Life On Purpose

Transcript

And hello again, dear radio friend. How in the world are you? You doing okay? Well, I’ve just finished praying that God will take some word that’s spoken in this broadcast and fit it exactly to your personal need. Let’s trust God that that may be so. We’re talking about this matter of a meaningful life. What gives meaning to life? First, deliverance. Second, the concept of the miraculous. Let God into the ordinaries of life, and instead of life being a drag, it will be a delight. “The Lord wrought miracles and wonders in Egypt,” he said. The concept of the miraculous, when you’ve done all you can do. Do your duty, be diligent in carrying out your obligations, the Bible is on the side of diligence and good business. But when you’ve done the best you can, then look up to Heaven, and expect God to intervene for His glory, and you won’t be disappointed. Hallelujah for that. Another thing that gives meaning, is the concept of purpose. “He brought us out from thence, in order that He might bring us in, to give us the land, which He promised unto our fathers.” He brought us out that he might bring us in, purpose.

Amazing, how many people just drift through life. Have you noticed that? Just drifting on, hoping to make Social Security, and then hoping to have it a little easier, and then hoping to die comfortably, and maybe anonymously, and to be remembered somehow. Just drifting through life. Well, there’s more to it than that, dear friend. And meaningfulness comes through achieving God’s purpose in your life. Not what you planned to do or hoped to do, but God’s purpose in your life. I recall a meeting one day in St. Joe, Missouri. A Sunday afternoon meeting, it was, a hot day, and the crowd that came, you can be sure came, because they were interested. Because otherwise, they would have been seeking out a more comfortable and cool place, than that hot auditorium that day. But there they were, some hundreds of them, and I had the privilege of preaching to them, and gave an invitation, an appeal at the close of my message, and there were numbers of folk who responded. Among them, there was a young man, who, as he finished praying, there at the mourner’s bench… There was a place where there was an old fashioned altar of prayer, a mourner’s bench.

So he’d been kneeling there, and as he finished praying, I was near him, and I came up, and spoke with him. And I said, “Well, buddy, what happened today?” He said, “My whole life plan has just been rearranged.” “Oh,” I said, “Tell me about it.” “Well,” he said, “I’m a university student.” And he said, “I had decided, before I entered the university, that I would prepare myself to be a physician, I would specialize in surgery, I would find myself a good connection with an established physician, and I would establish a good practice, and I would make lots of money, and all of that.” He said, “I had my life plan all worked out.” “Well,” I said, “That sounds good. What happened today?” “Well,” he said, “The Lord just sent me to the mission field.” He said, “I’m still going to be a doctor.” “But,” he said, “It’s gonna be different. I’m going to the mission field to be a missionary doctor, by His grace.” And his face was just beaming. Purpose enters into this question of meaning.

Do you know why you are doing what you’re doing? Is there any sense of direction, any sense of, “why I’m doing this” and “where I want to arrive?” “Ponder,” the Bible says, “Ponder the path of thy feet.” “Watch your step,” in other words, “Find out where you’re going.” Paul says, “I do these, that I might finish my course with joy.” Finish, that is, the course, with joy. “And the ministry, which I’ve received of our Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God.” He said, “What I’m going through right now, is gonna enable me to finish the course with joy. It’s the end of the race,” said he, “That I’m looking forward too.” Now, let me ask you this question, beloved, listen. If you keep on, just exactly the way you are right now, where will you end up? I mean to say, what will be the net result of your having lived, if you keep on, just the way you are? Now, for some, the answer may be bright and glorious. For others, however, the answer may be a bit dismal, because there hasn’t been any evidence, so far, of a divine purpose in your life.

Wouldn’t it be a good idea to let God rearrange the priorities in your life, so that you are now living according to His purpose and His grace? Wouldn’t that be a good idea? I think it would. How do you do that? Well, first of all, I think it’s helpful to share with God how you feel about things the way they are. In your praying, find a quiet place, where you can just talk with God and say, “Lord, here’s the way my life has been going so far and I’m not all too happy with it. Would you please take over in these and these and these areas of my life?” And maybe you need to name for Him, some of the areas of your life, where there hasn’t been any purpose. Has there been any purpose in your business life and relationships? Has there been any purpose in your educational life? Has there been any purpose in your, for you single young people, your romantic life, or if you’ve just been dating, and playing the field, and having a great time, has there been any purpose in your relationship with family and loved ones? Has there been any purpose in your relationship with church and community?

