I have recently been doing a lot of thinking about purpose lately, and a few things have come to mind. In the past and even sometimes in the present, I can be a bit greedy when it comes to my purpose. Let me explain. I look at my friend who is traveling all over the world and doing amazing stuff for orphans, I look at my other friend who started this very magazine, and I look at my other friend who is working on an upcoming album and I feel like I want to be apart of everyone’s purpose and do the same things that they are doing. Everyone has the same purpose, to glorify God and to proclaim His name to the ends of the earth, yet, I find myself wanting to do that, in the same way my friends are. Isn’t that silly? Yet, I look at their lives, and I try and shape mine to look a bit more like them.

Why do we do this? God calls us to certain things, and places and this shapes our purpose. So why try and mold your purpose into the purpose of the person next to you? You weren’t made to be them, you were made to be you and to fulfil God’s calling through the desires he has placed in YOUR heart. I know this truth, but it hadn’t penetrated my heart until recently. I began to think about my future and what I wanted to do, and who I wanted to become. There are definitely some similarities in my purpose and calling on my life, as my friends callings, but they are specifically tailored to me. I don’t want to look over my shoulder and try and copy what the person next to me is doing. Copying is too easy. There is no work involved. But in the specific purpose God has for your life, it’s much different. It isn’t easy. You have to work at your calling, chase after it, and pursue Jesus through it.

I think the thing that might often hinder us from pursuing our own purpose, is time. How many times have you said , “No, it’s too late, that will never happen.” We limit ourselves based on a time frame that doesn’t really exist. Who said you can’t chase after your dreams after 30, or who said you had to wait until 25 to start? The time to start pursuing your purpose is now. I have looked around at my friends who are in different seasons of their lives doing incredible things, and I automatically find myself wanting to be there too. But those friends of mine are fulfilling their purpose and they are doing it in God’s timing. So don’t focus on what your best friend is doing, your sibling, or anyone else for that matter. There is always a time to start, and my friend, you haven’t passed yours. If there is a dream in your heart, and a calling on your life that you have not pursued, start today. Start now. Looking around at others will only cause you to compare your life to theirs, when your life is completely different.

I was talking with a good friend of mine, and we were on the subject of marriage. He is 26, and he and his girlfriend plan on getting married someday. All of his best friends are married and I asked him how he feels being surrounded by people who are in a different season of life. He told me that there is no rush, and that marriage will come, but he doesn’t feel like he needed to jump ahead to the season his best friends are in. He celebrates with them, but he does not try and become them. That is what I am talking about here. Celebrate with your friends and their achievements, but don’t become consumed with timing and start something you know you weren't called to. Enjoy your season of life, and your own personal calling. God uses all talents, to share the gospel. Pursue your calling today, and remember that God made you unique. Your life may look totally different than you thought it would right now, but I am encouraging you to not abandon that dream in your heart, to not look at the success of others and compare yourself, and to not let time limit the calling you have on your life. Start today.

Isaiah 43:16-19” I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” NLT

I want you to read this verse and meditate on it for the week. I have spend so much time reading this verse over and over again. It has spoke volumes to me. Let God speak to you through this and allow him into those dreams of yours. He wants to do something NEW.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Pursuing Purpose