Answering God's Call on Your Life: Finding Your Purpose

Two weeks ago I introduced this theme on Answering God's call on our lives. I briefly talked about my own experience, why we shouldn't be afraid to serve God and how He is more concerned about our availability rather than our ability to serve Him. If you hadn't had a chance to read the article yet you can click here to do so in order to understand the logic behind this article which is the second and last part of the theme Answering God's call on your life. Whenever we hear somebody talk about God's call we have that dreadful feeling, that unexplained fear that creeps on us and totally paralyzes us. But what exactly is answering God's call? Well simply put, answering God's call on our lives is finding your purpose and living it fully in such a way that, as christians, we let the light of Christ shine through us and his grace touch the lives of people who need it. 

Years ago, it didn't make much sense to me. Of course, I had heard people talk about "finding their purpose" but it didn't really ring a bell to me. I knew I was born to achieve great things, I knew I was meant to serve God with the gifts He gave me and make other people benefit from them and be blessed through them but I didn't know how. I didn't know where the Lord called me to be, I didn't where He wanted me to serve Him. And the older I got, the more it started intriguing me:  I started to see my friends and people around me get motivated and do things that were beyond imagination. I saw people take an astonishing 360 degrees turn in their lives and take it to a place of greatness, a place where they felt great about themselves but also a place where their lives and what they were doing made a positive and powerful impact on the people around them. As much as I was inspired by the way they were driven and dedicated to make the world a better place by living their purpose, I could help but desperately ask myself what was MY purpose.

I started questioning it, brainstorming and forcefully trying to create it in order to feel better about myself, leading to a lot of things I started and ended up giving up upon half way. After going from one failure to another, from one dead end to another I started to get  frustrated because I couldn't figure it out. I didn't think it was going to be so hard to find my purpose. And so I gave up on it because the deception from realizing everytime that what I thought was my purpose wasn't it in reality. However, one day as I was reading my Bible in the book of Roman, I stumbled on some verses in chapter 12 that caught my attention. In this chapter in verse 6, Paul says :

"We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us"

And he goes on giving a list of the different gifts we have been given by the Lord. But the verse that clicked right away and made me understand what my purpose was, was ultimately the first part of verse 8:

"If it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully"

Right a that moment everything made sense... When I started blogging it was because I loved to write and I needed an outlet to express myself. But the more I was writing, the more I started realizing that this was bigger than me: it was never about just writing, it was never about the followers: it was about reaching out to the people going through tough times and encouraging them with my words. I remember about times where I had wanted to give up and just delete my blog. And in one of those days, I remember my sister telling something along these lines :

"Granted that some people land on your blog by pure accident, but let me tell you this: there are people that come back because of the impact your words have on their lives. Somebody somewhere needs your words so don't give up".

This was an aha! moment which made me realize what my purpose was and where God wanted me to serve Him: He wanted me to serve Him here, encouraging people and sharing a little bit of happiness through my blog. And that is the reason why this blog was created even though I didn't know it back then. It wasn't for me to express myself, it wasn't for me to treat it as a leisure or a hobby (even if at the beginning I did). It was about touching somebody's life and encouraging that person using my words and my experiences through life to the best of my abilities. It was about touching and changing lives using the gift that God has given me.

One thing I wan you to take away here is that your purpose might not be about changing the life of a million of people, it might not be about the big things. Sometimes your purpose is about the small things, the things that we overlook because we think they are insignificant. But everything, no matter how small it is, exists for a purpose and everything we say or do can impact and change one person's life in the most unexpected ways; whether it is with a smile, a kind word, a word of encouragement or even a hug. Don't minimize the importance of the small things or details because it is sometimes those small details that make a huge difference in the way somebody's life turns around - especially when God is involved and when you are at the place He has called you to serve Him.

So if like I did, you are still trying to find your purpose in life and you can't seem to find what it is don't get discouraged. Pray about it and follow your passion and eventually it will lead you to your purpose. And when you get there, always remember that is it not about changing the life of a million of people, and it is not about you but rather, about that one person whose life is going to be brightened up and turned around in a positive way through the gift God has given you.

