Embracing Your God-Given Purpose Part 2

Recently, my church hosted a Ladies’ Conference.

The conference started on Friday night and picked back up for a full day on Saturday.  We had a worship team, three guest speakers, door prizes, lunch, security, prayer team, crafts, and some of the most beautiful shirts you have ever seen!

It was a jam-packed weekend.  I couldn’t possibly tell you how many times I’ve heard how great it was, how beautiful the music was, or how much the speakers really “spoke” to them.

And that’s wonderful.  But I’m going to have to take their word for it.  I don’t remember much of anything at all.

As part of the conference leadership team, my major responsibility was to handle all of the money.  And as tedious as that can be when you’re juggling payments coming in from all directions, I also happen to work at the church.  So anytime someone needed help with something, there I was.

I loved being busy at the conference.  I love doing things “behind the scenes” to make sure everything runs smoothly.  But all of that busyness kept me from really fulfilling the purpose of the conference: to be filled with God’s Word and to Worship Him without all of the distractions.  Mission NOT Accomplished.  Mission Failed.

Man!  Did I overdo it on the busyness!

But here’s the truth: I have let my busyness distract me from my God-given purpose too.  I have been letting what was “almost right” take the place of what was “right.”  And I’ve been doing it for a while now.

God’s Word says that He has a plan for me and you, a purpose.  But so many times we allow our to-do list to out weigh the purpose for our lives.  We put it on the back-burner until we forget all about it.  When we allow ourselves to become that distracted by busyness, we take away our blessings from those around us.  Those that need us most.  Those that need us to fulfill our purpose.

So, yes.  Dishes need to be done.  Bills need to be paid, and work needs to be completed.  Dinner needs to be cooked and laundry put away.  Kids need to be dropped off and picked up, and somewhere in there, a shower needs to be had.  And it is a lot.  It’s a lot everyday.  But God didn’t create us to live by a to-do list.  He created us for a purpose.

If you haven’t yet discovered your God-Given Purpose, I suggest you take a look at Part 1 where I discuss ways you might be able to discern that for your life.

After many long and stressful years, I finally embraced God’s purpose for my life.  And as amazing as it is to finally be here, bit by bit, I let my to-do list become such an overwhelming part of my life that my purpose was put right there on the back-burner.  Nearly extinguished.  I felt stagnant, lazy, and busy all at the same time!  I wasn’t feeling “amazing” anymore.

Maybe that’s where you are, too.  You know what it is that God has called you to do, but you’ve become a little bit too busy to see it through.

Well, I wasn’t going to take it anymore!  I wanted to get back on track.  So the very first step I took was to pray.  I sat down in my favorite chair and spent more than a minute talking to God about this whole thing.  I told Him how I was feeling, and then I actually waited around to hear what He had to say.  We did this for a few days, and along the way I had my friends and family pray for me too.

Slowly the fog on my life started to lift and I began to see that I had just lost sight of my purpose.  It wasn’t as important to me as it had been.  But I’m like you and there’s a lot on my list to get done, so I literally said, “God, there are only so many hours in a day.  How do you expect me to fit it all in?”

His response?  “How about some purposeful planning for your purpose?  Perhaps you’re not spending your time wisely.”

True.  I was busy but I wasn’t productive.

As my next step, I picked up my notebook and made a list of the goals that I had for my purpose and for my life.  Things that I wanted to see happen that didn’t seem too far out of reach, but still quite a bit further away than sitting in my chair was getting me.  I spent some quality time on this list, and then I prayed over that too!  I wanted to make sure that my goals matched His purpose.  I asked God to guide me in deciding which of those were the biggest priority and should, therefore, get more of my time.  I needed Him to show me how to make it work with the time I have to work in.

As it turns out, I was wasting a lot of time in the mornings looking at my phone and in the evenings watching one too many episodes of my favorite show!  Not to mention all of the little moments throughout the day where I would just take a minute or two, or twenty to sit and “veg” out.  I really wasn’t being as dedicated as I thought I had been.

Armed with goals and a plan for my purpose, I set out to find accountability partners.  I let those closest to me know what it was that I was trying to attempt and they continued to pray over me as well as keep me motivated.  In fact, I need them to keep questioning me!  I’m about as big a backslider as you can imagine!  I have to have someone keeping me honest!

And so far, God has provided blessings in accordance with my faithfulness, just like He always does!

I sincerely pray that God opens your eyes, ears, heart, and spirit to know your purpose.  And then I pray that you won’t allow busyness to distract you from that God-Given Purpose!

-Blessings!