Naming Your Unique PurposeSample

There’s an ache within us—a craving to see how God uniquely designed us to partner with Him—a deep desire to know our purpose and to experience more meaning in our lives.

Many of us have fallen prey to lies about our purpose. Perhaps we’ve been told that our unique purpose is too vague to find or that if we had a purpose, we should know it by now. Sometimes people try to help us by saying that we all have the same generic purpose to "glorify God" or to "love God and love others." While there is truth in that, it doesn’t help us to see our specific role, nor does it give us specific actions to live out. And we are back at the starting point, discouraged and unable to see.

The good news is that as children of The God Who Sees, we do have the ability to see. We just need to look to the Father’s heart for clues as to our role as His children. What does He care about most? What does He want most from His followers? What does He promise to help them do?

We know God loves us all, but He talks most passionately about His love for those suffering from any kind of injustice or hardship. He tells His people repeatedly not to neglect the needs of others. He even threatens and follows through with turning away from His people until they correct their ways and take care of one another (see the book of Jeremiah).

You see, God created humans to experience love, joy, and wholeness through free will. However, with free will came the option to use it incorrectly (greed, dominance, or self-reliance), which some have chosen. This has broken what was designed to be whole, fair, and unified.

God will give anything, even His Son, to heal what is broken. We see this in the life of Jesus too as He shows us how to bring restoration by the purposeful giving of ourselves to others through justice, generosity, and healing. He shows us what it looks like, in the flesh, to see those who are suffering and to use what we have been given to restore them to the same level (or better) than us.

What’s incredible to see throughout Scripture is how God has designed us as unique individuals with a purpose that restores others to wholeness. In this, we unite as equals in one community of God’s people. We are called to free, care for, restore, and unify.

God tells us that it is in this place, where we are giving ourselves to others, that we find Him. When we find Him there, He promises to give us life that is truly life. We get to experience a life on earth where we know our role, feel confident that we are living it out in a way that empowers others, and get to share in the overwhelming joy of God’s presence and the wonder of what He can do.

What could it mean if my desires to do good things are an invitation to join God in removing an obstacle hindering someone else from thriving?