Tag Archives: Life purpose

Simple Gifts

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There are moments in life that snap you from your drowsy sleep and suddenly wake you up. It might be the unexpected loss of a job, being presented with divorce papers, a life-threatening diagnosis, or the loss of loved one. It could be a news story covering some tragic life situation that speaks to your heart or the gentle experience of restored hope. When we free ourselves from the pressures of a constantly busy life that is wrapped up in our self-pursuits, our hearts are touched both by the experience of despair and those of hope and courage. They remind us to turn our focus from the complexities of life to the “simple” lessons life teaches us.

 

It seems we are always seeking to discover these lessons, even when we don’t consciously pursue them. We ask such important questions at both ends of our life:

Who am I?
How did I get here?
Where am I going?
What is my purpose in life?

 

We busy ourselves with studies and jobs and the pursuit of so many ambitions. We think they’ll offer the fulfillment we desire. But sometimes in the end we find they were meaningless and empty. In the grand pursuit of happiness we try to learn how to deal with our fears and insecurities, our sense of loss over people, things, and missed opportunities, and our guilt and regret over mistakes we make. We turn to accomplishments, money, education, status, service, relationships, and faith in our quest of finding what makes us happy. Our pursuit of happiness puzzles and confounds us. But as Elizabeth Kubler-Ross points out:

 

“We are not unhappy because of the complexities of life. We are unhappy because we miss its underlying simplicities.”

 

“Simple” lessons are not always easily attained but they are presented to us in the daily course of our lives however complex we make them. They are revealed joys even in the midst of great suffering and pain. These are the lessons of learning to love when we feel unloving, to be strong when we are weak, trust when we feel betrayed, hope in the face of despair, forgive when we have been so hurt. They are the lessons of discovering who we are, not only in success but in failure, not only in health but in disease, not only in riches but in poverty.

 

“Simple” lessons teach us our lives are intricately and purposefully intertwined with one anther. We are connected in ways that both frustrate and bless us. They remind us that great complexities of life and theology can be summarized in living simply just as Jesus taught us:

 

Love God and love others as he loved us.

 

Focusing on the “simple” things of life frees us to be who we were meant to be. We don’t learn these lessons automatically, but we might learn them when we turn our attention away from our busy day and invite God to rewrite our daily to-do list and to reveal miracles in the simple opportunities he gives us.

 

Living simply means involves resisting the temptation to fill our lives with more of everything to more of the ONE thing that really fills our life abundantly to the full and overflowing with happiness and peace. Don’t live simply for the sake of simplicity. Live simply to find the freedom and delight that God offers us every day. As the old Shaker hymn reminds us:

“‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.”

 

Castaway

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Years ago, Tom Hanks starred in a movie about a Fed Ex employee whose plane crashed in the ocean.  As the plane’s only survivor, his character was “Castaway” to fend for himself in a strange new world, without the guidance and support of others. Through many trials and painful experiences, he learned to survive and was eventually rescued from his involuntary exile and reconnected with society. Sadly, his fiancé had married but he found new hope in a relationship with a young artist whose artwork he held on to during his castaway experience.

 

It was a riveting drama enjoyed by movie viewers across the globe. But it’s not always happy endings. In his book, “Lord of the Flies’, William Golding writes about a group of school boys whose plane crashes on a deserted island. All the adults on board were killed so the boys had to fend for themselves. Abandoned and left to their own devices, without adult supervision or support, they build a society based more on savage instincts than cooperative order.

 

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer William Raspberry, referred to “Lord of the Flies” as a reflection of what he saw happening with young black men in our country’s inner cities. He observed that without the constructive influence of older men to guide and direct them, the young men never developed a ‘moral compass.’ Instead they became ‘castaways,’ disengaged from their intended role in a productive society. Indeed, other news writers recently made this same comparison in view of the Baltimore riots.

