Embrace Your Purpose as YOUR Own

Late yesterday afternoon, it was just about time for me to get off from work. As I gathered my things and prepared to log off of my computer, one of my colleagues knocked on my office door and asked if she could talk. So I said sure and told her to come in. She had the weirdest look of confusion on her face and she appeared to be quite disturbed. So I asked her what was wrong. She informed me that she had just come from a business meeting with a group of administrators that she wanted to reach out to and partner with. So I immediately started to wonder what could have possibly gone wrong in this meeting to have her so upset. She continued to tell me that during the meeting she was shocked and somewhat offended that her potential partners knew nothing about the services she was seeking to offer, they had no general knowledge that it existed, nor did they share her same enthusiasm towards it. Now just to let you in on her personality, she is 100% sold and dedicated to her role and the services she provides. I mean, she does research, attends workshops and conferences on it, she literally lives and breathes it and I'll admit that her diligence is quite admirable. But in her passion, she sometimes fails to realize that some have not been exposed to these specific services, nor do they have the desire to be. As she continued to explain her apall, she began to discredit the future success of these administrators, if they so happen to decline her services.

As I listened to her, it made me realize two things. First, we should all have a degree of passion and devotion concerning our individual purposes in life. We should do all we can to embody that purpose and seek God's wisdom and insight on cultivating and developing it. And even if it appears that no one else is convinced or attracted or even interested in it, we should put our all into it, trusting that God will be glorified through us and HIS purpose will prevail. If we aren't serious and diligent about our own life purpose, why should anyone else be either? We'll only find ourselves ineffective and existing in mediocrity. Therefore, we should choose to embrace our God-given purposes and lend our diligence to them with a sense of urgency.

Ecclesiastes 6:11 (MSG) reads:
"Go to work in the morning and stick to it until evening without watching the clock. You never know from moment to moment how your work will turn out in the end."

I believe that this scripture is admonishing us to not only be diligent, but to be focused and attentive towards our assignment.

Now on the flip side of that, as we surrender ourselves to continuous maturation within our purpose, we must be careful not to force them upon others.  We are all individually designed with a unique purpose, specifically assigned by God. So God is not shocked or surprised or appalled even, when we discover our differences. He intentionally created us with a unique purpose in mind. More importantly, no individual purpose is more important or less important than the other. They all contribute to God's purpose for the body of Christ as a whole. So just because God called one to sow and one to water, neither one of these tasks are less or more than the other. They are both equally important to the process. (I Corinthians 3: 5-9)

Ephesians 4:11-12 (NLT) reads:
"11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ."


Further down in verse 16, it reads:
"16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love."

(Also read Romans 12: 4-8)

So we see that not only should we be doing our own special work by cultivating our own purpose, but when we do surrender ourselves to God's purpose for our lives AND embrace each other's differences, celebrating the unique assignments He has so graciously given us, we help the whole body grow in the fullness of God's love and purpose! Isn't that amazing!!! So here are some things to consider:

1. Let me encourage you to first of all seek God for the specific purpose He has created for you. He's the only one who can reveal it to you because He's the one who gave it to you. Trust Him to lead you and guide you into discovering what He created you for.

2. Once you've discovered your God-given purpose, be diligent in cultivating and developing it. As you step out in faith and surrender yourself to it, God will partner with you in developing that purpose and He will open doors for you that present fruitful opportunities for you to use it.

3. Don't take offense when people don't understand or accept your assignment. God gave it to you for HIS purpose, so continue to walk in it and trust that He will use it for His glory.

4. Don't belittle or discredit others who have been given a different assignment. Learn to celebrate their differences and even if it is not a particular role you favor, trust that their obedience to God is just as effective as yours, whether you see it or not. After all, at the end of the day, everybody is accountable to Him.

5. Seek and embrace opportunities to develop in your purpose. There is ALWAYS room to grow and mature. And the more you use your gifts for God's glory, the more opportunities He'll entrust you with to use them and be fruitful and effective.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I know that you created me for a specific purpose that will ultimately contribute to the body of Christ. Give me the confidence and the grace to fully emerge myself into that purpose, trusting that you will be glorified and honored through my obedience to you. Give me the wisdom to understand that we are all called to unique purposes within the body, whatever they may be and that your plan will always and forever be intentional and perfect. Help me to honor you by celebrating my brothers and sisters differences and rejoicing in our uniqueness because our uniqueness perfectly illustrates how marvelous you truly are. In Jesus name. Amen.

God Bless,
Queen