This is true of Christians as well as non-Christians. The most discouraged, or unfulfilled person in life must be the person who has never really answered this question for themselves. Or, if he did, he has lost the vision and determination to go on. As the Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” (Pro. 29:18).
All of us, no matter who we are, need a vision for our lives. We, as Christians need the deep assurance that we, of all the people of the earth have been created and ordained by God to fulfill His purpose which He had for us from the very beginning of our lives. The Lord had a very specific plan and purpose for Jeremiah as we see from the first chapter of his book. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nation.” (Jer.1:5).
Even as God had a specific plan for Jeremiah’s life, so He does for each of our lives as well. As, if He didn’t have a purpose for our lives, you or I would not be alive today. I believe that deep within us, each of us know what we are to do, and the reason for which we were created. But even though we may know our calling, it may be years before that vision may come to pass in our lives. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul clearly states that God created each one of us with a definite purpose in mind. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Even in the midst of his prison, Paul was a person with a vision. He knew why he was here and he was determined, despite all the obstacles and hindrances in his way that he was going to fulfill God’s call upon his life. Have you ever thought that if Paul had not had the border of prison bars around him so often in the course of his life, we might not have over half of the New Testament today, as Paul did most of his writing from a prison cell. We see a glimpse of his determination from his words in Philippians, where he states, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:14).
Paul knew, when his time came to go and be with his Lord, that he had accomplished the purpose for which he had been created. “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim. 4:6-7). What a statement to be able to make!
Many of us may never be able to make such a bold and profound statement, as we have never discovered our real purpose in life. Or, if we have, we like Moses of old, make every excuse not to fulfill it. Deep within the recesses of our being, we know the purpose for which God has created us. Yet, we allow the cares of everyday living to come in and rob us of the victory of accomplishing our purpose in life. This is especially true for a person with a physical disability. We can, and often do allow all our time and energy to be spent on the everyday things of life, which need to be done, that we have no, or very little time and energy left to pour into what God has ordained for us to fulfill with our lives. This is one of the major attacks the Enemy will use to condemn us with. But don’t listen to him, because with the Lord, His mercies are new every morning. If you blow it today, and didn’t accomplish all that you wanted to, just remember that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning. Tomorrow is a brand new beginning. If we blow it today, we can start afresh tomorrow.
The secret of soaring above the situation or disability with which we are living is knowing that we have a particular purpose to fulfill, which no one else can. Unless we accomplish that for which God has created us, that task will never be accomplished by anyone else. You may say, “Anyone can preach or write or go take care of people.” Well, if God has chosen you to do or perform a specific task, then He wants you to perform it, from your own unique perspective. But without such a sense of purpose, we can allow life to drift by and become discouraged by the problems we face day by day. It may sound strange, but when you don’t have a purpose or goal to live for, you seem to have more problems than the person who has something to accomplish with their life. We can become so discouraged, that soon we feel there is nothing left to live for, so we give up all hope of ever trying to be or accomplish anything with our lives.
This very thing happened to me. Between graduating from High School, and entering Bible College, there was a three year period in which I had given up all hope of doing anything. Life was just a blank wall staring back at me day after day. I was so depressed; I didn’t want to get up, as I felt there was nothing to get up for so I would stay in bed until noon. To make matters worse, in 1982 I began an Employment Assessment Program. The purpose of this program was to find out if there was any type of Employment I would be capable of doing. After just five weeks, the Director of the program assessed me as “unemployable”. The reason I was “unemployable” wasn’t because I could not accomplish the various tasks I was given, but because I was unable to complete the tasks within the set time limits. If I was depressed before I went into the program, I was really depressed when I finished.
But it is when we have a clear vision and calling in our lives that nothing will stop us from accomplishing that for which we have been ordained. Yet even when we know our calling and purpose in god, we have a tendency to use excuses as to why we cannot accomplish that for which we have been called. We can use any reason for not doing what we know we should be doing.
Moses is an example of someone who used his disability of not being able to speak clearly as an excuse for not going before Pharaoh and delivering the children of Israel from Egypt. ‘And Moses said to the Lord, O My Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who has made man’s mouth. Or who makes the dumb or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind. Have not I the LORD. (Exodus 4;10-11)
When Moses continued to protest, the Lord became angry and told Moses that He would send Aaron with him, but Moses still had to go and fulfill the call God had placed upon his life. So Moses, with his brother Aaron, and children of Israel were eventually delivered from Egypt after 40 years of bondage.
The Lord will not even accept our limitations or disabilities as excuses for not obeying and fulfilling the call He has placed upon our lives. He will only call us to do that for which He has gifted us to do, whether we are abled-bodied or disabled. The Lord desires to use us just the way we are, if we would give Him the freedom to do that which pleases Him in and through our lives.
The feeling of not having a purpose for my life started at the end of High School and lasted about three years until one of my friends reminded me that I had always wanted to go to Bible College, and at that time I only lived ten minutes away from Ontario Bible College (now Tyndale Seminary and University). But, at first I was making excuses as to why I wouldn’t be able to go, such as the cost of tuition, having to take a full course load and transportation. But after meeting with the registrar and knowing I could be enrolled as a part time student, a childhood desire was fulfilled, and my 3 year depression was over.
It is when we have a clear vision and calling in our lives that nothing will stop us from accomplishing that for which God has ordained and gifted us to do. Instead of being like Moses, who tried to use every excuse he could think of for not fulfilling God’s purpose for his life, let’s be like Paul, who wouldn’t even let his prison bars stop him from fulfilling that for which God had ordained him.
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