When Gods Purpose Becomes Ours
Est 4:10-14
10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;
11 All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
12 And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.
13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Purpose - the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used
. Without knowing your purpose, life will seem tiresome. “The sun still rises and it still goes down . . . the wind blows . . . round and round and back again. Every river flows into the sea . . .[then] the water returns to where the rivers began, and starts all over again. Everything leads to weariness . . .” (Ecc. 1:5-8, TEV).
2. Without knowing your purpose, life will seem unfulfilling. “No matter how much we see, we’re never satisfied; no matter how much we hear, we are not content. History merely repeats itself. Nothing is truly new . . .” (Ecc. 1:8b-9a, LB).
3. Without knowing your purpose, life will seem uncontrollable. “You can’t straighten out what is crooked; you can’t count things that aren’t there” (Ecc. 1:15, TEV).
Knowing the purpose of your life will give your life focus. “. . . I am focusing all my energies on this one thing . . .” (v. 13).
2. Knowing the purpose of your life will simplify your life. “. . . forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead” (v. 13). “You Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm” (Isa. 26:3, TEV).
3. Knowing the purpose of your life will increase motivation in your life. “. . . I strain to reach the end of the race . . .” (v. 14). “For I know the plans I have for you’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope’ (Jer. 29:11, LB).
A man started a hobby of writing to famous philosophers and scientists and authors and asking them, “What is the purpose of life?” The responses he got back were depressing at best. Isaac Asimov wrote back, “As far as I can see there is no purpose to life.” Karl Jung, the Austrian psychiatrist, wrote, “I don’t know what the meaning or the purpose of life is but it looks like as if there were something meant by it.” Arthur Clark, who wrote 2001, wrote, “I’m afraid I have no concrete ideas of the purpose of life.” Albert Ellis, the psychiatrist who invented RET therapy said, “As far as I can tell, life has no special or intrinsic meaning or purpose.” Thomas Nagle, “I’m afraid the meaning of life still eludes me.” With a sense of resignation, author Joseph Heller wrote, “I have no answers to the meaning of life and I no longer want to search for any.” Most people do not live a life of purpose.
Welch poet David Whyte wrote: “I don’t want to have written on my tombstone, when finally people struggle through the weeds, pull back the moss, and read the inscription there: ‘He made his car payments.’” You were designed for more than that. God has a purpose for your life. And until you discover his purpose – and follow through – there will hole in your soul.
1 Peter 4:10
10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
ISAIAH 49:5a, says it plainly:
“And now the Lord says – He who formed me in the womb to be His servant.”
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
When Cortez landed at Vera Cruz in 1519 to begin his conquest of Mexico with small force of 700 men, he purposely set fire to his fleet of 11 ships. His men on the shore watched their only means of retreat sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. With no means of retreat, there was only one direction to move, forward into the Mexican interior to meet whatever might come their way.
In 1940, the world was in crisis. Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany was overrunning Holland and France. The German advance appeared to be unstoppable. On May 9, 1940, the Prime Minister of England, Neville Chamberlain, resigned in disgrace. He had been duped by Hitler and discredited. When he resigned, it was if he threw up his hands and said, “Let’s see if anyone else can handle this mess.” It’s safe to say that the outcome of the war and the future of Europe would rest on the leadership of the new Prime Minister.
On so May 10, 1940, Winston Churchill was summoned to Buckingham Palace to see King George VI. The King stared at Churchill quizzically for some moments and then said, “I want to ask you to form a Government.” Churchill agreed to do so
Churchill wrote:
As I went to bed at about 3 A.M., I was conscious of a profound sense of relief. At last I had the authority to give directions over the whole scene. I felt as if I were walking with Destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial…My warnings over the last six years had been so numerous, so detailed, and were now so terribly vindicated, that no one could gainsay me. I could not be reproached either for making the war or with want of preparation for it. I thought I knew a good deal about it all, and I was sure I should not fail. Therefore, although impatient for the morning, I slept soundly and had no need for cheering dreams. Facts are better than dreams.
He had found his purpose
Eph 4:16
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
It is vital that we "grow up into Him" if we are to be a valid expression of Jesus in this world. The whole body "grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work"
ýChrist, then, is the Source of a believer’s growth and also the Aim and Goal of his growth. From the Head the body derives its whole capacity for growth and activity. Each member of the body is joined (2:21) by being carefully fitted together, and each member is held or brought together by means of every supporting ligament (cf. Col 2:19) according to the standard (ýkataý, with the accusative) of the measured working (ýmetroý, from ýmetroný) of each individual. This causes the body of Christ to grow (cf. Eph 4:15) and build itself up (cf. v. 12) in love. The phrase "in love" occurs three times (vv. 2,15-16), thus pointing to the way unity is maintained. Significantly the word "measure" (ýmetroný) is also used three times in this context (vv. 7,13,16). Each believer is to function in Christ’s body by God’s enabling grace in accord with the measure of the gift Christ bestowed on him (v. 7). When each believer accomplishes that measure, then the church grows properly (v. 16), coming ultimately to the measure of Christlikeness (v. 13). Stunted growth comes when one does not allow his or others’ gifts to function.
Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
