Finding Purpose

I often hear my patients say, "I know I'm still here for a reason, I just wish God would let me know what it is."  My response to them is to ask what it is they can do.  Often they will say they can't do anything because they are confined to a bed or housebound.  At this point I often say that they can still pray, that they can still greet others with a smile, that they can praise God, that as long as there is breath in their bodies and the capacity to reason, they can serve.

As far as God's purpose for them, I ask them to look around and see what or who needs their attention.  Often family members are working hard to take care of them and need their prayers.  There are others they know of that are going through difficult times that need prayers or a kind word.  My point is that whatever good they see that they can do is a call from God to them.

The same principle applies to the rest of us who are not housebound or confined to a bed.  We may not have a sense of some grand purpose that would be defined as an ongoing ministry but we do come face-to-face with divine encounters of the daily kind - appointments God has arranged for us to keep and opportunities to serve.

Whenever you see someone in need and you have the time, capacity and resources to help - you have a God-given purpose right before your eyes. Whenever you find yourself thinking, "Someone should do something about..." then you are encountering a divine purpose to either do something about it or try to find someone who can.  And if neither are possible, it is an opportunity to pray about it.

While God may have some specific ministry in mind for you or a grand opportunity to serve, every day, he puts opportunities in your path for service in word or deed or thought.  Whether called to direct action or the indirect action of prayer, there are daily opportunities for ministry.

Solomon put it this way, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might" (Eccl 9:10).  The apostle Paul adds, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Gal 6:10).  The teaching is clear, as you observe that which you can do something about, go to it!  Do what you can, with what ability you have to do it.  This is always God purpose for you.  Jus' Say'n.