Why won’t God reveal my purpose?
What is my purpose on this earth? It’s a question that pops up at many points throughout life, in almost everything we do.
When we’re young, our parents ask us: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” If we go to college, many of us cycle through majors – in fact, more than half of college students change their major at least once while in school. We find new jobs and, sometimes, we completely change career paths.
Even when we retire, we ask similar questions: What should I be doing with my time? What should I give the rest of my life to?
Pastor Jake continued our Curious Christmas series with the latest question: Why won’t God reveal my purpose?
It’s a question that, deep down, reflects our search for purpose – a career or a calling or even just a hobby that will give us our grand meaning in life. We want to find that thing that we were put on earth to do, for the meaning of our time on earth, so we spend our lives searching.
But the problem is, it feels so elusive – like we are chasing it down a sidewalk and just as we’re about ready to grasp our grand purpose in life, it vanishes around the corner.
Why is it so hard to figure out?
Jake opened by reading from Luke 1:26-38, where through an angel, God reveals his purpose for a teenage virgin named Mary. And in this beautiful story, we see four guideposts that can direct us in our own search for purpose.
1. You have to be willing to trade your plans for God’s plans.
In our passage, Mary is on the verge of being married to Joseph, but then God’s purpose changes everything. Are you willing to follow his purpose, even if it disrupts your plans?
2. Your calling will not be about you.
We think our calling will give us deep significance and meaning, but in verses 30-33, we see these two truths about God’s general will for our lives: He intends for Jesus’ spiritual presence to grow inside of us, and then he intends for us to deliver Jesus to the world. God’s will is for us to be holy (1 Thess. 4:3), to make our lives about him so we can then give him away to the world.
3. God’s purpose for you will grow from Holy Spirit-given assignments.
We often want to accomplish some great calling, to do something amazing in the world, but in verse 35, we see that the Holy Spirit initiates Mary’s purpose. Spiritual purpose, and spiritual work, will always be born from the activity of the Holy Spirit. But we also see that the angel doesn’t show Mary the masterplan for her life here. Instead, God often gives us our purpose slowly through single assignments, a spiritual truth Jesus illustrates for us in the parable of the talents from Matthew 25. What has God asked you to do today? What has he assigned you today? Rather than waiting for that “big purpose,” do what he has shown you already.
4. God’s purpose for your life will be revealed from times in his presence.
In verse 28, the angel tells Mary that the Lord is with her. And then in Verse 35, we read: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you….” Mary is in the very presence of God, and it’s in this place – in his manifest presence – that Mary receives her purpose brought forth by God. If you want to know God’s will for your life, it will come when you are in his presence. We see this pattern with Abram, with Moses, with Isaiah, with Saul and throughout Scripture.
We need a people who have been in the presence and received their calling and direction, who are set aflame with the vision and passion of God and a specific assignment to bring His Kingdom here. We need a people who are setting captives free and feeding the poor and healing the sick.
Why is purpose and calling so important? Because through our God-given purpose, we show Christ to the world.
And it begins with surrender in his presence.
Watch the Message
Worship Songs from December 17
- “O Come All Ye Faithful (His Name Shall Be)”
- “What a Beautiful Name”
- “There is a King”
- “Here Again” (after the message)
- “So Will I (100 Billion X)” (after the message)