Chapter 11 Lord,
Help me Find Your Purpose for my Life
This chapter was about how the Lord has a purpose for each
of our lives. I believe that once we embrace that, it will transform how we see
and do life. It is the people who have no reason to live for anything that get
lost in doing life and just plain give up. The Christian life is hard but the
Lord is calling us to Him. Knowing that He is sovereign and that we do have
free will and we do have choices to make every day gives our life meaning. What we do with that
freedom is another story. If we keep our eyes on Him and base our actions on
His plan, He will carry us.
I love this chapter and this message b/c I like to think of
how God designed each of us to be different, unique and made for His glory. It
is in finding out what he has created us to be, to love, to pursue that gives
us joy.
Pg. 117- “I want you to be certain that God has a plan and a
high purpose for your life so that you can move into it right away.”
At your age, you may be thinking….I have no idea what that
looks like. Well, now is a good time to evaluate what you are good at and maybe
passionate about. That may come in time. Knowing that helps us to use that
passion for Him. How cool is that? And for each of us, it is different. I love
that. It is easy to compare ourselves to others but God does not want us to do
that. We are set apart and fearfully and wonderfully made to be “me” not “them.
Everyone has a purpose:
Pg. 118- “When we don’t become who we think we’re supposed
to be, it makes us critical of ourselves and our lives. It causes us to be
insecure, oversensitive, judgmental, frustrated, and unfulfilled.”
We don’t need to be like everyone else. I look at people who
are made for evangelism, those who take numerous mission trips, those who rally
around a cause and bring others to that cause, those who are popular, those who
have bigger houses and make more money, those who can preach and teach, those
who like to care for little kids or old people, those who can make a joyful noise,
etc and realize I am not one of those people. As much as I might want to be
Katie Davis or a Chris Tuttle or someone who has a high paying job or someone
who could even be in a choir (haha-that would NOT be me) I know that God’s
purpose for my life is NOT in the things I think I should be or do, it is in
exactly what He has purposed for me. I loved homeschooling, I love being a mom
and wife, I love using my photography and giving it away, I love being a
champion for marriage, I love mentoring you girls. God has given me the gifts
that He sees for me, not what I think I should be.
Ask God to Bless the Work you do:
Pg. 119- “Whatever work you are doing, even if it is only a
temporary job, you want to do it well, and you want it to be successful. If you
are a student, studying is your job. …… When the work you do is good, it makes
you feel good about yourself and your life. “
I say do it all with excellence, not perfection. Do your
best at all you do. Setting yourself up for depression and stress when you are
disappointed that you did not do it perfectly is unhealthy. Do your work as
unto the Lord.
Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men
Security is knowing who you are and
where you are going:
Pg. 120 “Sometimes the reward is in the
result”
Pg. 121 “When you know you are the Lord’s, and you trust
where He is taking you, you feel very secure.”
I want all of you girls to feel secure in yourselves. It is
critical, esp in the teen years when it is so easy to compare yourselves to
others. Don’t give in to Satan’s lies!!
We are all called to help others:
Pg. 121 “Prayer is the greatest gift” (you can give to
others and to God)
I have just now gotten into a season of really reaching out
to others. I have really focused a lot on my kids with most of my energy for
the past 20 years. I made sure that community service was always a part of
their value system and put that into our homeschooling life. But now with all
this extra time on my hands I am seeing that giving of myself to others is
becoming a bigger part of my life. That is not b/c I did not want to, it is b/c
I did not have the time I do now. I tell people that are down or depressed to
do some volunteer work and get out of themselves. Giving to others gives us a
real sense of satisfaction and purpose. I am excited that I shared that with my
kids and that now I can give it more effort. There is a season and time for
everything. I want my life to count. Raising my kids has been a wonderful season.
I am in a new season and I want it to count!