Until next time,
xo

Answering God's Call on Your Life: When Will Matters More Than Ability

This article is part of a two parts series (maybe three... I don't know yet) focusing on finding your purpose in life. About a week ago, I was blessed to attend a concert of Hillsong United as part of their Empires 2.0 Tour to promote the release of their new album - Empires. It was an amazing experience where they gathered the children of God and led them into FOUR Hours!! of PURE worship and praise to our Lord and Savior. Four hours during which we all surrendered to our Lord, willing to let Him have His way through us and do whatever He had planned for us that specific day. Some people might say Four hours is a lot; they might say they are not able to do it and humanly speaking it is perfectly understandable. But then I realized that serving God has nothing to do with our abilities and all to do with our availability.

Because the truth is serving God is not easy: it is beyond any human strength and the time, efforts, emotions required to do it cannot be sustained by ourselves. Not only that, but as we consider that we are flawed creatures, with weaknesses and limitations, it only makes sense that only God can give us the ability to serve Him. And that is the reason why I said higher that God isn't questioning our abilities: He knows that by ourselves we cannot. The only question He is asking is "Are you available? Are you willing to give me your time? Are you willing to give me your all so that I can use you to heal broken hearts, bring salvation to those who are lost, grace to those who are condemned by their sins and deliver those who are held captives?"

God cares about whether or not we would be willing to let Him touch people and change lives through us the exact same way He used other people to do it for us!

I used to be scared to serve the Lord. You know how you can kill a cockroach when it is on the floor but the minute it starts flying you're just like... Nope... and you just take off? Yeah.. I was scared like that (no shame whatsoever in admitting it!). I was terrified. I had no problem being a Christian and a follower of Christ (no typo here: you can be a follower and not be a christian) and a doer of the Word. But serving God? I was like... Bye ✌
Why? because I told myself: I can't preach, I can't pray that long, I can't lay hands on people, I can't do this or that... The list was long! But then it took me two things to unlock my will and desire to serve God.

Situation 1: could be represented (almost) as me being zealous for doing the things God as called us to do as Christian and live (as much as possible) according to the word
Situation 2: Did somebody say Serve God? 👀 🏃🏃🏃

1) We all have a different call upon our lives

God has called us, each to something specific and we have to pray for God to help us figure out what it is. Serving God is not only preaching or singing or those great things we think it is and that scare us. Serving God could be praying for other people when you pray at home. Serving God could be exercising the gift of liberality He has bestowed upon you. It could be by providing words of encouragements to people and help them go through their hardship. It could be through showing the love of God by relieving those who are in need. There are SO MANY WAYS to serve God. You just have to pray and ask God where He wants you to be, what He wants you to do and the minute the have the answer to those prayers  just ask Him for directions on how to do it.

2) God will always give you the resources you need

One of the many wise persons I have had the honor to share my walk with Christ once said : "God will never give you a vision without the provision". The moment we decide to serve God and to let Him work through us and with us, He will give us all we need. It is at this moment that intervenes the notion of ability: God gives us the ability to serve Him. Sure there will be hard times, there will be peaks and valleys but the God who has called us will provide us with EVERYTHING we need and He will carry us through it all.

Sure there will be raging storms  and we will have to navigate our ways on raging seas but as long as we rely on God and keep our eyes about the waves, we will get to destination safely.

To you, who have received Christ, His grace, mercy and light, wherever you are, whoever you are, not matter how old you are, I pray that you do not keep it to yourself. There are people suffering, walking in the darkness, waiting on you to experience peace, freedom, salvation, deliverance or maybe receive that love they never did. It doesn't have to be something big: it could be a simple gesture such as smile or a word of encouragement using the Word of God or even sharing this post 😉

Whatever it is, I pray that you find it and that you let God use you and that you let His light shine through you.

I have done my share of the work, now go and do yours.

Until next time,
xx