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Monday, January 18, 2010What is your Purpose In Life?
Every New Year, we always hope we can have a better life than the previous year. We always hope for the best regardless of what situation we are in.
But how will you find hope if this New Year you are stuck, frozen in space and you do not know where to go or maybe your dreams have turned upside down, got laid off from work, had a broken relationship, lost someone you loved and you started your year depressed, discouraged and fearful?
If you did not start the New Year right, it does not mean that it is the end of the world or there is no hope or you can no longer go where you want to go.
That's the very purpose of a New Year! Yes, it brings new challenges and new trials but it also brings new victories and new hope for a new you.
How do you start your New Year right? Some people advise, to set your goals, your dreams and your targets at the start of the year. I am all for that!
But how will you know if your goals and dreams for this year are aligned with your purpose? How will you know your purpose? Who determines your purpose? What is your purpose in life?
When I went to Google to search for answers to this question, "What is my purpose in life?" Guess how many results I got in 0.23 seconds - 72 million results! Wow!
Here is one result that catches my attention - "How to Discover Your Life Purpose in About 20 Minutes."
Here's what to do:
1. Take out a blank sheet of paper or open up a word processor where you can type.
2. Write at the top, "What is my true purpose in life?"
3. Write an answer (any answer) that pops-up into your head. It doesn't have to be a complete sentence. A short phrase is fine.
4. Repeat step 3 until you write the answer that makes you cry. This is your purpose.
By the way, below is a special note from the author:
"For those who are very entrenched in low-awareness living, it will take a lot longer to get all the false answers out, possibly more than an hour. But if you persist, after 100 or 200 or maybe even 500 answers, you'll be struck by the answer that causes you to surge with emotion, the answer that breaks you. If you've never done this, it may very well sound silly to you. So let it seem silly, and do it anyway."
Unfortunately, I had a problem in doing this silly thing. My mom always told me that I was smart but how come after three days I still could not find an answer that makes me cry?
Why do we need to know our purpose anyway? In one of the teachings by Fr. Leonardo Polinar entitled "The Purpose of Man" he said, "A person who does not know his purpose in life is like water that does not know where he is going. Life for him is meaningless."
If your life has no meaning, you will feel emptiness. You will always ask yourself these questions, "What is the reason I am alive? Is this all that it is in life? There has to be more!"
If you clearly know your purpose, every act you do becomes meaningful as you do it in relation to that purpose. Not only are they meaningful, but you know how to execute each act. If you know your purpose, you can easily align your goals, dreams and targets with that purpose.
The next question is, if life has a purpose, then who determines it?
Definitely, it is not for man to do it. The simple reason is because man did not make himself. This is a tough argument but let me answer it by telling my story.
When I was a boy, my belief was my parents made me. For a young boy who still needs guidance, I think that is the best way to explain it. But if you are already 30 years old and you still have that belief, I think you need to get out of your shell because if you still believe your parents created you, does it mean that they should determine your purpose? This is probably why I heard a lot of parents talking to their sons and daughters this way - "You should become a doctor or a nurse because that's how I want you to be. I made you for that purpose so you should obey!"
It sounds ridiculous but this is very common.
Remember, your biological father and mother is just tools to make you. There is no other way of doing this: nature's miracle of conception where sperm meets egg. This can only be done through Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve or Madam and Eve.
Just like making a hammer, you need tools to make one. You need iron and wood and so on.
To determine the purpose of anything made or created, in this case, a hammer, that is the sole prerogative of the maker or creator.
Your purpose why you made a hammer is probably you want to use it for building something. You made it for the purpose of building something. Your creation is your masterpiece. If you use that hammer for a different purpose like using it as a fork to eat your food, there is no way that hammer is of use to you because that is not its intended purpose.
In our case, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (Genesis 1:27)
Since we believe that God is man's maker, it is, therefore, God who determines the purpose of man.
I know some readers are sceptic when I said God created you. As for me, I prefer to be a creation of God rather than evolving from a monkey.
If God made you, you are a masterpiece of God and you should function based on His purpose.
What becomes your mission in life?
The scripture says, "God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."" (Genesis 1:28)
"What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet." (Psalm 8:4-6)
If this is our mission, God does have great plans for your life!
We were created by God, in His image, for a purpose. Just as God set apart from birth Isaiah who was called from the womb (Isaiah 49:1), Jeremiah who before he was formed in the womb, God already knew him (Jeremiah 1:5) and Paul whom God set him apart even from his mother's womb (Galatians 1:15) for a specific purpose, he also has a specific plan for your life even before you were created.
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (Jeremiah 29:11).
The Bible says that God's will is "good, acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:2b)
If God had said all these things in the scriptures, why do you suffer? Why are these words not manifesting in your lives?
Maybe you are doing the things that are against His purpose. Your physical goals, your financial dreams and your target careers are not aligned with what God wants for you. Maybe you have lost your vision on what your real purpose in life is.
If there is emptiness and you do not know where you are going, maybe it's time to go back to the basics. Maybe we just need to stop for a moment and listen to the voice of our maker and ask Him - "Lord, what is your purpose for me? What do you want me to do?"
In my case, I receive guidance through the scriptures to keep aligned with my purpose. Being God's creation, this is my manual. By the way, did you ever wonder why they called it the holy book "Bible?" (I learned this from a teaching back in the Philippines)
B - Blessed
I - Information
B - Bringing
L - Life
E - Eternal
God never tells you something you cannot do. He is your creator, He knows your capacity and He knows your capability. You will be surprised when God tells you what you can do! It will blow your mind when you find out God’s purpose in your life.
When you find out His purpose for you, your first question would probably be, "Me, do that? That's impossible! I'm not fit to do that kind of thing! I'm not worthy. I don't have the skill to do that. I don't have the resources to fulfill that purpose, I don't have this and I don't have that!"
My friend, tell that to the young King David who was called when he was a shepherd or tell that to St. Paul who was called while persecuting the Christians or you can ask me how I responded when I was a low life.
I said to myself, "What can I offer? I have nothing! How will people believe me? I do not have credibility!"
"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong." (1 Corinthians 1:27)
The shoe must not tell the foot how big it will grow! Do not set limits on what God can do for you.
Isaiah 55:8 says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.
If you followed God's purpose and things are still not changing for the better and you find yourself in a place where you're lost, don't worry. At least you know who placed you in that situation. That becomes your strength. That becomes your motivation.
Probably, there is just a temporary delay. (I will talk about this in my next blog)
Let me end my blog with a story.
When I was 14 years old (not too long ago), I remember a time when I was crossing a white water river in Ilocos (the province where I stayed every summer). While crossing the river, I slipped and lost my balance and I fell in the raging waters. I was literally rolling down the river bank. I thought I was going to drown. I tried to cling on every rock but the current was just too strong. Fortunately, I was wearing a back pack that protected my back and head from bumping into the rocks. After struggling for several minutes by going against the current, I paused and looked back only to realize that there is a deep and calm section of the river about 100 meters away from me. I stopped fighting the current and I let myself flow with the rapids until I reached the calm section of the river and I swam out to safety.
If you find yourself going against your purpose, going against the currents of your life, pause for a moment and swim towards calm waters. This can be a weekend retreat or a short vacation with the family. Let go and let the current bring you to the calm waters and then swim yourself safety.
Our creator says, "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)
God is the greatest!
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