Surrendering your dreams:
Pg. 122 “If you have
a dream that is not of God, when you surrender it to Him, He will take away
your desire for it and give you what He desires for you. “
I like this b/c God keeps us straight. He knows what is best
for us. We can go our own way and suffer the consequences or we can follow him
right from the start by seeking Him thru prayer, counsel, circumstances and scripture
and He will make our paths straight. Doesn’t that seem to be a less painful way in the long run?
Finding your purpose:
Pg. 123: “1 Cor 7:7 for each on has his own gift from God,
one in this manner and another in that. “
This is one reason we did the personality profiles. To see
that we are all unique. We generally fit into one of four categories but we
each have our own uniqueness about us. We are like snowflakes. None are alike.
That is why we are each so special in our own way. Embrace that!!! If we all
had the same body and clothing and money, would not life and people be boring?
To conclude, the questions on page 125 make us ponder. What
would you like to do in your life? Maybe you have no idea (that would be my
guess b/c of your age) but know that is a good question to be thinking about as
you enter sophomore year and start to think about what is next after high
school. Living in your strengths and passions is the best scenario. We cannot
all do that for one reason or another but see if you can find what gives you
joy. That will help with career/school decision or just as a hobby to help
reduce stress or bring you joy or bring glory to God. My photography is not my
job but I can use it for Him. I was able to shoot a wedding for free when it
would have cost them over $1500.00. That
brings me joy.
Let me know what you got out of the chapter even if it is
only one sentence. That works for me!!! It is not about doing your homework, it
is about how you are growing in the Lord and hopefully reading each chapter in
this book will give you stuff to think on, in the midst of these lazy days of
summer. Keep pressing on. My encouragement is to Shine your Light and to be Set
Apart!!
LOVE IT!!! Thanks Mrs Jeanne!
ReplyDeleteI loved this chapter as well. It was short but so meaningful! I loved your sections on, "we have a purpose", "surrendering our dreams" and "security is knowing who we are". It was great to be reminded that everyone is different. Thats why its so fun to meet people..NO ONE is the EXACT same! I loved how you said that we all have different purposes and gifts. We do not ALL need to be a Katie Davis. There are needs to be met throughout our homes, cities, churches, schools and countries. I really like how you said, your job and purpose was to take care of your children, home-school and now you feel called to pour into others' lives like us teenagers. God is using you, Miss Jeanne, just like Katie Davis but in a different way. How cool to know that neither one is "better\more godly" than the other! Also, I was reminded that the Lord will show me where to go. My aunt\cousin (18) who came to visit for Austin's graduation still does not know what she is going to do with her life. Everyone always asks, "So what are you going to major in?" She always says, "Im not sure yet.." In fact when she was here, she had a meltdown because EVERYONE else knew exactly what they were studying and she didnt. She was upset and was not embracing who SHE is. I reminded her that she just needs to trust the Lord, persue her gifts\dreams and pray. He will come through. Those words right then actually reminded me myself to pray to God about my dreams and He will show me where I am to go. He will fulfill my dreams or if they arent His, I ask Him to change the desires of my heart.
ReplyDeleteThanks Miss Jeanne, you are amazing, a blessing, and LOVED by many
:)
Carley,
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. It is really hard for kids in their senior year to be asked that over and over. That is why it is good to be thinking about it now and even so, most likely you still won't know. And it is really hard when you feel like you need to meet up to other people's expectations. You need to be true to yourself and to who the Lord has made YOU to be! Thanks for wonderful insight and good stuff for all of us to hear.
This was a cool chapter :) In fact, the book "One Girl Can Change the World" is all about the stuff covered in this chapter!
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I have a few things to add...
