The Purpose Driven Life, written by Rick Warren, is one of the best-selling books of all time. Although it was a very well-written book, I will admit I have wondered why it resonated so well with so many people. I think it is because, at the core, we all know that there must be more to our lives than simply getting up in the morning, sending the kids off to school, going to work, helping with homework, coaching little league teams and then going to bed, only to repeat the cycle again, day after day. Those things are fun, exhausting and challenging, but they fail to answer the central question of Pastor Warren’s book, which is “What on earth am I here for?”
These are questions that we don’t always know how to ask but we desperately want to discover the answers. Was I created for a reason? Is there something more that my life was designed to accomplish? Does my life have purpose?
The good news for us is that God knew we would ask these questions. He knew that the world would speak an inordinate number of lies into our hearts about who we are and what we have been created to accomplish. He knew that we would battle insecurities and struggle to believe that we have a purpose beyond simply surviving. This foreknowledge is why I believe he gave us Ephesians 2:10. Read this slowly so you won’t miss the powerful promise of God.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
— Ephesians 2:10 ESV
Isn’t that awesome? You are literally a masterpiece of God. I know you don’t always feel like a masterpiece, but the Scripture teaches that you were created by the very hands of God. Why is this such good news? Because it reminds us that we are not mistakes. If you build a house, you do so to live in it. If you paint a picture, you do so to decorate with it. If you create something, you create it for a purpose. Well, so does God, and when he created you, he created you for a reason. Don’t let the enemy steal that promise from you today. God has created you and then he rescued you in Christ Jesus for good works. All we have to do is walk in them.
What is keeping you from walking in the purpose for which God has created you? My guess is it is one of two things:
- You are so busy managing the lifeless rut you are in, that you haven’t taken the time to seek what God’s purpose for you might be.
- You have started to believe the lies of your enemy that wants to rob you of the powerful purpose God has entrusted to you. You have given the enemy freedom to deceive you and steal from you the confidence that God wants you to have in Christ Jesus.
Anything that takes us away from God’s purpose is robbing us of the opportunity to align our lives with his will. We need to create an uphill habit of submitting our lives to his purpose. When we do that, we may have to let some other less important things go. Aligning our lives with his purpose may feel costly on the front end, but will eventually prove to be the wisest thing we could do. Is it scary? Yes. Let’s not let fear hold us back, though. I agree with Francis Chan who says, “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”