Devotions about Purpose | from Devotional Christian

Pain with a Purpose

September 25, 2011

Pain. We all have it in one form or another. For you it might be a chronic physical illness such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, or some other disease that leaves you feeling lousy all the time. For others, it could be the emotional and financial loss suffered when your company has downsized or outsourced your position. There are those who, because of their struggle with loss, depression, or simply the stress of everyday living, have turned to alcohol or drugs to medicate their pain.

Is it possible to find purpose in our pain? Is there something bigger than ourselves that can make our pain bearable, almost “worth it”? The Apostle Paul thought so. No stranger to the pain and imprisonment that accompanied his persecution as a follower of Christ, he penned these words:

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. — Philippians 1:12-14, NIV

I know a couple of women who have been battling cancer for years. I have watched them suffer the ravages of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, seen them lose and regrow their hair, and have been amazed at the radiance in their countenance as they have time and time again acknowledged the presence and power of God to comfort and heal them. Even though their faith has been tested because of their illness, the faith of countless others has been strengthened because of the way these faithful women of God have journeyed through the valley, giving testimony to God every step of the way.

God never said we would live without pain or loss. In fact, his Word tells that we will have trials in this life. But if we can allow God to work His purpose through our pain, then many will see and believe in the One who sustains and strengthens us in the midst of our suffering. Just when your pain becomes too much to bear, remember that Jesus suffered agonizing pain on the cross so that we might be forgiven from the sin that separated us from God and spend an eternity in heaven with him, where there is no pain.

The pain God has allowed to come into your life could be the very gift he uses to bring another soul into his kingdom.

Tags Pain, Philippians 1:12-14, purpose
Comments: #2

As God So Desires

January 3, 2010

Filed In Daily Devotionals

Again and again I worked on writing assignments and nothing seemed to flow. Words seemed stilted, sentences contrived. Thoughts were disjointed and rewriting did nothing to create a work worthy of publishing. So I stopped. I deleted paragraphs and entire devotionals. My writing grew hollow; my thoughts dried up. I wondered. Is God shelving me? Has He removed His hand from me? Does He want me to do something else, or nothing at all?

Life kept living and moving around me. I saw God’s love in so many instances. I witnessed His grace in trials and difficulty. Yet, words to describe His work in and around me ran from my fingertips. My brain was caught in a fog. I felt bad. I felt bad for those I’d made promises to. I felt inadequate and useless. I questioned myself. How could I begin to write any words of encouragement when emptiness and disquiet were my companions–when dust collected on my keyboard and monitor?

“Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” Jeremiah 18:3-4

There are times in our lives in which we feel shelved. We may think our lives are so marred with inadequacy and wasted moments that God has moved on to another vessel, to fill it with perfumed roses. We may feel our time has passed, our hour of usefulness is up. Should that be so, what do we do? We rest. We wait. We sit where the Lord has placed us and collect dust if He so desires. It is God who decides what good we are to be for His purpose.

As I read through this passage in Jeremiah, I noted that the vessel the potter “made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter”. In His hand–not mine. He was forming and shaping. He was designing and working into me the curves, the depth and width of His choosing. As He worked, the vessel was marred. So He made it again–”another vessel”. God’s transforming grace does not end at the moment we receive new life in Christ. God is continually fashioning and molding His vessel for His plan and purpose. Whether we house fresh roses or sit empty, God is using us. We may not know how; we may wonder if we have been forgotten because the spot in which He has placed us seems a wasted space, without activity. These kind of thoughts focus on ourselves rather than our Lord. Christ is all encompassing. He is in me and with me. Who am I to question?

Tags Contentment, doubts, FAITH, knowing God's will, patience, purpose, Trusting God
Comments: #2

Labor for the Lord

December 21, 2009

Filed In Daily Devotionals

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Psalm 127:1

There are at least three lessons in this text.

First, no project can succeed unless it is the Lord’s will. God is working out his plan for his creation and it does not matter how hard we strive to go our own way, we will not succeed unless our way is God’s way.

Second, what God intends to build will get built. No force in heaven or on earth can stop God from doing what he has planned. His success is guaranteed.

Third, God will work with us to accomplish his will. He needs no human hands. The One who spoke worlds into existence can surely build a house on his own. But by his grace he has purposed to do some of his work through human laborers. We are not cast adrift into the world to live lives of meaningless mediocrity. We were created to follow hard after God, carrying out his will and working in his kingdom.

While we labor we do so with the assurances found in Psalm 127:1. As the people of God, we strive to walk according to his ways, avoiding irrelevant, unproductive tasks that do not conform to his will while pursuing wholeheartedly the work he has called us to do. And as we labor for him we know that our labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). God will complete what he has begun and the fruit of our work will span eternity.

Tags labor, purpose, success, work
Comments: #0

Satisfaction In God

December 19, 2009

Filed In Daily Devotionals

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5

The early church theologian Augustine once wrote, “Thou hast made us for thyself and our hearts are restless until we find our rest in thee.” (Augustine, Confessions) Deuteronomy 6:4-5 tells us what we were created for. We were made for God. We cannot live satisfied lives until we learn to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

We live in a world of distractions. Every day we will engage in a million little things to turn our attention from the gnawing need within our hearts. But when once you turn to the shepherd of your soul, putting aside the glittering things of the world and finding in God your true love and delight, you will never be left wanting.

Turn off the television. Put your iPod on pause. Shut down the computer. Put an end to the endless stream of irrelevant and destructive information. Do not let the world distract you any longer. Close the door, open your Bible, bend your knee in prayer, and let your soul be filled with the One who calls you to himself. The more you grow in your love for him, the more you realize the world has nothing to offer but flies and maggots.