How do you walk in your purpose
We understand from scripture that our God is a deliberate God. There is nothing done for no reason. Everything he does and everyone he has created to walk on this earth is here for a reason.
I’ll pose a question to you. How would you respond if someone asked you, “Do you walk in your purpose?” Perhaps that is not the best way to phrase it. It may be put as, “Are you walking in your purpose.”
After being a functional part of the body of Christ for a while now, this is one of the key questions that people ask. It is also a question that actually matters with a view of eternity. I love to see people seeking to find what their purpose is. Rick Warren has a great book on this subject, Purpose Driven Life. You should look at getting it.
Why am I here?
Jeremiah 1:5 New King James Version (NKJV)
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
To walk in your purpose starts off with figuring out why you are here. We know from the book of Jeremiah, that even before you were put in your mother’s womb, God had put a purpose for you. Granted, you may not have been ordained a prophet to the nations, but he put something in you.
This is how creation populates the planet. Dr Myles Munroe explained it as, “God put a seed of everything in itself.” Which tells us that whatever you are to become is already inside of you. You are not here to “create” your purpose. You are here to birth it out.
Without walking in your purpose, you at risk of living an empty life. To take to the grave what is inside of you is tragic. Your purpose is not just for you. It is for the world to marvel, and for God’s name to be glorified.
To be in a place where you want to find out why you are here is incredible. Most people die never having had this moment. People are content just going through life as if there was no reason or rhyme to it. The Bible tells us that it is in seeking that we find.
Matthew 7:7-11 New King James Version (NKJV)
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Purpose Finds You
At the risk of making this sound too simplistic, I’ll go ahead and say it. Your purpose will find you. I know we are always looking to go out there and forge our paths. This is the state of human existence. It is very difficult to be still in the Lord.
Being busy is held in such high esteem that we all end up chasing after that. As always, we are not ones to throw theories at you. The word of God should always be your yardstick. So, let us look at some examples of this in practice.
Elisha
1 Kings 19:19-21 New King James Version (NKJV)
Elisha Follows Elijah
19 So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”
21 So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.
Elisha is one of my favourite prophets to read about. He was a fiery man! To pick up the mantle from a man as great as Elijah was is a feat in itself. His calling came to locate him while he was out doing other things. We can safely assume that he had been a farmer, leading up to the time his life was transformed. If you have ploughed or seen someone plough, using 12 oxen to do it is not a one-man job. Elisha either was very strong or skilled in this.
Elijah simply threw his coat over Elisha. That was enough to shape the farmer. As soon as he knew what his purpose was, he was ready to drop everything else and go where he knew he was supposed to go.
As a statement of intent, he got rid of everything that he could turn back to. He got rid of his livelihood, to fully commit to his calling. This is what we see Jesus asking later on, “leave everything and follow me.”
Luke 14:25-27 New King James Version (NKJV)
Leaving All to Follow Christ
25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
There is often a misconception that there is ease in following your calling. It can be quite the contrary. There are greater opposing forces in walking your purpose. What keeps you going is that you have no plan B, and you know you are on the right path.
Following their calling cost most of the apostles their lives. Your purpose is never self-serving. It is for the enrichment of the body of Christ and of those around you. It will always come at a great cost to self, and to some close to you who may not understand.
We know that Peter had a wife, yet he spent his time with Jesus. That would have cost him time that he probably thought he would spend with her. In our day and age, his marriage may have been doomed.
Gideon
Judges 6:12 New King James Version (NKJV)
12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
The calling of Gideon is somewhat similar to that of Elisha. Gideon did not know who he was. Who you are is what God has put in you, not what has manifest thus far. Who you are is the grandest version, the one that Christ sees. It is not what people may see. It is not what you see right now. We know that Gideon did not know who he was.
11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
The angel of the Lord arrives to find Gideon working in hiding, not to catch the attention of the Midianites. That does not seem like a “mighty man of valour” to me. Yet, God sees what is in him. He does not even recognise that the Lord is with him.
We have somewhat been taught that if anything bad happens to us, the Lord is not with us. Do we not know that even the wicked prosper for a season? Prosperity is not necessarily a sign of the presence of the Lord, even the devil offers prosperity to his cohorts.
God uses the man that was hiding to conquer those that he was hiding from. Gideon’s destiny was brought to him. He was not even in a related field. He was threshing wheat.
David
King David’s story is the ultimate tale. When the Prophet Samuel was sent to anoint a King in Jesse’s house. Even a gifted seer, such as Samuel did not see this coming. David’s father did not see a King in his son, David. Who would have?
This is the one that was out in the paddock wrestle with lions and bears. The Bible tells us that he was not the most presentable one. The beautiful thing about it is that this is the same description that is given for Christ. “Nothing about him attracted you to him.” Is what was said of Jesus.
Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1:5 New King James Version (NKJV)
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified[a] you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
I alone know
The Lord tells Jeremiah that he knew him, even before he was formed in the womb. This shows you that God knows you. Your purpose is placed in you long before you come into this world. You will often see that the greater the purpose, the harder the troubles you would have to overcome.
If anyone tells you that finding your purpose makes life easier, do not believe them. There is no one in scripture who had an easy ride on their purpose.
There are definitive moments in your walk. It is essential for you to recognise these moments, and walk in them. We will go into some detail below.
- Recognise the moments and stick with it
- Destiny demands a struggle
Recurring Issues
I have found this to be true for my own life, and that of others who I have worked with in ministry. Your purpose is usually tied to recurring issues. This is what repeatedly gives you a sign.
If you identify an issue and continue to see it. If that issue continues to bother you, there is your purpose. King David was God’s warrior that was his purpose. He spent a lot of his time at war. If we look back, we will find that Goliath’s challenge was that moment. He took it with both hands.
What issues can you see that you can take on?
Many Are the Plans
Proverbs 19:21-22 New King James Version (NKJV)
21 There are many plans in a man’s heart,
Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.
At times purpose can be an inconvenience. It can come as an interruption to what you had set out to do. Society moulds us to take certain paths. Jesus had trained as a carpenter, yet that was not his purpose. I can imagine some mothers in Mary’s situation would have thought, “Couldn’t you have just made furniture instead.
The cost of purpose is hardly ever one that is comfortable to pay. Yet, it is very important that this price is paid. To live outside of one’s purpose is a life wasted. No matter how successful you may be. Proverbs 19 tells us that we have many plans as humans, yet it is God’s counsel that stands.
There are cases where you may be doing good outside of your purpose. This is perhaps more dangerous, as it could easily keep you away from walking into your purpose. There is a way that seems right to a man! In the end, it leads to death.
King David is a great example of doing good outside of your purpose (He was playing the harp for the king, feeding his brothers and tending sheep). All of these things are good.
Granted there are
Involvement
Perhaps the easiest way to find your purpose is to get involved. Be a part of the things that you care about. You don’t have to change the world all at once, just plugin. It is important to be able to support someone else’s purpose and vision. In doing so, we learn things that will go a long way in our own purpose. The Bible is filled with examples of this.
King David sat under Saul, even when he knew that Saul was sitting in his purpose.
- Get out there and do things
- Support someone else’s vision (learn)
Don’t get tied to others’ purpose. This is a dangerous thing about involvement. If you are involved in something that is good, it is easy to get stuck in there. Allow the seasons to come and go. Learn what needs to be learned and grow into your own calling.
Thank you for taking the
