Romans 8:28-31a 28And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. 31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
What does life lived with a God-given purpose look like? It looks different from a life resigned to the routine. It looks connected, connected to something greater than ourselves, more permanent than our goals. It looks connected to God who causes all things to work together for good. We do not know what that good may be. Sometimes the good comes disguised as a failure, a disappointment. But the disguise is only temporary. As people who live with a sense of purpose we simply cannot foresee what God will use to touch our life, the roads along which He will lead us, or where the roads will lead. We do not know when God will intervene in our life, whether at the heights of happiness or in the pits of despair.
Life with a God-given purpose has a confident sense of not knowing. Life with a God-given purpose is learning to live our life one chapter at a time, knowing that the present moment is never the “be all” or the “end all” of our life.
That is a small part of what living with purpose looks like. The full picture is seen in Jesus Christ, that we might be conformed to the image of God’s Son. Whatever happens to us, we know that this is what God is working to accomplish in us.
God is at work to predestine us. We have a future because God has made sure of it. God is at work to call us. Have we heard the call that energizes and unifies our life? Have we received that call that roots our life in God and gives us a calmness to live by and the courage to live our convictions? God is at work to justify us. To justify a page means to have everything lined up right and in order. And that is what God is doing with us. Because of the sin within and the storms without we are sometimes blown off course, but God brings our life in line with His will. God is at work to glorify us. The final outcome is not seen in detail, but it is clear enough to let us know what we need to know here and now.
God is at work in all things. Are we aware? Do we know this? Do we believe this? Does this sense of purpose guide and direct our life? If we want to live with a sense of purpose, we are to love God. To love God is to put Him first. It is to seek first God’s will. To live with a sense of purpose is to accept the permanent task of changing the dominant question of our life from “What do I want?” to “What does God want?”
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope February 16, 1992
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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