the past year. I'm in my third year of a two year college because I look around and see all the purposes I want to have, a forensic scientist to help put the bad guys away, a clinical psychologist to help people from becoming the bad guys, an economist to try and help fix our very broken economy, a missionary to far away lands so that I can tell people what Christians like and how they can like the same things. I completely missed the cause of simply trusting God to show me where I am supposed to be and that until he is ready to show me I need to just get busy with being a child holding their father's hand.
Yes Jon, you are exactly right. God's will is not written in the sky, but rather in the Bible and in our hearts. Proverbs 16:3 says "Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established." Then verse 9 says, "The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps." Too often we get to far ahead of ourselves in knowing God's will. It is really daily walking in the Spirit and not fulfilling the lust of the flesh.
One other thought about God's will, coming from Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." If you are walking with him, then do whatever the heck you feel like doing because God will put those desires in your heart! That has always been a neat thought for me to chew on.
Oh, and you have a great ministry right now; keep walking.
Thanks for this! I totally needed it.
Yes.
For the past few years, I've been hurling spit wads out into the universe, desperately praying for a plan, an adventure, some clue as to where God wants me and how best to use my talents and abilities (or even what my talents and abilities are). I've wanted Grand Adventures all my life.
But only recently has God been pointing out the Greatest Adventure. Every morning, I hear him ask me, "Are you here, with me, today, right now, this minute?"
That's the only question. It seems so simple, but it's the hardest task God has ever asked of me.
Yet how exciting when I actually say (and mean), "yes." Because showing up each day and just saying "yes" to God provides those little adventures I never would have noticed (or dreamed of) in my quest for Something of Great Meaning and Purpose.
Awesome how God is upside-down like that. Or, perhaps, we are the upside-down ones, and he is gently trying to turn us right-side up.
Thanks, Jon, as always, for your honest posts.
Thank you.
Hey Jon, Erwin McManus has a new book out called Wide Awake. It is on this subject and a must read. If you e-mail me your mailing address I will send you a copy if you want. It rocked my life.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in a ministry we're doing or being so involved in things at church we forget that it's not about the ministry or whatever it's just about loving God! Great Post!!
Thank Jon.
Now I just need to wipe the tears away and open my Bible...which I really need right now. Blessings!
Wow, awesome post. I really needed to hear/read that. I think that's a message God's been trying to get me to understand for a while now.
I think you are living in my head. This is so where I have been lately. Not that I particularly pray for the "big things" - but more if I am headed in the right direction. But I, like so many others, spend so much time seeking the direction that I forgot to seek The Director. I am so thankful for a patient God..
Dead on.
thank you.
You wanted him to tell you to start a ministry? What do you think SCL is?!
That's something I've come to find out for myself- the daily need to submit my heart and will so that I can be intimate with my Maker.
A couple of weeks ago, I struggled with planning my future education. I cried when I found myself feeling alone, directionless, and without a purpose. Then I felt as though He softly whispered to me, "No eye has seen no ear has heard the things that God has planned for those who love Him."
Since then I'm not as freaked out or obsessive of my future. I'm so assured that God knows what He's doing with my life even if I don't know. Every day I'm finding ways to show that I love Him and He's been doing the same, of course.
And lately, I've been feeling as if I have a purpose. I guess I just find my purpose in worshiping Him.
Wow! This is exactly what I have been struggling with the last couple of weeks. Thanks for this post!
I love that when a post is written, it isn't finished. It's actually just beginning as other people add ideas and thoughts and Bible verses.
Whether it's someone on a faraway adventure checking in and saying "The adventure is great, but definitely not enough without the first love" or hearing from people around the world who dispel the lie that "I'm the only one that feels this way," I can't say thank you enough for the comments you share.
Jon
Robert -
Thanks for the kind offer. I'm not sure if I have your email address. You can email me at theacuffs@yahoo.com to connect.
It sounds like a great book.
Thanks
Jon
Yeah, that was what I needed today too - thanks. =)
Jon,
ministry is the outcome of your relationship with Jesus - it is the overflow of your love for each other. And if may humbly submit, don't forget what a ministry you have with SCL and 97seconds. You have people who are willing to help you.
I wish I would've heard this three years ago. Could of saved me a lot of soul searching. =)
I finally understood this for the first time in the last few years. It's the cure for depression. Thanks so much for the reminder. Love this!
Great post! I've spent the last couple of years where you are. I'm finally now getting that God wants me right where I am, doing what I am doing, illness and all. It's much more peaceful now.
Blessings,
Catherine
Can you imagine the impact if all of us here truly put their relationship with God absolutely first in their lives? Each and every day? Each and every moment? Just the thought creates this weird ironic sense of awe in me, because if we would just do that, GREAT BIG things WOULD happen! God's way of doing things is so simple, but so hard to follow. Jen, I love the image of God turning us right-side up!
wow, so apparently a lot of people needed to hear this today. Me included.
nice, mr. telepathy.
