Is there a purpose – part 1

More than a decade ago I went through a phase of trying to discover my purpose. Why had God put  me here? Was it purely just as a training ground for what happened in the hereafter? Was there some sort of divine reasoning behind me? Is there more than “The chief aim of man is to know God and enjoy Him forever”.

I have to say that in my nearly 30 years as a Christian this is one question that just keeps on coming.  I don’t think I have ever satisfactorily answered it. Sometimes, I reckon, just get on with life. You know, walk the dog, build web applications, spend time with my family. Other times I am struck by a few verses in the bible that seem to suggest that there is more. Its not that those things I listed, and lots of others are bad – of course they aren’t! Its just that the question wont go away – does God have something specific that He wants me to do? I wonder am I alone in thinking like this?

Ephesians 2:10 says:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

But what are they? And if that verse means more than the general “Stuff of life” how do you find out?

Prov 25:2 says:

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

The bible says that God is not the God of confusion. But there are things that God conceals from us, and we have to search for them. Sometimes God needs to know that we are really serious about something before He reveals it to us.

One day we will all meet our Maker. I don’t want to get there – how do I say this – and discover that there was so much more that God had planned for me. I believe that God Has almost “Bound” Himself to fulfill His promises, but He is not bound to fulfill our destiny – that is down to us.

Some years ago I read a couple of books by the same author about discovering your purpose. He believed that we each have a a God given purpose, that we each can be “Great” as part of the divine destiny that God has for each of us. However, despite all this, he went to great lengths to state that sadly, most people reading the book would not discover their purpose. They would, for one reason or another, just give up. In response I gritted my teeth, girded my loins, set my face forward… and gave up.

But… that’s not the end of the story!