God's Will and Purpose

So, my young friend going through her "early mid-life crisis" is afraid she's missed God's call on her life and is now a second-class Christian in God's eyes. Oh the pain of believing your God is so little. I know. I've been there. So, my plan for our next get-together is the following, entrenched with the prayer of Ephesians 1:15-23 and Colossians 1:9-10.

1. What is God's will for me? And how is it accomplished?

• I Thess 4:3a: my sanctification
• Romans 8:29: to be conformed to the image of His Son
• Eph 1:4b, Eph 5:27c, Col 1:22b: that I should be holy and blameless before Him, without blemish, above reproach
• Phil 1:6b: He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
• Eph 5:25b-27, I Cor 1:30: Christ loving me and giving Himself up for me sanctifies me, He cleanses me, He is my sanctification
• 2 Thess 2:13c: sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth

2. How does sanctification benefit me (Eph 2:1-7)?

• As I become more like Christ, the life God designed for man, I grow toward the fulfillment and satisfaction for which I long.

3. If God has a unique purpose/plan/calling for my life, can it be thwarted?

• Jer 1:12b, I am watching over My word to perform it.
• Isa 46:11b, I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
• Eph 1:11b, according to the purpose of [God] who works all things according to the counsel of His will.
• Gen 21:1, The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as He had promised.
• Jonah 1:4, 7b, 13, 14b, 17a, 2:10, 3:10-4:2
• Joseph: his brothers sold him into slavery to a far-off country where either he would die or at least they would never see him again to fulfill his dreams; God brought the dreamers to Joseph; God reminded the butler of Joseph; God gave Joseph the wisdom to answer Pharaoh's dilemma.

4. Consider characters from the Bible. What "unique purpose" defined their life as we know it? How did that unique purpose unfold in their lives? How did they respond to the situations in their life leading up to the fulfillment?

• Adam, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, David, Esther, Ruth, Jonah, Jesus.
• All very different stories. God fulfilled the "defining" purpose in each life. Yet, which of them knew this would define their lives to future generations?
• All different responses.  Most of them simply were "in the way" of living the life set before them.

5. What if I want a different "unique purpose" than the one God is unfolding in my life?

• I Thess 5:18, In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

6. If I am not responsible for finding and fulfilling God's purpose for my life, then what am I supposed to do in this life, today?

• I participate in my sanctification by acknowledging that it is Christ who sanctifies me by His power. I look to His hand as a handmaiden looks to her mistress -- utterly dependant, completely helpless without His favor, without Him moving His hand to meet my need for sanctification. By studying the Bible, I have come to see that He desires to meet my need and that it gives Him great delight to meet my need and that this grace toward me is His glory!
• Thus, I abide in Him, meeting Him where He cleanses me; ie. in His Word, and asking Him to enlighten the eyes of my heart (Eph 1:18a ff) that I may grow in the knowledge of His will. I read and study and think on His Word. I pay close heed to the preachers, teachers, evangelists, prophets, apostles that God has placed in my life who care for my soul.
• When I know what His will is, I obey Him, thanking Him that He gives me divine power to grow in my obedience (Eph 1:19-23, Col 1:3ff).
• I remain faithful to Him (Col 1:23), continuing to meet Him in His Word, knowing that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

7. What is the outcome of abiding in Him/His Word, of obeying Him/His Word, of remaining faithful to Him/His Word?

• John 15: He produces fruit in these good works. (Caveat: this fruit is not for me to eat -- it will not sustain or satisfy me! My sustenance is the life of Christ that abides in me.)
• He reveals more of Himself to me (the knowledge of God), producing in me greater love and greater loyalty to Him, becoming more like the One I adore.

8. Having tasted that God is good, my thirst is simultaneously quenched and peaked so that I desire to drink more from this life-giving, life-producing fountain. As I abide, obey and remain faithful, Christ's character is worked out in me and I find a deep joy and satisfaction in God, causing me to uniquely:

• love my Christian family... (John 13:34)
• do good to all men, especially those of the household of faith...(Galatians 6:10)
• build up the body of Christ... (Eph 4:12b, Col 1:28)
• do the Next Thing...(Elisabeth Elliot)
• pursue the gladness of others in God (John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life)

I may or may not know until eternity what my "unique purpose" in life is, but I will give thanks and remain faithful to what God sets before me, looking unto Jesus (and what a deep treasure that is! Col 2:3), the author and finisher of my faith.

Our God is a gracious and loving God. I love especially Ephesians where God's love for me flows on and on. Take heart, my friend. We have a hope and a future with our giving and forgiving God. Do not grow weary in well doing. There is so much to look forward to if we do not quit after stumbling.