Born for a Purpose
By Dr. Maxcelle D’Oyley
Where are you now, and where did you expect to be now in your life? Were you expecting to be here, there, or somewhere else? And where are you today according to God’s timetable for your life? Are you in the process of fulfilling God’s purpose and destiny for your life? The reason for these questions is that many of us meander through life not knowing why or where we are going. One of the greatest personal challenges in life is to determine or discover the reason why we are here on this earth. Not knowing the answer makes life somewhat of a mystery. And if our destiny is identifiable, then we want to know if we are accomplishing the highest level of Christ-actualization within our lives. These reflective moments of inquiry help us to evaluate our Christian walk as well as determining where we are in fulfilling the Kingdom’s agenda.
Looking back over the years spent on this earth, the tangible outcomes of life do not adequately reflect the sacrifices, work, and the time invested both in the natural and the spiritual dimensions of life. Why then is there usually a discrepancy between the actual outcomes compared to what we envisioned? It’s because there is the unsettling feeling deep down within our souls that we all anticipated a lot more than this at this stage of our lives. We are designed to want more, to get more, and do more, whatever more is to us individually and collectively. Now we begin to wonder and question if our past choices and decisions may have short circuited our levels of achievement. There is also the uncertainty if our present position is the actual state of being and the place where we are supposed to be now, and if we are, then knowing this will bring a sense of relief, and an attitude to continue moving forward. And if we are off track, then we pray that God will prompt us back on the path. Here we can start where we are in pursuit of completing our destinies in Him. If we are moving forward in the right direction, then we know that there are deeper depths and higher dimensions yet to be accomplished in us. But to know our full potential in Him we also need to understand how He functions as the Creator of our destinies.
In the book of Jeremiah 1:4-8, God started creation with a specific purpose and plan in mind. Then He created us to fulfill that intention, goal, purpose or plan. God knew the details of our lives before He determined our frame, before we were conceived, before He breathe His breath into us and before we were born on this earth. God knew the life we would live, when we would die, and where we will spend eternity before He created us. There is nothing hidden from God’s view, and everything that was, everything that is, and everything that will be, is already known to Him. Likewise, God sanctified, endorsed, approved, and ordained us before we were even framed which indicates that His endorsement also started before conception. We were conceived for a specific place, time, duration and season. We were also designed and tailor made for His calling, vision, mission, and to the person or people to whom we are assigned. God is so methodical, specific, deliberate, and detailed about creation that no one will ever experience an accidental birth, because to Him this is impossible.
Therefore, regardless of the circumstances surrounding our birth, we were intentionally conceived in the mind of God with value, and of great significance. We were also designed with distinctive physical features, the right spiritual, emotional, and psychological makeup which together help to equip us for His service. He also took into consideration our genetic makeup, place of birth, upbringing, character, intelligence, personality, and the endowment of talents and gifts when creating us for that assignment. Together, the visible and invisible parts of us produce the right formula and the packaging God had in mind before the foundation of the earth for our success. Sooner or later this awesome manifestation of His hidden purpose will break forth, showing its light, and becoming visible for all to behold His glory.
We see in the first chapter of Jeremiah that God started with purpose and plan in His mind. He later created Jeremiah for that plan, and now in the 29th chapter we see him as a man fulfilling that purpose. We see his assignment being revealed as he walked in his calling and operation as a Prophet to the nation. He was God’s representative functioning as a messenger, as an advocate, and as a diplomat to the Babylonian government. His message was also to the Israelites who were taken into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And as the messenger he delivered warnings, directives, intentions, encouragement, and instructions to comfort God’s people in their time of need. He gave them hope to endure the rough seasons while reassuring them that God was near, that He heard their cries, and that His intention was to deliver them out of bondage. And even though God labeled them a stiff-necked people because of their disobedience, His love, mercy, grace and compassion would not depart from them. His thoughts towards them were always good and so were His plans for them. Jeremiah executed God’s desire in his life and so will we as His children (Jeremiah29:1-23).
There is also much to be learned from the book of Exodus Chapters 10 and 11. Pharaoh was born to rule over the Israelites during their time of slavery. His personality, defiant behavior, oppressive tendencies, unjust conscience, and acts of disobedience were all handcrafted character flaws designed within him to do a work. These bad behaviors provided the platform necessary for God to demonstrate His love, care, and commitment to His people. Pharaoh’s actions also gave God the arena to display His awesome control over the universe demonstrating His strength, persistence, power, and an arsenal of miracles, signs and wonders. Above all, we see how faithfulness God was in fulfilling His words, His plans, and getting what He wanted. Moses and Pharaoh were born to perform opposing roles in implementing God’s plan but Moses delivered the people thus accomplishing God’s desire. Likewise, Jesus was born for a specific purpose which required His birth by Immaculate Conception to produce a man manifesting both human and divine natures. He had to be sinless and self-sacrificial and by such He could fulfill God’s plan to redeem man back into fellowship with Him. So, all these men mentioned were born with and for a purpose and they lived a life true to that purpose. And so, should we. Unfortunately, many of us flounder through life not knowing why we are here because we have never taken the time to inquired of the Creator. Instead, we follow or pattern after others to be the persons God never intended us to become. Since God needs our cooperation to execute His plan in our lives how then can we discover the purpose He has for us to fulfill in this life?
First, we must seek the mind of God through prayer by asking Him to reveal and to lead us per the purpose and plan He has for us since the beginning of time. Then we need to take time out and listen for the answer in His still small voice. We must prayerfully acknowledge Him in all our ways and involve Him in the making all decisions while being assured that He will direct our paths. We must meditate on the word, submit to His will, and allow Him to order our steps in His word. We must admit that we are not able, qualified or equipped with the skills, insight or foresight needed and thus cannot lead ourselves. Therefore, we must learn to trust, obey, and depend upon Him for total leadership.
Our parents, teachers, mentors, and adults of influence are in positions to observe our natural inclination, passion, skills, gifting, preferences, and desires being manifested as we grow from childhood to adulthood. Their input can shed the light needed to confirm His plan deposited within our hearts. We are born equipped and loaded with great potentials for success in Christ. But it takes the word of God, the will of God, and the workings of the Holy Spirit to activate and convert all the potentials into actual manifestation for His glory here on earth.
And finally, we know that God honors and reveals His plans first to the Prophets. They have the unique ability to hear and see within the supernatural realm where God downloads truths, wisdom, knowledge, and insight into them. They have the assignment of revealing God’s heart, mind, and counsel to the people. The prophetic voice can confirm, move and usher us into our destinies. Our responsibility is to learn how to rest and build our confidence in God’s ability to bring purpose into fruition because His plan will always prevail. But when we choose to work and please God by living a lifestyle devoted to integrity, godliness, holiness and righteousness, He will grant divine favor and connections to usher us into our destinies. And all of this will be done through us and by us for His glory.