Well said. Love this post. It's something I need to be reminded of daily. I always worry that I'm not doing what I was meant to do, and yet I haven't figured out what I was meant to do yet. My pastor preached about divine moments a couple weeks ago. He talked about how we shouldn't be so worried about our divine purpose that we miss the moments that God puts in front of us.
Stacey got it. the wellspring! I was so nervous reading this post, because I thought you might botch it. I was half expecting some "get the ball rolling" kinda pep talk on how to manipulate God. Sorry, I always expect the worst, especially from sources I trust.
I'm glad God living in you, and your writing is permeated with the evidence. Praise God!
This is the 52nd comment to say "you wrote exactly the words I needed". I've been praying with someone along those very lines.
What does that say about us commenters? Impatient? Eager?
Or completely unable to see the trees because we're looking for the forest?
Thanks (oh! ... and side-hugs).
hi jon,
thanks for sharing this today. i'm glad i'm not alone in my struggle with what God wants for me. i'm reading blue like jazz right now and am very humbled and convicted by it, and struggling with figuring out how to relate to Him and what direction he wants me to go. thanks for your honesty.
I fully agree with this. I learned a while ago to TRY to simplify everything down to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. In doing these things, we DRAW people to our way off life and then earn the right to share with them our Source.
Justice, mercy and humility do not mean "doormat". They mean strength.
Jesus walked and taught kindness, love and mercy. Why do we need fancy programs when we can draw people through loving them, fighting FOR them, and not taking credit for anything other than breathing on our own.
Jon,
Seems like alot of people are in this season of their lives. I just re-read a great book titled "The Grand Weaver" by Ravi Zacharias. It's a wonderful reminder of how God weaves every part of our lives into His plan for our lives.
(From the back cover of this book):
As Christians, we believe that great events such as a death or a birth are guided by the hand of God. Yet we drift into feeling that our daily lives are the product of our own efforts. This book brims with penetrating stories and insights that show us otherwise. From a chance encounter in a ticket line to a beloved father’s final word before dying, from a random phone call to a line in a Scripture reading, every detail of life is woven into its perfect place. In The Grand Weaver, Dr. Zacharias examines our backgrounds, our disappointments, our triumphs, and our beliefs, and explains how they are all part of the intentional and perfect work of the Grand Weaver.
So is it redundant to leave comment number 56 saying that this post really spoke to me?
I've really been struggling with this issue a lot lately. As in, crying and yelling and wrestling with God over it. And it is definitely very encouraging to hear how many others feel the same way!
Today is my birthday...43 yrs. Thank you for this post. Puts a lot of things in perspective for me. Best birthday present I could get. Definitely a blessing.
Thanks again.
awesome blog!
as some one who loves to pray but always seem to get caught up with "other things to do", i find that the greatest adventure in my day is to be able to find time to shut the world out and tap into the throne room of grace, finding Him there smiling, waiting for me to sit at His feet.
i only pray that i learn to do it first thing, instead of coming to Him tired and weary because i've tried to survive the day with my own strength.
your blog has once again reminded me that my purpose is to worship Him. everything else is secondary.
Wow, thanks. I've been wondering that for several months now. I knew the answer, but needed to hear it again.
I'm constantly amazed by the way God puts words I need to read or hear in my life when I need them. Thanks for being part of that.
I almost cried tears of joy when I read this. You get it! I'm afraid I am seeing the church struggle with an almost works-based salvation in their constant "do" and "go" message. I think our first job is to "be". Be surrendered, be in relationship with Him, be His child, be able to trust Him completely. The going and doing inexorably follow the being. But now it is at His leading. That's powerful stuff!
I'm a very undecided college student right now. In the midst of muddling through the "What do you want to do with your life?" question (and even what I'm doing next summer), I've focused on trusting God and resting in His peace (even if that doesn't mean answers right now -- hence my trust-worry-repent-trust cycle, haha). Anyways, thanks for reminding me what the bigest, truest, most fulfilling life's work is -- my first love.
this was awesome
awesome.
The timing of this post is spot on. Every day this week I have asked God "What do you want from me?"
This post reinforces the fact that sometimes God wants to do a work in our life without us doing anything at all.
Thank you for following God's lead to share what's on your heart with others.
God bless you.
Your post was powerful. Thank You.
Wow, that's the best thing you've ever wrote that I've read. I enjoy all your pithy observations and witty satire, but this was awesome and just want I needed to hear. Thank you!
this is exactly what i needed to read tonight. i think God has given you the gift of communicating his message to people you dont even know. you have a steady congregation of people who read this and God uses you everyday to affect the lives of those people. thanks for being a part of his bigger picture and not even knowing it all the time.
peace-
I've been in Missions for almost a year now, and this is a constant theme. So easy to get caught in "doing" that you miss just "being" - being in God's presence, being who he wants you to be, just being with the people he brings into your life.
Rob Bell's video, Everything is Spiritual has a really good take on this.
Thank you for your words, very good reminder!
Jon,
I think God can give us a purpose while changing our hearts. Maybe he's given you a purpose(SCL) because it seems you are doing big things by reaching a lot of people. And at the same time he's working on your heart.
