Finding purpose in your life.

I often wonder, what is God’s will for me?
Even before you or I were born, God had a purpose for each of us.
‘You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.’ Psalm 139:16 (NLT)
I often look to the future and hope for what might be. Sometimes I feel like i am just wandering aimlessly, as I desperately want to do God’s will but am just not clear what that is. I wait, rather impatiently, wondering why I feel so distanced from God, why I can’t get close enough to him to have the deep conversation that I hope to have with him, so that I can just get busy doing his will.

But in the verses of Psalm 139:13-16, we see that every moment of our life was laid out before we were even born. So shouldn’t we just be happy in the moment, for this is where God has placed us? I have recently come to the realisation that perhaps I just need to do his will right where he has placed me in this moment in time. Once I can do that, he will reveal more of his plan for me, as I grow in obedience, faith and knowledge. For ‘if you are faithful in the little things, you will be faithful in large ones (Luke 16:10). So let us be faithful in the little things, focus on these, for this is what is important in your life right now. For me that is to be content and do God’s will in raising my children as God desires, so that they will grow to know him too. When my children are grown and more independent, then I can focus on giving more of my time to other causes. But for the meantime God wants me to raise my children in a home focused on his values. We must be thankful for the life we currently live and do the best we can each and every day, as though this is our greatest purpose in our life. Don’t worry about tomorrow, God will reveal more of his plan for you when His time is right.

God showed us what is required of us in Micah 6:8, so if we can do these things then he will give us more responsibility.
‘No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.’ So from this one verse, we know what we need to do. We need to 1. Do Justice, 2. Love mercy and 3. Walk humbly with God.

Justice
In every situation we need to do what’s best, to act justly, whether that is what is best for ourselves or others. So we may find ourselves doing things at our own expense. We must always act in a way that expresses the love of Christ. If you are ever unsure of the best way to handle a situation, ask yourself, what would Christ do in this situation? Are you being fair in your dealings with people?

Mercy
We must have a heart for doing things that bless others. Show kindness to others by considering their needs above your own, acting out of love, not just because you think they deserve it. If God only gave us what we deserved, then we would lead miserable lives of judgement and punishment. Instead God blesses us with love and forgiveness, and like Christ we must be willing to do things for others even though they may not deserve it. We must be willing to give to those who don’t ask, to those who could never pay us back, or simply to those we don’t often take any notice of (eg Bart the blind beggar, Luke 18:35-42).

Humility
When we show humility we put the needs of others first. Romans 12:3 tells us ‘don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.’ We must never think of ourselves as above or below anyone else, we are all equal in God’s eyes as we are all his creation. When we correctly assess ourselves, then we realise that our will must come second to God’s so that we live by faith, trusting in his word and putting it into action on a daily basis. Are you learning humility?

So if God has told us to act justly, with mercy and humility, then why do we continue to search for his will for our lives? Is this not enough? Is everything else just our selfish desire always wanting something more, something bigger and better, or something that makes us look or feel more important or worthy? Let us put aside our selfish desires of power, money, appearance and respect. Let us look to successful living as doing the will of God in our lives in this moment, and wait patiently for when he will reveal more of his plan for us.

For who can we pursue justice, love mercy and extend compassion towards? Let us start at home first with our husbands and children, for these loved ones are often the ones we neglect most. Then who can we turn to, to help; our neighbour, or someone who would normally go unnoticed? Open your eyes and hearts to see the people God has placed before us, that we may act to serve them well. Make yourself available to them and God will supply the resources you need to serve them.