DAY 15 - FIND THE PURPOSE We have established that there is a purpose for the night. That purpose is to define the day. That is why God counted the day as starting with the night. It is this individual definition of the day that I call inspiration. But of course this is not a new concept. You already read it in Ecclesiastes 3:1 TO everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven: AMP Remember we started this devotional trying to find out the reason (or purpose) why God opted to create the world in six days and not ten or three or fifty. Yes there is a purpose for God’s choice of six. There is a purpose for every circumstance of your life. There is a purpose for every nation. The big challenge is discovering that purpose. But we have established that inspiration uncovers and unfolds that purpose and that most times that inspiration comes in the night. The challenge is you have gone through several nights – hardships, deprivations, threats, rapes, death of loved ones, name it – but without a seeming purpose emerging. Is your case different? I don’t think so. You have to read the book of your life (remember?) not the alphabets. You have to see how the alphabets connect to form words, how the words form sentences, how the sentences form paragraphs and the book. There has to be a system to help you distill purpose from the events unfolding in your life. If you could lay hold of that system how much would it be worth? Did you notice that God did not start by creating man and then giving him what he needed? What kind of God would that be, if He suddenly realized that man needed air after Adam had suffocated? But that is how we approach life. We run after something then realize that we need something else before we can get what we set out to get. At the end of the day we take so many detours, we get lost in the maze of life. Then we give up and our initial dream becomes a distant goal that can never be achieved. Life is wicked we conclude. So we resign to fate and decide to make the most of each day. The Bible says when we do this, we are like children “tossed like ships to and fro between chance gusts” (Eph. 4:14 Amp). That ship never arrives at its destination because its course is not set. Purpose is a pre-defined path leading to a clearly defined destination. The designer of life deliberately created inter-relatedness in all aspects of our lives. He did this purposely and demonstrated it from the conception, design and creation of the earth. Let me give you an example. God promised Abraham a nation. In anxiety, trying to help God, Abraham impregnated his house help (house maid). The result was Ishmael. Big mistake. Eventually, Isaac, the son of the promise was born, and he too passed the blessing to Jacob. When Joseph showed up on the scene of his brothers in Shechem, no one had any idea how Abraham’s big mistake was going to become his life saver. It was Ishmaelites that bought him and sold him to slavery in Egypt to open the critical chapter in the formation of the nation of Israel. The point I’m making is this: God orders every step of His children. Long before the need arises, God has a provision in place. If you are in need and you have no provision, the likely things to check are – (i.) Am I in the right place? (ii.) If I am in the right place am I blinded to the provision? Remember when Hagar was chased out of Abraham’s household with Ishmael, she was close to a well but was dying of thirst. She was at the right place but blinded to her provision. The same is seen when Abraham took Isaac up Mount Moriah to sacrifice him. There was a lamb prepared but Abraham hadn’t seen it until the voice of God directed him. You need to have your ears and eyes opened to your provision. (iii.) Am I taking my provision for granted? Most times the answer does not look like what we are looking for. Naaman went to Elijah to be cured of his skin disease. He had expected some form of rituals and prayers, not to go take a bath in River Jordan. The answer didn’t look like it. Be careful how you treat the little things in your life. There is a purpose and God makes everything beautiful in its time. Purpose can expire. You can miss it or realize it too late. It is the anchor of our lives. You can’t invent purpose, you can only discover it. Your purpose finds you out. In 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey makes a very insightful quote from Frankl. “ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life, and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life, to life he can only respond by being responsible.” (7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Steve Covey P.129) Frankl goes on to say that we detect rather than invent our missions in life. “everyone has his specific vocation or mission in life… therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus everyone’s task is as unique as his specific opportunity to implement it.” Your purpose is tied to your time and place. That is why the opportunity to fulfill purpose is locked in time. That is why it can be missed. That is why there is no better time than today. Light was created on the first day because of its purpose. The atmosphere (sky) was created on the second day. The land, seas and vegetation were created on the third day. On the fourth day, God created the sun, the moon and the seasons. On the fifth day aquatic animals were created. On the sixth day, land animals including man were created. Notice that everything that came on day 2 needed what was created on Day 1. Things created on Day 5 needed everything created before that day. The timing of the creation depended on the purpose. Now I need you to go back on your memory lane. Think of all that life has thrown at you. Think of the major events in your life that were not in your control. Look at your family background for instance, why where you born into that family, into that community? What other things have that singular act compelled on you? What opportunities did it expose you to? What challenges does it offer you? What is your general experience growing up? Can you see a pattern? It may not be obvious at first look. Tomorrow I will show you how to stop looking at the alphabets and truly read the pages of the book of your life. © THE LAW OF 5 Part 1 of the Intentional Impact Series DeepWords Devotional 2015
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 06:43:30 +0000
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