So I sit with women from time to time and the question is asked in one way or anther: "What is my purpose?" We have the world all too willing to tell you your purpose. Some will say live for the moment, and your purpose is to be happy. Others will say live for God and you will find your purpose. Whole marketing campaigns have been around "helping you find your purpose." But what if I told you rather than asking you for money or making you read my blog every week I give you a simple answer to your purpose in life.
I can tell you, when I was twenty-eight years old, I was freaking out because, I thought I had to classify my purpose. The reason we named "On Purpose Consulting Group" is because I knew what anxiety had been caused by believing a lie, instead of God's truth. Everyone wants to know they have a purpose, which is why so many people have tried to market purpose as a way to sell whatever they are selling. Platforms have been built on telling people they have a purpose as long as you follow them but it leads to a dead end. Can I just encourage you to stop worrying, stop fretting and just be still for a moment? Close your eyes and take a deep breath and say "I have a purpose."
Purpose defined
So Webster's dictionary just states that purpose is the reason for which something is done or created. Well, let's start here as the perfect place. We only get confused, when we forget who we are (identity), and anxiety comes in, when we choose to focus on the wrong things rather than the God things. We focus on secondary products, rather than primary needs in our lives, and neglect the very things we need in order to move forward in our purpose. In order to define a purpose, I want to break it down into two areas, one is called your covenant vocation, that which you were born and then your unique purpose. I hope that you read this and let these truths just seep into you. Because I spent years trying to figure out why I am here, and if I will ever come to a place where I feel like I have a purposeful life.
We all have a finger
I work in the medical field, in order to get into my computer and the medicine machine I have to stick my finger on the scanner. My fingerprint is the identification method we use because, although everyone has a finger, my fingers have a unique grooving only to me and so that is how I am known. In the same way, I look at your purpose. You see the holy vocation is the thumb, why? Because everyone's holy vocation is the same. We are created to worship God and to lead others into relationship with Him. In the book "The Day the Revolution Began." N.T. Wright says "The goal is not heaven, but a renewed human vocation with God's renewed creation." That is a lot of big words to say this: our goal while we are on this earth is not to hide in a cave waiting for the rapture. It is for us to be in a relationship with God, through Jesus, here and now. To invite him into our lives and to have a relationship with the God and be a part of his kingdom. This is our "finger" because we all have that call.
We all have a fingerprint
The special groves and patterns of your thumb are your unique gifting and calling. Beth Moore says 'God is a God of creation but He is a God of order as well." Have you ever been out of order? I know I have. At times, I have struggled because I will put my gifting as an idol and want others to look at me with awe and wonder. Many of us struggle with this, and I think owning it, rather than pretending it isn't there is a better option because it is rooted in my insecurity, not in God's confidence. Another fight I have had is hiding who I am because I don't want people to see me. I have trusted others and been misunderstood, I have been myself and been ridiculed. This my darlings is hard but necessary because I discovered, those who love me for who I am. I don't have to prostitute my giftings to be loved or have influence I don't have to sell my purpose to others in order to feel I have value. Be in order, and when you give God lordship, you invite him into your strengths and your weaknesses, and I am here to tell you that your weaknesses may turn into your strengths! All my life I have been told: "Cassie you talk too much, can't you be quieter, cant you be less." I thought this was my weakness, my inability to shut up. I hated who I was, because, I was listening to a few voices who were telling me to sit down and shut up. I began to listen to the other voices, those who know my heart and know me, and I let go of the fear (most days) I am still loud, I am still too much, and I have embraced who I am and God has used it for His glory. I am loud but I am loud for Him, and I point others to Him.
So to conclude this blog, stop freaking out, know your purpose is to worship God and lead others to Him using your giftings, abilities, and resources. Your identity is not in what you do but in knowing who you are and your purpose is what you do. Keep purpose in its place and don't make it an idol to be worshiped. Start here and ask God to reveal where you need to repent, pick up and let go. Know this is your starting point not your stopping place. I am cheering you on!!
Lots of Love
Cassie
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