 

But being a castaway isn’t relegated just to plane crash survivors or young men raised without fatherly guidance. Drastic changes in your health, the loss of a job, or a move can leave you ‘castaway’ from others. So can self-directed actions of pursuing a negative path of meaningless hobbies and harmful activities. New employees, without training and mentoring, become castaway in a sea of confusing job requirements. Neighbors living within feet of each other become castaway either by their own lack of engagement or by the disinterest of others. Church members, surrounded by hundreds of smiling faces, become castaways to their own island that no one bothers to visit because they are too busy connected to other pursuits. New believers are easily castaway when there is no interest in discipling them or in being discipled.

 

We become isolated in so many ways from others, from God, and from our life purpose. As a result we become castaway from the peace, love, and joy we were intended to experience. But the Good News is that we don’t have to remain stranded. We aren’t destined to be castaways on a remote island separated from the rest of the world. Whether our need is for guidance, support, or social engagement, we have a Rescuer who longs to free us from our exiled condition. God Himself longs to secure us with a moral compass to guide our way. He alone return us to our place of real belonging. He is the one who builds our faith, restores our hope, comforts our hearts, and strengthens our resolve.

 

If you feel cast away from friends, family, your purpose in life, or even God, today is the day to leave your island. Talk to God about your condition. Surrender to His perfect will. Set your eyes on Him and take His hand and let Him lead you to the place you belong.

 

“I have gone to prepare a place for you…and surely I am with you always.” John 14:2, Matthew 28:20

 

Why is the genealogy of Jesus important?

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When reading the bible maybe you’ve been tempted to skip over the “begat” sections. “Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.” There are seemingly endless genealogies in the Old Testament where the lives of entire generations are summed up in the name of just one person… and some generations are not even mentioned at all. But Titus 3:9 cautions us to “avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.” 1 Timothy 1:4 echoes this warning. So why does Matthew’s gospel of Jesus start out with His genealogy as reviewed through the lineage of Joseph who didn’t even father our Lord?

 

It could be very exhilarating to pursue a discussion of why Jesus is called the “Son of Abraham” and the “Son of David” and ponder the cultural customs in which these labels made perfect sense, even if they mystify us. We could question the three sets of 14 generations listed, even to delve into why some generations did not make the list but were skipped over. We could research the possible relationship of the 42 generations to Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks of years and how it represents the number of salvation and deliverance. We might get caught up in the ‘religion’ of numerology and the significance over all the numbers referenced in the bible. We could study “secret bible codes” or get caught up in Gnostic stories like The Da Vinci Code that pursue secret and mystic genealogies in attempt to find ‘hidden wisdom.’

 

But let’s not.

 

Not that study is bad, but because there is something much more basic and important we should learn first to apply to our lives.

 

Consider how Matthew’s genealogy of Christ demonstrates the grace of God. Ponder the inclusion of five women (very unusual in those times), all whose reputations were considered tarnished. Reflect on how God works His grace through broken lives of ordinary people (like you and me) to achieve extraordinary results. No doubt He worked through the generations of people whose names were omitted from the history lists. This should give a humble reminder that the history of man is not all about us! The passing of generations is not about prideful genealogy. Then what is the purpose of this genealogical list?

 

It’s about God’s purpose and plan and our faithful response to it. Biblical history is not just about the redemption of man. It is the story of God – His Story – where God’s glory is the supreme focus. History wasn’t so much about Joseph having a perfect wedding. It was about his faithful response to the revelation of the Messiah born to his wife. That’s his part in history.

 

And this is true for you and me today. We tend to see the world as it revolves around our life, our plans, our ambitions, hopes and dreams, our family, our job, our happiness, our comforts and pleasures, our release from pain, sorrow, and hardship of every kind. But that’s not the main point. The big news headlines is that God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life and to be part of His Story by participating in His glory.

 

Maybe YOU will do something great for God that will be remembered for generations to come. But that’s not what it’s all about. It’s about remaining faithful in the unwritten generations that glorify God by enjoy Him – forever. Faith expressing itself in love is what counts most.

