The pursuit of happiness and the “American” dream has seemingly become our guiding rule for life. We run from one thing to another, rushing around trying to achieve and become better than “the Jones’s” Our fast food, microwavable, instant gratification way of life has got us chasing illusions and we end up spending our lives on nothing, and when we die we have nothing to show for our lives at all. The universe simply continues as though we never were. And our epitaph could be “We came, We consumed, We were forgotten.”
And yet this is not the way we were created to live. Life was meant to have purpose. Live was meant to ave vision and focus. Without it we simply waste away Proverbs says “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.” Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” We were meant to live life with purpose. God planned each one of us. Every life conceived has a purpose. There is no such thing as being born “a mistake”. Each of us was planned by God and given a purpose and destiny for our lives. Psalm 139:15-17 You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book! How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me! God planned us, and called us by name even before we were formed in our mothers.
“This is the true joy in life – being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” ~George Bernard Shaw
Our destiny is ours to find and live out. But without consulting our designer it is something we can never find. God designed us for a purpose, and the main purpose for our lives is for us to have an intimate relationship with Him. And as we live out this relationship we then follow His lead and then live out His purpose for our lives. And then to hear one day when we meet Him face to face to hear Him say “Well done”.
And yet we have made our purpose to be happy. And we spend our lives in frustration chasing something we were never designed to have. “The purpose of life is not to be happy – but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all.” ~Leo Rosten God promises us an abundant life, but never happiness. Mother Teresa is one who ignored societies “purpose” and chose to live out God’s purpose for her, and as a result her life was full of purpose and fulfillment. And that should be our goal in life. “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children…to leave the world a better place…to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Only we can choose how we spend our existence. Let’s make it a good choice.
The Blog of Tom Sanders 