April 30, 2023
Have you ever used something for what it wasn’t meant? Once we ran out of liquid for our dishwasher. I thought, oh well, I’ll just use the dishwashing liquid we use to wash dishes in the sink. I put the dishwashing liquid in and started the dishwasher. Pretty soon our dog started growling! There was a wave of bubbles moving across the floor, they came from the dishwasher!
I learned that purpose is important! Then many years ago when I was in college, I accidentally knocked over a bottle of laundry detergent. I thought, oh, I’ll mop the floor with it! That was a lot of soap all over the floor. It would have been good for skating across the floor, but it was very hard to get rid of the detergent. Purpose is important!
It’s important to use cleaning supplies for the purpose they were intended. There’s a purpose for you and me. The problem is when we don’t know our purpose. Life can be frustrating! Maybe you work hard at your job, and nobody seems to notice or care. And you wonder, “What’s the point? Why do I do this?” It might be you are trying to guide your teenager or young adult, and all they show you is rebellion and disrespect! You wonder, “what’s the point?” Maybe you’re trying to serve God. You’re trying to be faithful, but no matter what you try and how faithful you are, life just continues to go wrong for you, and you think, “Why bother? What’s the purpose?” So today we’re going to talk about your purpose, what God made you for. How do you know what it is?
There’s a verse, Acts 13:36, that talks about King David. It says, “Now when David had served God’s purpose” he served God’s purpose! It goes on, “in his own generation, he fell asleep,” which is a nice way of saying he died,” he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.” I don’t like to hear about the decay. But the first part of that verse is amazing: “David served God’s purpose in his generation. He found his calling. He understood God’s purpose for him. He accomplished what he was supposed to accomplish. A minister named Dr. Myles Munroe once said, “The greatest tragedy in life is not dying. It’s a life without purpose.” The greater tragedy than death is living without a reason, without understanding your why, not knowing your purpose.
Sometimes we just get frustrated. We don’t know why we’re here. We don’t feel compelled to live a life outside of ourselves.
But in the verse from Acts, David didn’t have a personal purpose. It doesn’t say after he served HIS purpose, David died. It says, “when David had served GOD’S purpose.” So, David wasn’t trying to find HIS purpose. He served GOD’S purpose. David’s purpose wasn’t for him, it was for God. It’s very important to understand, you don’t serve your purpose, you serve God’s purpose.
What does purpose mean? It means original intent. There is a designer who designed you and created you for a purpose outside of yourself. Sin is to miss the mark or miss the target. Sin is missing the purpose. It’s doing something with our lives outside of the God-given unique purpose and calling for us. The reason for sin is that so often we don’t know God’s purpose so we’re looking for some kind of validation. Maybe this job will make me happy. Maybe this relationship, or this vacation will help me feel better.
The world is good at getting us off track. The world says, buy this, treat yourself. We can experiment and try a lot of things to bring us fulfillment and joy because we don’t understand our original intent.
What we need to understand is that we are created for Heaven, but so many of us are living for the world. We’re searching in the world for something this world cannot provide. Here is the why behind your purpose. Your purpose isn’t for you. Your purpose is God’s purpose! You’re created for His will, for His purpose, and for His glory. You don’t find your purpose. You don’t discover your purpose. You serve God’s purpose.
Look at King David. He wasn’t pursuing his dream. He wasn’t saying, “I want to achieve greatness and do all I dream of.” No, in 1 Samuel 16, when Samuel, the prophet, was told by God to go anoint someone, who will eventually become king, David was not on Samuel’s radar. God sent Samuel to David’s father, Jesse. God would tell Samuel which of his sons to anoint. Samuel looked at David’s oldest brother, Eliab. He was smart, he scored really high on his SAT, he was strong, tall and handsome! And Samuel thinks, surely this is the guy God intends to be king. Eliab had everything! But God said, “He’s not the one. I don’t look at someone’s outward appearance, I look at their heart!” So, Samuel turns to the next oldest son, then the next. Seven sons don’t make the cut. They are not the one God has in mind.
Where is David? He’s not building his resume or strategizing about how he’s going to build his brand. He wasn’t making a TikTok video to become famous. Instead, he was serving his purpose, taking care of his father’s sheep. And Samuel asks Jesse, do you have any more sons? Jesse says, “My youngest is out tending the sheep.” And Jesse had David brought in. The Lord said to Samuel, “This is the one!” And Samuel anointed David as king.
Where was David when God called him to serve his purpose? He was serving, doing dirty work that he was faithfully called to do. David wasn’t seeking a position. He was serving a purpose. You don’t find your purpose; you serve God’s purpose.
Soon after he was anointed, he was sent on an errand to the front lines of war. David was a teenage boy. He wasn’t an adult yet. He didn’t have experience fighting humans. He was just bringing lunch to his brothers, a delivery guy. Not a warrior. But when David heard the things Goliath said, he volunteered to fight against the giant Goliath. He served God’s purpose.
How do you do that? If you wanna serve God’s purpose, you go about doing God’s will, and you serve God’s people.
Maybe you think, I don’t want that. I was looking for something big and important! I don’t want to serve God’s people. But serving people was not below Jesus. He said in Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man (he was speaking about himself) did not come to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus shows us, to serve God’s purpose means faithfully serving people, not one day when you make it big. It’s faithfully serving TODAY!
In the bulletin are some next steps for discovering the purpose God wants you to serve. A spiritual gift is a way God has built you to serve His purpose. In the Bible we find spiritual gifts like teaching, encouragement, and wisdom. Any way you help someone: jumpstart their car, send a card to someone who’s sick, that’s using a spiritual gift.
Another thing that helps you serve is if you suffered a hurt. Maybe you had cancer, and all of a sudden you can really empathize with someone who has cancer. You can be encouraging, that’s serving God’s purpose.
A great way to serve God is to be part of your church, serve God through the church!
Another way to serve God is to look at your life. How much time do you spend in different areas of our life, like your faith, your family, screen time, your social life, taking care of yourself, etc. Are you serving God’s purpose in your life, not neglecting something like your family, or not spending so much time in front of a screen that you aren’t serving in other areas as God calls you?
Today my challenge for you is to ask yourself, how can I serve God’s purpose now? Can you pick up groceries for a neighbor? Pray for someone who’s sick? Think about a small way you can serve God’s purpose this week.
Have you ever found that the greatest joy in life is when God uses you to make a difference in someone’s life? The greatest joy is not when you make that purchase you’ve been looking forward to. You can go on a great vacation, and I hope you do, still the thrill wears off. But when you’re faithful today, and you lift someone up, that’s a huge thrill!
Don’t look for your purpose. Instead serve God’s purpose by serving people. Find the greatest joy when you make a difference in someone’s life. Amen.
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 