Finding Our Purpose: Resting in Him

So I recently had a breakdown before God. I have been through a tumultuous time recently and rather than taking my issues to God and laying them at the altar, I placed them on myself and tried to handle them with my own hands. It’s amazing what the human soul can bear before it breaks down. I wasn’t able to see that I had placed so much upon myself until I was crumbling into a million little pieces. Even strong men fall when placing the world on their shoulders. We all want to be like Atlas who had the heavens and the Earth placed on his shoulders. We weren’t designed to heap it all upon ourselves. To better illustrate my point I will borrow a line from Above the Golden State’s song, Sound of Your Name:

“The strong man falls to Him who humbles
The plans he made were bound to stumble
And only You remain
Only You remain”

The issue here is that we truly aren’t created to be Atlas. We were created to be strong, but also to depend on God. I failed to see this for a while and as life started to come at me hardcore I snowballed downhill, picking up more and more as I raced downward. I lost sight of what God had in store for me because my mind, my soul, my thoughts, my heart were clouded with the crud I had picked heaped upon myself. So how is it that we are to see our purpose in the midst of trials and tribulations. Well, then answer to that is simple and yet difficult to do…rest in the Lord.

Resting in the Lord requires letting go. That is easier said than done, especially when you feel like things are getting out of your control. It is human nature to clamp down and grab control when things are slipping away, but there has to be a point where we realize we can’t do it on our own. The same goes when we are trying to find our purpose. We can search high and low, attempt this and attempt that, spend a ton of money and time trying to discover what out purpose is, but still walk away empty handed. This is where resting in the Lord comes in to play. Rather than trying to carry our burdens through life, we need to get to a point where we lay them down at His feet so that we may walk through life without the shackles that tie us down. You see, there is an Enemy out there who desires to keep you from fulfilling your God given purpose. The Enemy will hold you back and remind you of all your troubles and faults. In doing so the Enemy can prevent you from seeing what God’s plan is. So how can we overcome this? How can we avoid the Enemy’s traps and fulfill God’s purpose for our life? Rest in Him.

You have to understand that resting in the Lord is not passive, but quite the opposite. It is ceasing from all your selfish desires and struggles to attain the life that you want. Isaiah 45:9 says it this way:

“Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker,
to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
'What are you making?'
Does your work say,
'He has no hands'?”

Woe to him who quarrels with God. Wow. There is action in resting in the Lord. We have to CEASE (which is an action verb) to “quarrel” with God and we have to REST (another action verb) in the Lord. When we cease to struggle with God, we give Him an opportunity to do a work in us. When the Lord works in us He carries His perfect and pleasing will in us. I would rather spend one day in the Lord’s will than a thousand doing my own will. When we submit to God we can truly see Him work out His purpose in our lives and thusly we discover what it is we were CREATED to do.

Philippians 2:12-18 “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.”

God’s desire is for us to rest in Him and lay our burdens at our feet. It is once we do this we can truly let go of the things that hold us back from reaching the prize He’s set aside for us. I know it is easier said than done, trust me I do know this, but it is something that must be done. If you want to shake off the shackles that hold you back, rest in Him who is sufficient. Only then can you begin to see what His purpose is for you.

Finding a Light in a Dark Room

Ok, so I have been gone for a while...or at least gone from blogging. My life has been on an emotional rollercoaster over the last six weeks, actually for the last nine months, but the last six weeks have taken me way up and then way down. I just ask for your prayers there. I won't go into the details other than saying I know God has a plan for me and He is with me in the midst of this, but I am having a difficult time actually seeing Him.

I also do see something coming from this...my purpose. I am struggling with what that is and I am praying hard that God will reveal that to me. It's funny, well maybe ironic or sad to say, but last night I watched LOST and saw one of the beloved characters attempt to hang himself. He was doing so because he has lost his faith and lost his purpose. Now I am not saying that I instantly jumped to the thought of "hey...I should do that" but the thought did cross my mind. I think that's when God really grabbed ahold of me. I felt absolutely hopeless last night, like I just can't go on anymore. This pain I feel is about the most intense pain I have ever felt. My heart is broken in a million pieces, my life looks like it is in shambles, and I feel like I have nothing to show for 28 years of existence. But again, God is in control.

Maybe my first 28 years are a wash and maybe God has some big things in store for me in my next 28 years. I have to hold on to that hope and I have to seek out what it is that He wants me to do. So I am just asking for your prayers. Please pray that God will show me what His purpose is for me. I am having a difficult time seeing it, but I know He's calling me...that much I can feel. Love you all and God bless!