Not Another Purpose Sermon

I know God uniquely created me with special gifts, which I should utilize to His glory, but if I hear another sermon or lecture on living a life of purpose I may gag. I happen to work in an environment where I often hear speakers giving "talks." Some of the "talks" are sermons, some are lectures and some are purely motivational, but lately many of these talks are on finding your purpose in life and going for it. Surprisingly, I agree with all they say, but what offends me is what they do not say. It does not seem fair to get your audience excited and encourage them to go for it without sharing the rest of the story. Thinking through and getting oneself in alignment with ones purpose is great, but the bills still have to be paid, time still has to be put in, and skills still have to be honed. Shouldn't they mention it may take you a while to get to the point where God can use your special gifts, maybe throw in something about still being responsible while seeking to fulfill your life vision, or how about the fact that going for it may be costly? I am reminded of Joseph. Joseph went through an awful lot before he could be used by God to fulfill his God given mission. I have to think that if Joseph's jail cell had been visited by today's purpose preachers, Joseph would have assumed he needed to figure out His role and place in this world just as soon as he got out of the joint.

While I think it is valuable to live intentionally in a way that allows us to fulfill our God given role, I think maybe we are missing the boat in the way we are communicating this. My encouragement would be to seek God and earnestly seek to find your passions, gifts, skills and purpose, but if it does not match with where you are in life, pray about it. God may tell you clearly what to do - take the risk and go for it, go back to school, take the pay cut to work in your field, connect with so and so, but God may also be silent on the matter and say nothing more than "keep seeking me."

I have a friend who used to teach that wherever you were, you could always be doing something to be working towards preparing yourself for who you think God would have you be. At the time I was working in a field that was totally unrelated to my passions or life purpose, so upon hearing my friends advice I made a goal of reading a book a month on the subject of my passion and I subscribed to a few periodicals that would keep me current in the field. When my big opportunity comes I want to be prepared, but in the meantime I am content to seek God and follow his path, even when I do not see how it is working towards my goal for my life. Queen Esther, "For such a time as this" ring any bells?

I've got to agree with John Maxwell here, in that success is not a destination but rather a journey. I appreciate the purpose preachers wanting us all to live fulfilled lives for God's glory and our joy, but I wish they'd share the rest of the story so those not there yet would not leave disillusioned. I'm grateful that they get us thinking and started on the journey, but for a journey to be successful we need a realistic road map.