Do you sometimes wonder what the heck you’re supposed to do with your life? What does God want for you?  Perplexing questions, to be sure, but God’s word does reveal his purpose for each of us. 

The scriptures are loaded with what God wants us to do with our lives.  We don’t need to wonder.  We can rest assured that God gives us all that we need to go on. 

One of my most read posts was on how you can realize your purpose in life.  In that post I listed several things you could do to gain a sense of fulfillment. 

Questions like does it contribute something to the good of mankind?, is it fulfilling?, does God play a part in it? and are you passionate about it?  These questions stand right along side of the scriptures I’ve listed below as aligning to God’s purpose for your life.

 

To check out that blog post on how to realize a purposeful life, click here

 

 

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Here Paul is talking to believers so it’s important not to take this verse out of context.  God knows us far better than we know ourselves.  So, he’s telling us here that for God-lovers, everything (all things) that happens in our lives, good and bad, will be ultimately be worked into something good.

He is not saying is that those terrible things that happen to us should be called good in and of themselves.  “Hey, I lost my  job today.  Isn’t that wonderful” or”I found out I have cancer.” No, that’s not his way.  God uses them as events that when tied to “all things” will provide what is best for us. 

It’s not easy to think this way when in the midst of a tough life situation.  But trusting in God’s eternal love and faithfulness for your well being will help get you through those difficult times.

 

 

Proverbs 19:21 ESV

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

We all make plans.  Plans for a vacation, for dinner, for an event….even for just a quiet evening at home.  But the wise council of the Lord might say to plan plans, but don’t plan results.  He might have something else in mind that will preclude your plans. 

Ever hear the saying, “Man plans, God laughs?” 

It’s probably not a good idea to have all your emotions tied up in your preparations to do something or to go somewhere.  If God calls, a change to your plans might be in order. 

Are you open to that?

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah told the Israelites not to pay attention to those false prophets and know-it-alls whose promises were nothing more than empty babblings.  But God promised his people that when they returned from exile, he would bestow upon them his great plans and purpose.

 

God followed through on his promise to Israel just like he does with us.  When I have made plans only to have them interrupted by something that at the time seemed unimportant to me , I grumble like most folks.   But later, after seeing what God accomplished by his purpose has always been a huge blessing to me.

 

 

Job 42:2 ESV

I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

When you’re faced with what seems like an insurmountable obstacle in your life, take a look at what Job had to endure.  He did not understand why he was going through such a horrific crisis.  He lost everything.  His friends gave him advice that was anything but helpful.  But Job hung it there, trusting that the God that had the power to do anything would see him through the bleakest moments in life.  He did not give up.  And God came through for him.

 

Can you and I put our trust in an ever faithful and all loving God when life smacks us in the face? 

Can we stand firm against those who, wanting to be helpful, tell us maybe we were not faithful enough?

And can we believe that even though bad things do happen to good people, that God’s purpose for our lives is good and will ultimately burst through in an amazing way?  

 

 

Micah 6:8 ESV

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God 

This verse touches many of the realities of our world today.  Micah saw the evil that was imposed upon the oppressed and poor of his day by the ruling classes.  He decried how this was the way to ruin and he pushed people to action.  To do what was right and just.  This is what the Lord wants us all to do.

 

Like others, I love kindness when it is given to me but do I genuinely and lovingly give it to others?  Can I humble myself to be a giver and not just a taker?

 

The word humbly in the verse meant “prudent” to the ancients.  To choose each action taken in a way that was carefully thought out.  This would bring the most benefit to mankind.  We can learn a lot by being “prudent” in our actions instead of “reactive.”

 

 

Ephesians 1:5 ESV

He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.

What a wonderful passage.  It reflects back to our free choice.  It seems to certainly have been God’s purpose to have us as his much loved adopted children.  And yet I see predestined meaning we get to choose whether or not we show up.  Paul doesn’t say that God chose us to be in Christ.  He says God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless.  The verse suggests to me that we must keep covenant with Christ ….be holy and blameless…..to be part of the predestined

 

 

Psalm 57:2 ESV

I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

While David hides from Saul in a cave and laments his condition, he also knows it is God who is holding him together.  Just as David trusted in God’s purpose to be fulfilled in him, we too can take solace in knowing that God’s providence will uphold us and deliver us to his purpose in our lives.  Rest assured……God is a fighter and he will fight for us so that his plans will be fulfilled.

 

 

 

Isaiah 14:27 ESV

For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

If God has purposed it, it will come to pass.  No way will his plans be cancelled.  No military or political power with turn aside the hand of God from his purpose.  We can take that to the bank. It is a deposit that we can draw on in times of need. 

We can know that God’s arm reached Out not only into Babylon to his exiled people but Continues to reach out to each one of us, wherever we are and whatever our situation.  There is no power on earth that change this.  

 

John 15:16 ESV

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

As a kid, I was never among the first ones chosen when there was a pickup basketball or baseball game.  It was sort of embarrassing and I felt unwanted.

But you do feel wanted when you are chosen by the king of the universe to be part of his team.  And that he wants you and I to abide in him and do great things in his name.  How marvelous is that?  To be part of a team that produces fruit that is imperishable.

 

 

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

I find so much meaning in this passage.  It seems that the darkness spoken of here is what the “world” calls light.  Peter says that without the Holy Spirit in our life, we will continues to live in that “spiritual darkness” of reason and postmodern thought.  Without being chosen by God as his possession, we may never know the greatness of being part of a royal priesthood or a holy nation.  We would still be wandering aimlessly in that quagmire of what the world calls “light.”