Saturday, October 29, 2011

Purpose


This past week I was challenged, in fact down right stumped by the question my chiropractor posed, "what is your purpose?" he simply asked. I admit this is a question I have asked myself, over and over for years; I have yet to discover the answer. It was no great surprise to me after I read The PurposeDriven Life, why that particular book profoundly impacted my life. The truth of the matter is simple, for years I had been looking inward to discover my life's purpose. I contributed to the success of James Dobson, Phil McGraw, John Gray, Pat Robertson, Oprah Winfrey, Joyce Meyer and I'm sure a host of others to help me figure this out. But the small truth is, they didn't create me. A concept I really hadn't much thought until Rick Warren brought this to my attention. Yes, being the Christian I was, I sought God's guidance, and I'm sure at the time I asked His guidance; however, I am most positive that I had NO clue how to effectively pray, and I had NO idea how to read the bible, so that it actually spoke to ME. I certainly was intimidated by others who "knew" more Christian facts, and could espouse why Christianity is the absolute truth. Yikes, there were many years I was very uncomfortable in my Christian faith. In fact the devil set up camp outside my door step for years. Those I hold closet to my heart literally have scars to prove it. Just ask Emma- (grin). Here’s the thing. The first sentence of Warren's book struck me like a bolt of lightning, "It's NOT about YOU!" Four simple words. "Huh," I pondered, that is a NOVEL idea. I read further. Little did I know at the time, that would be the starting place I now use to reference my Christian conversion. Simply put, God has steadfastly revealed to me through much despair, pain, ugliness, joy, peace, relationships and study, who I am in Him. And I learned there is a BIG difference between who I am living IN Him as opposed to living OUT of Him. This has been a 9 year journey. I still don't have the complete answer to Travis' question, however, I am most certain of one thing, I'm getting closer and closer to discovering God's purpose for my life.

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