He's kind of tricky-cool that way(!!)
Dear John,
Paul, after his conversion from Saul, went to Jerusalem and worked in the ministery of helps. There he studied and learned from the disciples. After 2 years the word came from the Lord to, "seperate Paul out for the work he had for him: to be an apostle to the gentiles".
I say, hang with and learn form the leaders of the church, study to show thyself approved, and the word will come.
Asante sana! Thank you!
The encouraging words I needed. Thankyou.
Thanks for sharing about your need for a cause. I get trapped into thinking like that a lot too. The more I think about it, the more I think that it is one of the world's weapons-- telling us we have to mean something, leave something behind-- when in reality, it's Christ in me that is the priority, and he is what is to be left behind.
Wow. I got to hear Bill Hybels give a talk just yesterday, the same day you posted this. He was discussing "whispers" from God.
God is always talking to us, we're just rarely truly listening. Elijah didn't hear God in the earthquake, the storm, or the fire, but in the quiet afterwards. Samuel thought he heard Eli calling him (a) because he wasn't used to it, and (b) because it sounded like it was coming from another room.
Get quiet (really quiet) and listen. He often says just a few short words, and you don't want to miss it. That's actually the "easy" part. Following through and DOING what He says is what hurts.
I don't mean to follow the crowd, but i'll have to echo the fact that i needed to hear that. Being in college, "whats next?" is probly the question i ask more than anything else. thanks. Just Keep doin what ur doin bro
Pinpoint precision, my man Jon! Beautifully written.
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this!!!
This is EXACTLY what I've been struggling with lately. I am actually taking a year off from school, because I don't know what I want to study, and I'm hoping to do mostly missions work on my year off, because missions interests me a lot. But I really don't have a strong idea yet on what I should do/where I should go after this year, and what the Lord might have for me in the future....and I've been really down about it lately, and needed encouragement, so it's so awesome how the Lord provided these words of encouragement right when I needed them. WOW, we serve such a LOVING and GRACIOUS GOD!!! Thank you again! This is exactly what I needed to read :) :) <--the smiley's can't even describe.
beautiful and true! thank you.
How do you do that? You go from "skater brain" funny to deep inteligent and spiritual without missing a beat. The most frightning part is that I think they are both genuine. I really appreciate what you do.
I think is is amazing the way we often all feel the same things throughout the body. Many people in my life and at my church have all been feeling the same sense of restlesness and longing for "purpose" that you described. Thank you for further confirmation that where we are now can be as powerful as all the stories of adventure and "far from home" work that we often hear in the church.
Thanks, I have really been struggling with that.
I am sending this out to my small group, we just had this conversation, and my wife needed to hear it as well. On an aside to this.. I hope you understand this this site is doing good works. It really is, first in a very personal way you remind me of why I'm a christian and not an atheist, you remind me there are good down to earth christians in the world.
Second, you abstinence quote really helped me when my friends daughter was struggling with the possibility of having sex for the first time.. and she came to me for honest advice. I credit you with her making the right decision.
Lastly, I think your helping shape the culture of a new Christianity, not just you, but your part of a larger grassroots effort, to remind people and redirect them to the path of true Christianity, one without the old stereotypes, archetypes, and thumpers. My god bless you with the knowledge that your making a difference in many lives though you may not be fullfilled yet.
This just might be my favorite post.
This is my first time reading your blog and it was a gift from God because I have been struggling with what does God have for me now and how do I know. I think this was a word directly from my Father!
I just finished reading THE HEAVENLY MAN by Paul Hattaway.
It's true account about a Chinese Christian (Brother Yun) who was persecuted for his faith - refused to denounce his faith...
At the end of the book or the near end he writes that what is missing is the love of the Word of God and obedience to it.
Messed with me a bit.
It's an easy read and difficult to put down.
I want to pray like that.
Jon,
I understand in my head what you are saying, but at this moment my heart doesn't care. My life seems to be nothing but frustration after frustration. Dissapointment and character building opportunity after another. When will it end? I know, it never ends. I'm tired. I'm tired, angry, frustrated, and hurt. I feel abandonded by God. I don't apologize for feeling this way, and I'm not going to put a face on and say, "Oh, God is doing great things in my life! I just know that at any moment it's going to turn around." I don't know that, and it sure feels like it's never going to turn around. What's even more difficult is that a very dear friend is in the midst of some really amazing things that God is doing in his life, and all he talks about is how awesome God is! he often says that it will all be ok, to just hang in there. God loves me. I don't know this. I don't know that it's going to be ok. I'm not jealous, I'm gald he is doing well, but it sure is irritating to constantly listen to him talk about his great life! So, work on my adventure with God? I don't know. I just don't know. How's that for honesty?
Thank you. I needed this.
Being a warrior in this mission is pretty difficult because I feel like I'm fighting myself. Mortify the flesh.
My pastor just read this post as part of his sermon on Sunday. I just about died when I realized it was from SCL! great job Jon.
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