Maybe you need to talk with God about these things, and name these different areas of interest, and responsibility, and then ask Him to take charge in those areas. A friend of mine, one day, was driving from one city to another, and he said to his buddy, who was with him, “Here, you take the wheel. I have to get in the back seat and do some heavy thinking.” And he got in the back seat of his own car, while his friend drove for him, and he told me, “I just said, ‘Jesus, you have to take over. My business isn’t going the way it should, and my life isn’t going the way it should, and I’m not happy with things the way they are, and right now, I just want you to take over, and be Lord of it all.'” And he said, “He did.”

There, you see, is the beginning of meaning for somebody to whom I’m talking today. There hasn’t been any purpose. You’re not aware of being brought out from Egypt, so that you can be brought into the promised land. He brought us out, so that He might bring us in. There isn’t any awareness of that divine purpose in your life, and perhaps, you need to spend a little time with God talking things over with Him, on that basis.

“Well,” you say, “What am I gonna get, a divine vision from heaven? Is there gonna be struck by lightning or something?” Oh, no, nothing dramatic, but God will begin, I’m sure, to rearrange what we call ‘the priorities’ in your life. Now, here’s a good way to start that. As you talk and pray with God, make a list of all the different elements in your life, and list them, in terms of the priorities, as you see them. What is the most important? And what is the next most important? And after that, what is the next most important? And so on. This is the way, of course, any good manager lays out a day. He lists the priorities of the day, in order to manage his time properly. Have you learned that technique yet? Well, it’s a good one. List all the things that you think you have to do in any given day, and then prioritize them, put them in order of their importance, the most important thing first. You’ll find that you get along very well in the day. Now, the same thing is true with your life’s purpose. List all the elements in your life, and then list them, in terms of priority, as you see it, and then dear friend, start talking with God about it, and see whether he would rearrange some of those elements, in terms of priority. Where you may have been putting something first, maybe He would have it closer to the bottom of the list, who knows? Think and talk with God in the matter of priorities of life.

And then, another way to achieve being in God’s purpose, is simply to pray your way through every day, because, as you know, God has His plans already laid for you in detail, for every day of your life. And so, as you awake in the morning, speak to your blessed Heavenly Father. Turn your life over to Him. Bishop Taylor Smith used to say that, when he awoke, he would lie there in bed and he would pray something like this, “Oh, Heavenly Father, let this bed be an altar and let my body be a sacrifice, a living sacrifice to you, right now. I give myself to you in these waking moments.” He would pray. Speak with your Heavenly Father in the early morning hours, and then make a habit of calling up Heaven, as you turn the corners of different situations on the road of life. Pray before you greet the family in the morning. You don’t have to greet them with a loving snarl. You can greet them lovingly and happily. Pray before your first job at the work, at the office, or the shop, or the classroom, or wherever it may be. Pray before you answer the phone. You don’t know who it is. Pray before you open a letter. You don’t know if it’s a check, or a bill, or a threat. Pray before you make a commitment. You don’t know what’s around the corner. God can see the future and He can guide you. Pray before you hire someone. God is the best personnel manager in the universe. Pray, certainly, before you transfer or fire any employee, if you’re an employer.

The most expensive thing you can do, is to fire anybody, you know that. Quite apart, that is, from unemployment insurance and all of that. It’s still very expensive for the corporation, for you to lose a person, for whatever reason, and so you need to pray that God will enable you to get the best out of your relationship with people, for His Glory. Pray before you sign a contract. God has already read the fine print and He can remind you of things. Pray at the close of the day, and turn out the pocket full of memories with your Lord, and commit them to Him, so that you sleep peacefully and soundly, without any post-mortem worries, nagging at the edges of your mind.

You wanna get into the purpose of God? Pray your way through the day. He has already made His plans for you, beloved. He knows exactly what He wants to have happen in your life. Why do you not then, form the habit of just calling up Heaven, momentarily, every time you turn a corner on life’s road throughout the day? Good idea? The purpose of God. One of the real reasons for meaningfulness, is a sense of purpose.

Now, you can achieve an awareness of purpose by getting into action. You can achieve an awareness of purpose by getting into action. Suppose I wanted to be a competent violinist. What is my first step, after having secured a good teacher? “To practice obviously,” you say. That’s exactly so. If I wanna become a competent violinist, and I have secured a good teacher, and a reasonably good instrument, then the next thing I have to do, is to get busy, and practice. I’ll have a sense of purpose, when I start working on Rivaldi scales, or whatever it may be, and so, if you want a sense, an awareness of the purpose of God in your life, start taking some steps of obedience in line with that purpose. Would you do that? Today, find one thing that you can do to obey God, and do it, and I can assure you, that you’ll have a delightful sense of working with God. You’ll have a sense of God’s purpose in your life. You try that out.

Dear Lord today, give us that delightful sense of the purpose of God, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Till I meet you once again by way of radio, walk with the King today and be a blessing!