Living with Purpose

Ok, so you think you are about to leave the desert, what now? What are you going to do with your life – what is your purpose?

When Jesus emerged from his experience in the desert he went to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:14). At Nazareth he entered the Synagogue and proclaimed that the Spirit of the Lord had anointed him to:

Preach the gospel to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed and to proclaim the favourable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:18,19).

He understood his purpose, in these verse Jesus outlined the job description for his ministry on earth. He had received a commission from God and the equipping of the Holy Spirit and this was his purpose. In a similar way God has ordained a purpose for your life and mine. In fact Ephesians 2:10 tells us ‘we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them’. God has given you a Divine appointment and anointed you with the Holy Spirit so that you can carry out his plans, whatever they may be.

What is the purpose to which God has called you? We often assume ministry has to do with what we do at church – but it is much bigger than that. Your place of ministry or purpose, may be in the church, but it is also your workplace and your home. God calls you to serve him in the place he has appointed you. That may be as schoolteacher, banker, carpenter, shop assistant, housewife or even a pastor. This is the purpose for which you have been equipped and anointed with the Holy Spirit.

God’s ultimate purpose is that the gospel be presented to everyone everywhere. He intends that we fulfil that purpose in the place of his appointment. He wants you to walk each day in the power of His Spirit, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in the places you serve. Our choice of vocation is not a matter of chance, nor should it be based on the financial returns it gives, the prestige it provides, the retirement plan on offer or opportunities for travel and advancement, but rather on how God may help us to use our talents and abilities to share the good news with those with which we come into contact.

The primary place of Christian service is not the church. It is the marketplace and neighbourhoods of which we are a part. It is as we live as ambassadors for Christ in these areas of life that we communicate the good news of Jesus Christ. If you ask him, the Holy Spirit will lead you to opportunities to share about your faith with your friends, neighbours and work colleagues.

As Jesus looks out at the world he sees people who need to be loved, to be encouraged, to be set free. He doesn’t just see these needy people in the pews of our churches but as the lives of men and women, doing business, teaching classes, tending families, playing sport and shopping in supermarkets. It is into this world he wants to send you in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Learn to see your job as the means by which you can fulfil the fundamental purpose of your life – allow the Holy Spirit to lead you and enable you in your daily tasks and in your relationships with those in your street, office or factory. God has prepared these good works for you – before the world was even begun and he has and will continue to enable you to complete them.

Life in the Desert

In the Psalms King David spoke of being in a ‘dry and thirsty land, where there is no water’ (Ps 63:1). He wasn’t just speaking of as physical desert but one of emotional and mental abandonment. Even though he had done what he believed to be right, had committed himself to a cause ordained by God, he was now alone. Have you ever felt like David when he wrote these words? Have you felt like you are in a dry and weary land where there is no water? Perhaps you have tried desperately to follow God’s leading but wound up in the desert? No matter what you do, what you read or where you go, you still come up dry and empty.

Jesus understood the desert experience. After he was baptized the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness. Moses spent 40 years in the desert. Elijah experienced dry times, as did Joseph, Daniel, the apostle Paul and many others of the great men of God. The fact is God leads us into dry times. But why?

There are a number of reasons why this might be so. In the first place the desert is a place of testing. The people of Israel were taken through the desert for 40 years to see what was in their hearts and if they would obey God’s command (Deut 8:2). God takes us through times of dryness to test us, to see where our motivation really lies. Will we still love and serve him without the recognition or results we seek?

God also leads us into and through the desert to help us to grow. John the Baptist remained in the desert, where he grew and became strong in the Spirit so that he would be prepared when he appeared in public (Luke 1:80). We often do our best growing in the desert, the place where we have to deal with the harshness and severity of circumstances. The place where our character is formed and we grow to maturity.

A third reason why God may lead us in to the desert is to give us rest. Sometimes the only way we will rest is if we are forced to it! Jesus told his disciples ‘come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest’ (Mk 6:31). Many of us feel that we are so indispensable to God that if we don’t keep active then somehow his purposes will fail. On occasion God takes us aside so that we will rest – he knows our limits better than we do and if we don’t take time out, his Spirit may well lead us into the desert where we have no choice.

God also uses the desert to restore to us something we have lost. Serving God should always be vibrant and exciting, however for many of us it can become mundane and routine. God will use dry times to bring us back into the joy of his presence. He will also use them to restore our ability to hear his voice and to give us fruitfulness in ministry, to get things into proper perspective, to restore our praise and to give back to us freedom in serving him. Our ministry is not the drudgery of self -imposed service but a joyful experience of co-labouring with Jesus.

The fifth purpose, of the desert is preparation; God uses our dry times to get us ready for what is to come. It is a place where our desire is heightened and where we develop a thirst for the streams of God.

Unless your desert experience is the result of some act of disobedience or because you have lost your way, God has led you there. It is his desire to prepare you for the wide open places he will set before you. Thank God for your desert, allow him to show you the purposes he intends it to accomplish in your life and ministry. And then get ready for the day you emerge from those dry places full of the power of the Holy Spirit ready to do great and mighty things. 

Once you know where to go...

Knowing where to go or what you to do is one thing – actually doing it is another!

Biblical history is full of accounts of people who doubted their ability to follow through on the tasks they were given. The people of Israel knew that God was leading them into the Promised Land but they doubted that they had the ability to get there. Moses knew God was sending him to Pharaoh but didn’t think he had the ability or strength. Jeremiah was given a message to deliver, but thought he was too young. What about you? Have you ever had the conviction and even the opportunities to engage in some task or project, but were reluctant to take it on because of lack of strength or resource? Have you ever walked to the edge of the river, as did the people of Israel, looked over at the other side but then gone back to the wilderness because you lacked the courage or strength to go across?

