Okay i started this journey on Friday, unfortunately here it is Sunday and I am posting...so bear with me....The 1st words in this chapter really hit me....ITS NOT ABOUT YOU....wow..The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment. It is reinterated to me by Colossians 1:16--"For everything, absolutely everything above and below, visible and invisible, everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in HIM. I dont think it can get any more cut and dried than that. I used to think Life was all about being happy and just taking the lumps that it throws at you (kind of like when a baby throws oatmeal..) I used to think after my divorce, why Lord but just in this 1st chapter I have learned its not about me, its about Him and how He can take the lumps from the "oatmeal' I have been thrown and use them for His glory.
I have so many friends who are missing the diffinitive "point". Job 12:10 says "It is God who directs the lives of His creatures everyone's life is in His power." Contrary to what many books and self-help gurus say you arent going to find permanent happiness within yourself. You can find temporary but thats just it, its temporary, i think thats why there are so many divorces and suicides in this country..People think that they have to have that special "someone" in their life. I used to think this to, but once I put that notion aside and put the focus on the Lord and my kids and my job and my friends and family this inner peace welled up inside of me. For the last year since the divorce, I found my inner peace through my walk with the Lord. I learned to live and be happy with what the Lord blessed me with. And then when God blessed me with Horacio I was ready, there are so many different things about Horacio, that are so different than my marriage. Its like I am "stepping out of my box so to speak." getting past the "comfort zone" there is a phrase that keeps coming back to me as I write this .."You were made by God and for God-and until you understand that, life will never make sense." I know so many people who want to "get ahead" in life, and will stop at nothing (even hurting family and dear friends) to accomplish this, but they are so missing the point. Yeah its great to have that list of dreams and goals and strive to accomplish them, but its so hard when God has other plans because you didnt allow for God to work in those goals and dreams. What I am saying is this we can make the best laid plans in the whole world but if we dont let God in on those plans then they wont go as we planned...ever....
That being said God has not left us in the dark to wonder and guess. He has revealed His purposes for us through the bible. "God's wisdom goes deep into the interior of His purposes, Its not the latest message, but more like the oldest--what God determined as the way to bring out the best in us." 1st Corint. 2:7..
God is not the starting point of your life; He is the source of it. To discover your purpose in life you must turn to the word of God. You must build your life on the eternal truths not some pop psychology, success-motivation, or inspirational stories, like my pastor told me, the cold-hard facts. Ephesians 1:11 sums it all up-- "Its in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of overallpurpose He is working out in everything and everyone.
The verse gives 3 insights into your purpose:
1. You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ
2. God was thinking about you long before you ever thought about Him. His purpose for your life predates your conception. He planned it before you existed without your input! You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies, and many other parts of your life but you dont get to choose your purpose.
3. The purpose of your life fits into a much larger cosmic purpose that God has designed for eternity.
Without God, life makes no sense. You may have felt in the dark about your purpose in life. Congratulations, you're about to walk into that light.
