Purpose is a major talking point within the church. We are often taught how God has a purpose for our life. Yet, we often struggle to realize what that purpose really is. Often this is because we falsely believe that it will come easily and that it will be apparent. However, that isn’t what we see in scripture at all. Instead, we read of people who had to find and then fulfill the purpose God had for them.
Which usually could only be discovered by facing trying times. Then once they found it they had to make the choice to fulfill that purpose. Doing what God had intended them to do. Otherwise, all they had been through and where God put them would have been for nothing. If we want to live out the purpose God has for our lives then we must realize that it requires work. That like those who came before we must find our purpose and live it out.
God had a purpose in all the Joseph faced. Being sold into slavery and even spending years in prison all carried Joseph to where God wanted Him to be. But had he not recognized the purpose when it appeared and fulfilled it then none of the struggles would have mattered. Instead, it would have all seemed as though it was for nothing even though the whole time God had a reason for everything he faced. Thankfully Joseph was able to recognize his purpose and fulfill it. Ultimately saving countless lives including his own people. Which of course eventually lead to the birth of Christ and our ability to be saved.
Genesis 37:26–28 (ESV)
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.
Genesis 39:7–14 (ESV)
7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.
Genesis 39:19–20 (ESV)
19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.
Genesis 41:56–42:2 (ESV)
56 So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.
42 When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.”
Genesis 47:5–6 (ESV)
5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”
Genesis 50:20 (ESV)
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
We see a similar thing in the account of Esther. God caused her to be queen in order to save His people from an enemy. For that to happen she was forced to face a hard time in the form of losing both parents. It was surely difficult but there was a purpose in her pain and appointment as queen.
Esther 2:7 (ESV)
7 He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
Esther 2:16–17 (ESV)
16 And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, 17 the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
Yet, she had a choice to make. Take the risk to fulfill the said purpose. Or allow the opportunity to pass her by. Had she not attempted to fulfill the purpose scripture says God would have used another. Thankfully she found and fulfilled the purpose God had for her life. Leading to the Jewish people being saved. As well, as her influence as queen mother eventually leading to the rebuilding of Jerusalem in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Esther 4:8 (ESV)
8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.
Esther 4:10–11 (ESV)
10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”
Esther 4:13–16 (ESV)
13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
Esther 8:5–8 (ESV)
5 And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. 6 For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”
7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. 8 But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”
Esther 8:11 (ESV)
11 saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods,
The Apostle Paul was a man who searched for purpose in all that he faced. As such he was often able to find that purpose and fulfill it. He didn’t despise the chains that bound him but instead was thankful that they allowed the message of Christ to go even farther. Even when finding himself chained, beaten, and locked away he still worked to accomplish the reason he was there. Which was to see a whole family saved one night. Including the very man responsible for overseeing him in the prison.
Philippians 1:12–14 (ESV)
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Acts 16:25–33 (ESV)
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.
Paul didn’t allow any opportunity to pass him by but made the best of every situation. Finding the purpose in it and working diligently to fulfill it. His example like that of the others mentioned above is the one to follow. In fact, God through His inspired word calls the church to follow the righteous example of Paul. Like him, we should live out the words of scripture that say to make the most of every opportunity.
1 Corinthians 4:16 (ESV)
16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me.
1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Philippians 3:17 (ESV)
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
Colossians 4:5 (ESV)
5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
Throughout the Bible, we see people who struggled through hard times. But in those times they were able to discover God’s purpose for all they faced. They could have walked past it to go their own way. Allowing someone else to do what God desired them to. But instead, we read of how they fulfilled God’s purpose. Which consistently leads to great blessings for them as well as multitudes of others. Yes, in many cases even after finding their purpose it took hard work and risk. But in the end, it was worth it because of all fulfilling their purpose provided.
You too have a God-given purpose in this life. There is something that God desires you to do. This is why he has put you where you are and allowed you to walk through all that you have. What you must do is begin to look for that purpose and find it. Then put in the required work to fulfill it and see the blessing that will unfold. We are told in Scripture that everyone has a gift. The truth is it can be used for many different things in this world. But God gave it to you with a specific purpose and it is important that you do your best to use it as God intended. Because only then will having that gift truly be worth it.
1 Corinthians 12:7–11 (ESV)
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
Romans 12:6 (ESV)
6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
1 Peter 4:10 (ESV)
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
When you begin to fulfill the purpose that God has for your life it will also affect your perceptions of all you had to go through. Think back on the Apostle Paul we never read him complain about the circumstances he faced. Instead, we simply see him praise God for the great work that was being completed through his suffering. Had he not discovered and seized the reason why God put him there he would have had reason to complain. But because he could see the purpose in it he found contentment. Knowing that everything he faced was worth it all. Trusting in the great glory he and those he leads to Christ would receive in Heaven.
Romans 8:18 (ESV)
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Whatever you have gone through or are currently going through can all make sense once you find the purpose in it. Simply discover the reason for where God has you and then you will be glad life unfolded as it did. Because once you fulfill its purpose it will provide a much greater blessing than you could have ever imagined. Trust in the promise of Scripture that God works all things for the God of those who believe. Even when you may not be able to see it at first. But don’t let the opportunity to fulfill your purpose pass you by. Because like in Esther’s case God can always use someone else. But then you will miss out on the blessing.
Romans 8:28 (ESV)
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
No one can tell you what your purpose is. Nor is it going to simply appear before you one day and not require you to do anything. You are on the right track toward your purpose. All you need to do is simply find it and begin to fulfill it in the way that God intended. In the end, you will find that the journey and the work you put in were even more worth it than you would have ever thought. Because the purpose God has for you has an impact both in this life and the life to come. So open your eyes look for God’s purpose in your life. Then once you have found it begins to live it. Witness first hand what God is able to do when you use everything He has given you to complete His greater purpose.
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