Sanctified and Surrendered: With Purpose

Two months and two days ago I moved from my familiar home in central California to a completely unfamiliar new home in west Michigan. My reasons for moving are not the most predictable. Most twenty-somethings leave their parent’s home because they cannot wait to get away. They either get their own apartment in the same town or move far away to follow some new, promising career. I, however, was and still am not too eager to be away from home. To the contrary, I adore my parents and wish to be with them every day, if possible. In fact, when I was a teenager I remember realizing that they would one day grow old and die. Yikes! At that moment I decided I would be happy to soak up every single second with them and not rush off to be on my own. My closeness with my parents is not an unhealthy attachment. We simply get along fabulously. I respect them fully and trust their wisdom and guidance. Their presence provides me with a sense of security and confidence. Moving so far away from them is the hardest thing I have ever done; moving so far away from them is precisely what I had to do.

My motivation to move is to develop a greater dependency on the Lord and to prove that He is my Sustainer whether my amazing parents are near or far. This is a challenge I chose to give myself and though difficult, I press on. Through this challenging time of life I have experienced great joy and growth as well as great sadness and fear. This only proves to me the necessity of this challenge. I must seek Christ more desperately now; I cling to Him for strength and purpose.

“Purpose”; this one, common word is chalk full of meaning. The world teaches us to find purpose. It teaches us that we must be ambitious and driven; we must create our purpose and let it fuel us. This teaching is untrue because it is wrong in its focus. Rather than creating our own purpose, we are created with purpose. To be clear, I am not going all Rick-Warren-Purpose-Driven-Life on you. What I am saying is that our Creator, the one true God, created us with purpose. Note that I am not saying “with a purpose”. You follow? He was purposeful in His creation of us. That is the lesson I have been learning my whole life but with significantly more intensity since my move. I have been desperate for purpose here in west Michigan. As a new college grad with a Bachelor’s of Science in Communication I have felt lacking. I should be able to get a snazzy job. My degree should mean something, right? I should not be living with my big brother’s young family and provided with a roof over my head and a car to drive by his in-laws, should I? It seems I should be able to provide for myself a little more.

The pressure of my move set in rather quickly and I lost my focus on the One who created me with purpose. I have fallen for the lie that I am meant to create my own purpose. My education, though a great thing to have, fed that lie. The expected next step in life is a career and total independence. Neither is happening for me. Thus, I have felt a great deal of sadness and borderline depression. I am here in this unfamiliar place with new people and nothing of my own and fully aware that my purpose is severely lacking. But the reason it is lacking is because it was never meant to be mine at all.

I have zero rights to be selfish. By putting my focus on seeking my own purpose rather than seeking Christ, I have been selfish. Please, don’t argue with me on this one. Selfishness can be ugly and arrogant or fragile and pitied. I have been the latter. My focus has been on me - seeking what I am supposed to do, where I am supposed to go, and how I am supposed to do whatever it is I am supposed to do… I, I, I, I…. These are not questions any of us were created to wonder.

Every person to ever exist on this little planet was created with purpose. God created us for Himself! Will you please join me in taking a very deep breath of relief! Cliché as it sounds, we were created by God for God! This is not some feel-good line to put on a motivational calendar! This is an unchangeable, life-giving truth! God created us without pressuring us to prove ourselves to Him or to each other or even to ourselves. He simply wants our focus. He wants our lives for Himself. He provided us with His Son, Jesus Christ, to bridge the gap between our sin and Him so that we can choose Him as willingly as He chooses us. The pressure for salvation is not on us. So why do we put the pressure of living on ourselves? We are alive because we were created. We were created with purpose from our Creator to live worshipping Him every second of the day in total surrender. He didn’t stop there. He gave us the choice to live for His purpose and His grace gives us the ability to do so. What a gigantic relief! Let’s take another deep breath together, shall we? *Inhale… Exhale…* That was nice!

If I never work another job in my life, volunteer another hour, sing another song, write another blog post (after this one), and am viewed as a complete failure by the world around me, so what? Who cares? So long as I am living GOD’S PURPOSE by seeking Him every second of every day, I am the person He created me to be. It does not matter who sees or who approves. Should I be without a penny in my pocket or as rich as Oprah, it does not matter who sees or who approves. In every situation of life, all that matters is that my focus is on delighting in Christ and seeking Him completely. Our only choice in life is who and what we seek. From there we have only consequences of our initial choice. When we choose to seek Christ, and therein fulfill the purpose He created us with, we reap amazing consequences: His presence, His provision, His wisdom and understanding, His joy and peace, and His hand orchestrating every piece of our life for His glory. Choosing to seek anything other than Christ causes us to reap empty consequences: Pressure and stress, lack of purpose, lack of fulfillment, fear of loss, uncertainty, and temporary riches.

While I miss all of the comforts of home, especially my excellent parents, my security is Christ Himself. He created me with purpose for His glory. He is available to me more than any human being. He is faithful and unconditionally loving. Delighting in Him by seeking Him every moment of every day is His purpose for me. He is the purpose I choose.

I encourage you to take some time (preferably now) to read John 15 where Jesus teaches us how to live His purpose for us by abiding in Him. Then read John 17 where Jesus prays for us before His crucifixion. Take time to talk with Him without distractions. Delight in His love and provision for you long before you were ever born. God created YOU with purpose…the purpose of knowing Him! *Inhale… Exhale…* What sweet relief!

“Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

- Psalm 37:4

* Photo credit: http://savvyscot.com/defining-purpose-and-the-importance-of-moderation/