As we go through life we are continually confronted with opportunities to move forward. We might even be convinced that this is all part of God’s greater plan for our life. But having a vision, or even a plan isn’t enough, it remains our responsibility to make it happen. Where do we get the necessary resources and strength? In Isaiah 40:28-31 God gives us our first clue – our strength comes from waiting on him. Isaiah 31:15 tell us that it is in repentance and rest that that we will be saved and in quietness and trust is our strength.

Before we wait on God for strength and courage, we must first be willing to do whatever it is he leads us to. As the people of Israel prepared themselves to finally go into the Promised Land, they waited on God for three days. They were ready and willing and now they waited in the presence of God. It is in the waiting and depending on him that God provides the strength. They didn’t run ahead of God – they had tried that before and failed. They listened to him, and they waited.

Sometimes waiting is the most difficult part. It is easier to do something, anything, than it is to wait. And yet this is God’s way. After his anointing by the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led into the wilderness to wait. After the resurrection the disciples were told to stay in Jerusalem and wait. After telling King Ahab there was going to be a drought, Elijah was told to go to a brook - to wait. Having heard from God we need to wait.

After the people of Israel had waited before the Lord they consecrated themselves. Not only did they need to wait on God but they needed to prepare themselves to do God’s business God’s way. The act of consecration is the setting apart of the whole life – not just part of it. They needed to be completely set apart before they took on the Lord’s mission – then they went. They had heard from God, they had waited for his timing and they had prepared themselves – now they needed to obey. It was not until they showed their faith by obedience that God prepared the way. When their feet were in the river, he made a path for them to cross. They didn’t wait for circumstances to change they acted believing that they would.

When God shows you the part of his plan that you fit in, and he will, you need to wait until you know where he is calling you to – but when he tells you to move, then move. Once over the river the people were told to set up a stone monument as a reminder of where God had brought them from and where he was taking them. This was a step of commitment; there was no going back.

God wants to know that we are committed to the task he calls us to before he will make available his limitless supply of resources. Wait before the Lord until he shows you his plans and his timing. Consecrate yourselves to him and take the first step of obedience. Then commit yourselves to continuing in his will no matter what the circumstances being certain that he that began a good work in you can and will bring it to completion.

But which way is the right way?

Nobody likes to be lost. We all want someone or something to point us in the right direction and so we turn to GPS, maps, the advice of others, for some even crystals, mysticism and Tarot cards and while others, God.

The Bible says that God’s children will be led by the Holy Spirit, but what does that mean? How do they know where the Spirit is leading? Some things are quite straightforward, the Bible is full of advice, encouragement and instruction as to the direction God wants to lead, particularly in issues of morality and ethics. But what about areas of life where the Bible is not clear? Especially when it comes to areas of work and vocation.

Throughout the pages of the Bible we read of men and women being specifically led by the Holy Spirit to go to places or to do various things. In Acts 10 God led Cornelius to send messengers to Peter and then led Peter to go to the home of Cornelius. An angel of the Lord sent Philip to the desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza (Acts 8:25), Ananias was led by the Spirit to visit and minister to Saul (Acts 9:10-13). Frequently Elijah moved after the ‘word of the Lord’ came to him.

But how was it that these people actually discerned God’s leading? Sometimes God used dreams and visions to speak - but this was not always the case. In Acts 16 we read that Paul intended to go to Bithynia but the Holy Spirit forbade him from going. Shortly afterwards he was told to go to Macedonia. At other times God used the prophetic words of others to give direction (Acts 21:4, 11). Many times we read of the early church going from place to place without any record of specific leading and sometimes unusual circumstances led to changes in plans. It seems that God uses a variety of means to direct us.

For the Christian, the word of God is the primary source for moral guidance. Psalm 119 is devoted almost exclusively to the value of the word of God in finding direction for life. But he uses other means as well. Perhaps the most common method of discerning God’s leading, if not the most undervalued from a ‘spiritual’ perspective is circumstances. God uses the events of life to move us along the pathway he has chosen for us. How many times can we think back through seemingly unconnected events that have almost mysteriously led us to the places we arrive? At other times God uses other people to bring specific messages. These may be what are sometimes called ‘prophetic messages’ or ‘words of knowledge’, but they may also come in general counsel and conversation.

However we receive guidance, whether by specific words, dreams, and circumstances or in some other way, it is important that it be tested. In the first place it needs to be tested by the word of God – he will never lead you in a direction that is contrary to his word. We should sometimes seek confirmation by the community of believers and also seek the confirmation of the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. Ordinarily we would want all these things to align: the message we receive, the witness of the Holy Spirit within, confirmation by others, the word of God and circumstances. However this will not always be so and sometimes God will expect us to follow his lead even when circumstance and the counsel of others seems to be against it.

One of the great encouragements from the bible is the verse that says: “He, your teacher will no longer hide himself, but your eyes will behold your teacher. And your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘this is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to right or the left’” (Is 30:20, 21). Listen to others, read, pray and look at your circumstances, but don’t dither!  Indecisiveness is paralysing. God does not expect or want us to stand trapped in uncertainty, but to follow your passions and your dreams, confidently and purposefully moving in the direction we believe to be right, always listening to the voice that says ‘this is the way, keep going’.