Sunday, June 8, 2008

Finding out your purpose in life



My Year Listening to God: Finding your purpose in life.




Today I stood in 90 degree sunshine on triple-H afternoon, waiting for a church bus to leave our parking lot. Standing with students and parents to authorize the junior high missions team, I praised God for His wisdom as I prayed for them for the week in South Bend.

In another part of the church parking lot, the high school missions team left for Philadephia. Three 15-passenger vans paraded and honked as they past us, the team was waving, gesturing, and wishing us well.

On mission for God. That's what I love about Wooster Grace. God's heart is our heart. We value reaching out to people. Therefore we mobilize students and adults to go out into the world and to get some skills in learning how to help others. We encourage each participant to discover his or her purpose on these missions trips--we cultivate introspective searching, stretching projects and relationships, and inspiring insights into who God made you to be. Your purpose is to be on-mission for God.

Each destination is facilitating outreach in a place where a new church is emerging. Each student is on-mission for God. Each leader is on-mission for God. Both teams are on-mission for God.


I am going to pray for them each day--today's prayer: "Lord, may each person seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and may all their everyday human concerns be met (Matthew 6:33)."





I also read from Abraham's life. He talked with God. His conversation with God was to ask for mercy. He cared about his family (Lot, his nephew). He dialogued with God, in fact, ABraham queried God throughout his prayer (Genesis 18:23-33). God spoke to Abraham. Abraham spoke with God. Prayer is a dialogue. Prayer is not a "gimme" session. Prayer is communion with God.

I fail in making prayer a communion with God. I focus so much on my petitions that I disregard my relationship with God. I need to cultivate that aspect of prayer--more of dialogue, which means asking, sharing, and quiet listening. May God help you hear His voice. I want to hear God speak. "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening (I Samuel 2:11)."

Thus, I choose to listen more to discover how to live on purpose for God. He will take care of my human concerns. I can trust Him. I can live a purposeful life with God's help.
Pray for my house to sell