 

The sum of your life

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Do you ever think about your purpose in life? About what will be remembered after all the work is done and the chores are finished (at least for the day)? Days go by and turn into weeks and months and years. You might ask, “Does my life account for anything?”

 

For those most seen in the public’s eye, Wikipedia may include a page listing notable accomplishments. For many, decades of struggles, accomplishments, sorrows and joy are summed up in a few paragraphs in the paper’s obituaries.

 

Sometimes I think about the genealogies of the bible. You know, where so and so begat so and so. The dream, passions, and life efforts of an entire generation of people were represented by one single name. And what about the “400 years of silence” between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament?! Surely, there was something worthwhile to be remembered, wasn’t there?

 

And then there’s Damaris. Her name is recorded just once in the bible (Acts 17). And what was accounted to her? What was her famous stake in life that led her to be mentioned in place of many others who remained anonymous?

 

She believed.

She responded to the good news and believed in Jesus.

 

No doubt, there was more than that. Likely, she cooked countless meals that nourished her family, washed baskets full of clothes, and swept the floor hundreds of times. Being a believer, I’m guessing she spent long times in quiet wonder of the amazing Jesus she adored. Maybe she sang songs of worship. Probably she encouraged others in the faith, possibly opening her home up welcome strangers so they could experience the truth and grace that flowed from her transformed life. I suspect troubles and sorrow visited her house just like they come to you and me. Maybe there were times of doubt and despair. We don’t know the details of her life. It’s not that they were unimportant. It’s just that they weren’t the most notable aspect of her life. What mattered most was that she believed.

 

Isn’t that true for us as well? Certainly, when God says, “Go” you should go. When he says, “Encourage your neighbor” we should be about that task. What we do matters much. But in the end, who we are matters more. God says to each of us:

Stay faithful in the presence of doubt.
Keep trusting in the face of fear.
Stand firm when your life is shaken.
Show grace when you are offended.
Speak truth in the presence of lies.
Love when you don’t feel like loving.
Keep on believing.

 

Our whole life is summed in this:
What did I believe and how did I live it?

 

May your day be marked by your all surpassing belief in the one true God who makes life worth living!

 

 

Life purpose

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I’ve always thought that kids ask some of the best life questions: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? What is the purpose of life? You probably asked these questions too. Unfortunately, important questions tend to get buried in the process of going to school, getting a job, getting married, buying a house and car, having children, pursuing hobbies. We lose sight of the great questions in pursuit of other lesser things.

 

If you paid big bucks for a life coach to tell you how to live well, they would undoubtedly ask you about your life purpose. And they would counsel you to begin each morning with a reaffirmation of that purpose and the intentional pursuit of goals to achieve it. They would say to not waste the most precious resource you have, your life. Christian Missionary and Alliance president John Stumbo puts it this way:   “Together we have one chance at this thing called making use of our life to serve the Lord who called us . . . this has given me a sense, a greater sense of purpose, of destiny, of urgency. Not in a panicky, fearful, dread kind of way. No, no, no. But with this sense of calling that the God who spoke that mountain into the universe and can speak my life into heaven’s gates at any moment has left me here and left you here for this moment in human history for us to live out this call of God upon our lives, and to do so not empowered by our own strength but to be a people who are dependent upon the Spirit.   We don’t want to go through life making our own decisions, following our own whims, slaves to our old nature, throwing religious masks of pseudo-holiness over lustful, greedy, impatient hearts. No. We don’t want to just play church or be religious; we want to be Spirit-led, Spirit-filled, Spirit-directed people.”   The bible says we will spend a short time in this life – maybe 70, 80, 90 years – and then an everlasting eternity somewhere else, based on how we responded to the invitation of Jesus here and now. Doesn’t it make sense to ‘wake up’ to this reality every day and live intentionally toward that goal instead of wasting away our life? What will matter most – on earth and for eternity – when your life is at its end? Spend some time to think about your life purpose and what in your life you want to change to reflect this. If you have a relationship with the Holy Spirit, ask him to guide you.