I loved where she said "No matter how far off the path you've gotten from the plans and purposes God has for you, when you surrender your life to the Lord, He carves a path from where you are to where you are supposed to be, and He puts you on it. It may take you longer to get where you are supposed to be than it would have if you had never gotten off the path from the beginning, but if you keep walking closely with God, He will get you where you are supposed to be" (pages 117 and 118). Made me think of a story: My brother and I were walking the dogs once, and we took a different path than the usual. I said I knew of a path that connected to the "new" one and would lead us across the valley, up to the shale pile, and right back to the main road. However, as we walked down the new path, my brother and I were so absorbed with talking about the Lord of the Rings that we walked right by the path that would take us back to the road... ten minutes later, when I realized that we should've passed that connecting path by now, we had to turn around and backtrack; we did eventually find it. The moral of the story: sometimes we are so busy focusing on other things in our lives that we aren't looking for or following God's purpose, and we end up passing it by. Fortunately though, through God, there is always a way back to the main road :)
Secondly, as I was reading the first paragraph under "We are all called to help others", I'm thinking "yeah that's awesome, but I feel like i'm never given the opportunity to reach out to other people..." Then I read the next sentence: "One of the greatest things you can give to someone is your prayers for them." YAY!!! It was so neat how I was feeling discouraged but then the very next thing showed me a way to help others even when I can't see them. :)
Lastly, lately I've felt like I'm in a rut of just doing the same thing everyday and not making any kind of impact. A few days ago I came to this realization that everything counts; its all part of a bigger picture, that God has a bigger plan. So it was encouraging on page 122 where it said "So if what you are doing right now seems to be a small thing in your eyes, be happy! God is getting you ready for big things ahead."
So yeah, that's what I got out of the chapter :)
Loved this chapter! There were two topics that specifically spoke to me: 1. The fact that I don't need to be someone else, as this is something that can't be drilled into me enough! 2. The fact that we are called to help others! This past Sunday I had the opportunity to visit Matt Chandler's church, and he spoke on Gal. 6:1-5. So cool!
ReplyDeleteWhoa! One sentence just became a book! Something that immediately caught my attention is how Christians have perservance in life and this success because of the value we know we have in Christ! Plus the burden that has been lifted and cast on Christ on the cross. It gives us an energy and outlook others don't an cant have without the Lord. I would be so bogged down without Him! I've seen that a lot since I started middle school until now. It will always continue as long as we live too. Just remember we have the secret. And it shouldn't be a secret. That's our job. To spread the not so secret of God's love!
ReplyDeleteSorry I feel like I just preached y'all a sermon...
Rachel
Mrs. Jeanne,
ReplyDeleteI loved ALL of it.
The surrendering your dreams commentary was esp on the mark you could say.
Such a good post and chapter! Sorry it took so long to comment. :/
ReplyDeleteAlright, so just by looking at the title I got excited. One of my all time favorite movies is It's A Wonderful Life. The short of it is a guy begins thinking that life would be better for every one if he had never been born. So his guardian angel gives him a chance to see what that would really look like. And he finds that his life is purposeful. I think it's been said before that it is a huge issue for girls that their lives are significant. We want our lives to count for something. We want to change the world. And that is totally true for me personally.
My quirky note for the chapter is the phrase "He carves" on the second page when it says "He carves a path from where we are supposed to be, and he puts you on it." I thought the phrasing was interesting for two reasons: Jesus was the son of a carpenter and He is the Master Builder and Carpenter. And He's God. So He has experience with the carving work, and He's God so He's also automatically the best at everything. So the most skilled Carpenter carved your life path. What reason do we have not to trust the path He made for us?
The sentence after that reminded me of "Long Way Home" by Steven Curtis Chapman. Really really good song. :)
Last little note. On page 120, it says "If he clearly understood that God has a higher purpose for his life, he wouldn't throw it away with such foolish actions and decisions." And it got me thinking about Radical by David Platt. At some point he says that all Christfollowers have a purpose and a job, and it all leads to spreading the Gospel to the world. Not necessarily being the missionary, but supporting them or contributing somehow. Every job leads to it, even those not directly related. And this man is an example of why we need to realize our purpose and act on it. :)
Great job Mrs. Jeanne! I loved it!