Reflection on Purpose
                                                                   Written by Karah  Ralphaelita  Newton
                                                                  Dedicated to Shena Newton
                                                                           October 18, 2015 
                              

 Purpose is an ongoing process in each of our lives. When we come into our purpose in life we will get a pleasant surprise: purpose was already within us from the very beginning.

Let us praise God that He has given us the strength and wisdom to make choices that align with the purpose that He has placed in us.  Even when our choices are not correct, our Heavenly Father has the power to turn around those wrong choices for the good of the purpose within us. Please, make no mistake; the journey in purpose comes with a plethora of emotions: joy, peace, hopelessness, pain, hurt, disappointment, victories, loneliness, celebration, hope, faith, and love. We can go on and on, but you get the picture.

Let’s encourage ourselves to walk by faith not by how we are feeling. Feelings are subject to change.  Let’s walk in our journey by faith, trusting God, no matter how the circumstance may appear.  The journey in purpose is by no means boring, but full of unexpected turns that facilitate in bringing us into our purpose. In our journey things are not as they may appear to be on the surface.  There are several things that is consistent in our journey, and that is the grace, presence, and love of our Father God in every situation. Even the negative experiences in our lives can serve as a vehicle that the Father uses to develop us to walk in our purpose.  

In reality, purpose is two-fold. The first, which is of utmost priority, is our core purpose — our reason for being. We see this truth of core purpose on display in the Old Testament scene where Moses receives from God his mission to rescue the Israelites from bondage. When Moses asked God who should he tell the Egyptians has sent him to demand the freedom of His people from slavery, God did not identify Himself by any particular action he accomplished.  He describes himself as I AM THAT I AM,  an eternal state of being.  God calls us, first and foremost TO BE, to be connected to Him, the One who is eternal. Our core purpose on earth is to be connected to God, to cultivate an intimate relationship with the Eternal Being.
 
Related to our core purpose of relationship with God is the purpose of a lifelong partnership with the Eternal God to bring blessing and good to our fellow human beings. The focus of purpose borne out of relationship with God is always on others. True purpose is never self directed. This purpose of partnership with God to do good is manifested in a series of secondary purposes or missions. Missions may be seasonal or last a lifetime. But carrying out a mission is not our core purpose. For example, one of an individual’s life missions may involve undertaking a charity project which vastly benefits the lives of many unfortunate people. The individual carrying out this project may derive great fulfilment from her involvement in this project. Is this project the purpose of this individual’s life? What happens when the project comes to an end? Does that individual no longer have purpose?
 
Purpose that is solely based on action or mission will by and by run dry on fulfilment. That is why some of the most gifted individuals who attain the zenith of achievement often lament of feeling empty and unfulfilled. In reflecting on purpose, our priority lies in being — Being in harmonious relationship with our Creator. Action for the good of others flows from this relationship as we become a conduit of God’s blessings to others. If we live in our core purpose of being connected to God, we will always have a complete sense of purpose, whether we are young, robust and active or advance in age and housebound.
 
There may be several purposes during our life time that are set before us. Please, understand that purpose is not about you, or me. It is about serving others and allowing the gift that God has placed in each of us to meet the needs of others. Mark 10:45 tells us, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." One level of our purpose prepares us for the next leg of our purpose, providing we do not abort the process that is within the journey of our purpose.  If we allow our Father to lead us every step of the way into each level of our purpose, He will help us to reach our destination even when we make mistakes.   For it is by the strength and the wisdom of our Heavenly Father that we will walk into our purpose, no matter how rough the terrain may be in our journey to purpose. Even in our weakness, if we allow the strength of our Heavenly Father to help us navigate our way, we will walk in our purpose with joy, grace, and power.

Here is the complexity of purpose: sometimes purpose may take several generations before it is fully walked out.  An example of this is when God gave Abraham the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. It took generations for the purpose to be fulfilled. There are other times when purpose comes to fruition within a brief period of time.  An example is when Jesus sent Peter to get the coin out of the mouth of a fish to pay their taxes.  The working out of purpose is cumulative. Big purposes are built upon smaller purposes in our lives.

Keep meditating and speaking the Word of God, and reading other positive books to help you in your journey to purpose. Remember that God loves you, and that everything that you need for your purpose is already within you.