Purpose: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

What do I have to show for the last thirty years of my life?. By this age, Jesus was almost done with His purpose on earth, what about me? Isn’t there more to life? What was I created to do? These are the questions that went through my mind as I turned thirty. From my twenties, purpose had been a question that I kept taking out of my drawer of ponderings and reflections and constantly exploring and seeking to understand.

Now until this point, I had always thought of purpose as a destination. It was a goal that needed to be set, pursued and conquered. However, this definition began to be challenged in my late twenties, and new information made me start to question some of my old beliefs. This was not a journey of a single day and took many events, people and information for me to create new belief systems that I am still refining.

Understanding that purpose is a process was so liberating to me. When I analysed my life at 30, I was looking for a final destination and trying to see what it was. By doing this, I missed all the important stops, turns and detours that I had passed along in the 30 years that were key in defining who I was at that point. 

When my mind was unable to perceive it all, I sought the assistance of a life coach and boy! did this process transform my life? The life coach took me on a journey of discovering my life’s purpose and I was able to trace back and see that all the past incidences and circumstances in my life were so critical in defining my life’s purpose. It was exhilarating to discover that even the events that seemed like monumental mistakes had all culminated in preparing me for the purpose and call upon my life. The Bible verse ‘All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose’ took on new revelation in my life (Romans 8:28).

Next came another revelation that brought even more peace in my quest for purpose. I realised that many times purpose is lived forward but is understood backwards. This meant that when I looked back on my life things made sense, but many times when I was in the middle of a season, it all seemed murky and unclear. And even worse was when I tried to see how this fit into the future I dreamed about and envisioned. Many times I would pray and wonder why God was not giving me a clear outline of what the next step was. 

But as I have continued to journey with God, I have begun to understand that many times God will give us just enough illumination for the step we are on. This realisation came with even more freedom as I began to find peace with not having a detailed and clear road map for each step I need to take in the future. I had an overall vision of where I felt God wanted me to go, but I didn’t get caught up in the details. This allowed me to live in the present and to stop and smell the roses. I learnt that each moment in life is so key, and I no longer wanted to rob my present moments by regretting the past and longing for the future. I began to experience God as ‘The Good Shepherd’ who lovingly guides and protects His sheep.

So now, a few years further down this journey of purpose, I am more settled in my skin and more clear about what I was created to DO. Somehow, things are making sense even if I do not have a clear blueprint. When I do receive clear direction, I am not so tied to it, and I keep my eyes focused on Christ. Because I have come to realise that as long as I remain in Him, then I am in good hands. And this time around, I have opened a new drawer of ponderings and reflections, where I know that what I DO is not as important as what I am BE-COMING. And that’s a story for another day!