We Have a Purpose that God will Help Us Fulfill!

At Fuel last night Darrel read from a passage about David.  In this passage he alluded to the fact that God did not call David home until He had accomplished all that David would accomplish in his life.  I read a verse this morning and it gives me confidence of the word Darrel spoke last night.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.  The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.  Do not forsake the work of your hands.  Psalm 138:7-8 ESV

 I will give a few ideas of what this verse is saying.

1. God has a plan for us all. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me   He has something for us each to carry out in our lifetime.  Some may be short and some may take an entire lifetime, yet God has a plan and a purpose for each of His creations.  It is funny how secular humanism say that we are to create our own meaning in life. "Go do what makes you happy."  Yet has anyone that has tried that gain fulfillment in there lives?  Take Micheal Jackson (an extreme case on both ends).  He is the King of Pop.  Arguable know as the best singer, dancer, and performer of his era and even former and latter eras.  One of the richest people (even after he went broke he sold those Beetle rights and made more money) to walk the planet.  And dare I say one of the handsomest (before all the surgery) people.  But he found no fulfillment as you can see by the parentheses after all his achievements.  He could not find happiness in all of his accomplishments and turned to worldly avenues which ultimately lead to his death and now eternity in hell.  There are many akin to this story I only chose one where the extremes where on both ends.

2. God is going to do whatever it takes to fulfill that purpose. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life   God is going to do His part of the deal. He will equip, strengthen and protect us.  We do not have to worry that He would not do His part.  If life were akin to a high school football game God would be the coach and we would be the players.  After a player knows what position he/she plays, (because God equips us but we still have to work hard to make our selves ready [Proverbs 29:18]) he/she begins to train diligently in getting bigger, faster, and stronger for that position through the training of the coach, but if the player truly wants to be great he/she will exercise and eat right on his/her on time as well as dedicating himself/herself fully to the position he/she was given (1Cor 9:24-27).  Also the coach is scouting out the other team thinking of schemes that will no doubt win the match, and if the players follow the game plan he has mapped out for them then they will have the victory (the Bible is God's game plan for living a glorious life for Him).  The coach will also take a player out if he/she is not producing because of lack of practice or effort (no fruit produced because of the lack of spiritual discipline)  and the coach will also make his players run laps if he sees one slacking (God's discipline).  And if the coach is good, and his players trust him and devote themselves to the sport then victory will be ensured.  That is exactly the way our lives are as Christians.  If we trust God and devote ourselves to His work we will accomplish the task He has set out for us and win the war against flesh, the world and Satan.

3. It is all dependent on us.   Do not forsake the work of your hands  We have to be about doing God's work for His work to be accomplished in us. The writer knew he was doing the will of the Father therefore he pleaded that God would not leave his side.  We ought not think that God will do anything with us if we do not work for Him. We ought not cry out to God (unless for salvation) for a work in our lives if we are not in the process of doing His will daily.  As the football analogy went, If a player does not practice hard he will not be in the game.  God's not going to put us in the game if we are not actively trying to prepare ourselves and living in a manner worthy of His calling.

I challenge you today to live in a manner worthy of the calling of Christ.  In this way only can our lives truly have purpose and be filling.  Ken, at Impact, said about John 10:10  "God gives us life when we accept Him, but we don't have it abundantly because we don't live for Him."  Lets make a commitment to live for Jesus today.