Pursuing Your Purpose

One of the things I love to do, I obviously love to teach God’s Word, I love our staff, I’m in a discipleship group with some men, and now and then I get to travel around and someone will say, “Hey, you know, I got like eight or ten of my buddies and, you know, some of them are really strong believers and some aren’t and we’re all kind of figuring out: What is, what does God want us to do with our life? Would you come and just kind of share some things?”

And I just love that kind of environment where it’s not official teaching, it’s more, I call it coaching. I guess maybe someone would call it mentoring, but to me it’s where you roll up your sleeves and you just talk with people about what is really going on in their life.

And I had a friend recently, a good friend actually, and I had a discipleship group and I bumped into him. He said, “Hey, you know, the situation where I’m going to church really shifted and I’m actually going to church where you go to church now. And I’m looking for a group.” I said, “Do you want to join mine?” And he said, “You know, I’d love to do that.” And then we met for coffee, because I wanted to bring him up to speed.

And I said, “So, why?” And I’ll never forget this. He said, “Because I can feel the drift in my soul. I know the person that I have been and what my job is demanding,” he’s at a really powerful, high-tech company. And he said, “Who I have to be at work and now what I’m doing, I can sense this drift and it scares me. And I need to be with a group of guys that really walk with God.” And I said, “Well, you’re welcome. Let’s do that.”

And so what I want to share with you is how to pursue your purpose. A lot of people have talked about, in fact, I have written on, you know, Discover Your Divine Design, and I have got groups with our teams around the country and around the world. We call it Primemovers where they get in groups and discover your purpose. We call it Your Holy Ambition.

But here’s what I’m seeing. It’s one thing to discover, “Oh, I think this is my purpose,” it’s a different one to really pursue it. And so, what I want to talk to you about is seven facts and one principle about pursuing your purpose, okay? I’m going to try and keep it really simple, I’m going to try and keep it really moving, and I want you to be thinking about, “Hey, am I really pursuing my purpose?” And some of this will be like, you know, the ABCs. Like, hey, these are the elementary things. But they really, really matter and they are really important.

Fact number one: God has a specific purpose for your life, right? Ephesians 2:8 and 9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And that is not of yourself, it is a gift of God not a result of works, lest any man should boast.” Right? We are saved by grace through faith.

Verse 10, purpose clause, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto a good work that He has prepared for us beforehand.” In other words, God has a general purpose, we are saved by faith, but you and I have a specific purpose. We are called first and foremost to relationship with Him, to know Him, to walk with Him. But a good work. There’s something only you can do. You were made, designed, prepared, natural abilities, supernatural gifts to accomplish something in a unique way that no one else can. I mean, that’s strong. That’s a fact. God has a purpose for your life. Ephesians 2:8 and 9 and 10.

Fact number two: God wants you to discover and live out your purpose. I mean, that makes sense, right? He wants you to discover it. It’s not just laying on the top of the ground. He actually wants you to dig in, He wants you to say, “Lord, I want to know what my purpose is.” And then He wants you to deploy it and really get after it.

A general promise, I pray this all the time, it’s Psalm 32:8. It says this, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way in which you should go. I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” And so, God wants me and He wants you to discover this purpose and really pursue it and act it out. And here’s the promise: I will instruct you and teach you.

In other words, If you’ll come, if you’re open, if you’re willing, if you’ll pursue, I will reveal to you, not just one time, but I love that last line, and with My eye upon you.

It's such a comfort to me to realize if you just keep moving, God’s eye is upon us, He’ll direct. I meet a lot of men and a lot of women who have discovered “their purpose” at least in general, but they are not moving, they are not pursuing, they are kind of stuck.

I love the specific promise and example in Acts 13:36. It says of David, “David was a man after God’s own heart who did all His will.” And then it goes on to say what? “When he had finished accomplishing God’s purpose for him, he died.”

Wouldn’t you want that to be said about you? When you have accomplished the purpose God has for you, then you go home and be with Jesus.

It’s interesting, in the last prayer of Jesus in John 17, I love this. He says, “Father, I have accomplished the work You gave Me to do.” Now, think of that. I mean, ponder that. “I have accomplished the work.” That means you knew what the work was, you knew when it would be finished, you knew what you were supposed to do, and you knew you landed the plane. That’s what I want for my life and that’s what God wants for your life.

Fact number one: God has a unique purpose for your life. Fact number two: He wants you to discover it and live it out.

Fact number three: God’s purpose is good.

So many people have this idea that if you really go after God’s purpose, He’s going to do the very opposite of what you want. You know, “If I fulfill God’s purpose, when I was younger, I thought He’ll send me to Africa and I’ll be in a hut and the snakes will go around the hut and I’ll live in this crazy place.” And that’s a warped view of God. God’s purposes are good.

Now, don’t hear that God’s purposes are necessarily easy. But they are good. The Old Testament passage that we all quote, Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for good and not for evil to give you a hope and a future.’”

Now, we know that was to the nation of Israel, we know that He said that when they had disobeyed and He wasn’t going to fulfill that for another seventy years. But I get great hope out of that because the principle is true today. God’s plans - they are good. When you follow His purpose, it’ll be the smartest, the wisest, the best thing that you do or I do ever.

James 1:22 says, “Every good and perfect gift comes from” – where? “From above, from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” To believe that as you pursue God’s purpose, He has your best in mind. He knows what will satisfy, He knows what you are made to do, He knows what will bring you joy, He knows the right people, the right place, the right combination of things. His purposes are great.

But we have got these other pulls, right? You know, everyone has an agenda for your life, your work has an agenda for your life, important people have an agenda for your life. And sometimes those are in alignment with your purpose and sometimes they are not.

So, I just want to remind you He is for you, it is good, He wants the very best for you.

Psalm 84:11 is my go-to verse when it comes to the goodness of God. It says, “The Lord God is a sun and a shield. The Lord gives grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

I am guessing right about now, you know, you might be thinking to yourself, Ooh, there are some things going on in my heart about: Do I really believe God is good. And He has whispered to me to take some steps or take some risk. And are you ready? Think about this: No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

You’ll never miss. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, but what good have you ever done? What good have I ever done that was, like, easy? Like, “Oh, it was just easy having a great marriage. It was just so easy working hard to be a good parent. It was just so easy to be a good musician or a good athlete or to really develop in my business career.” Anything of value is hard and challenging; it requires discipline. But the reward and the payoff is worth it.

Number four: God’s purpose for your life will flow from a variety of things. Now, lean back on this one. I can’t develop all of these, but all I want you to get is I am going to pursue my purpose. And so, God has a purpose, right? He is committed to me and says to me and to you: You need to discover it, pursue it, and actually do it. Third, that purpose is good.

And fourth, that purpose in your life is going to flow from natural abilities, life experiences, spiritual gifts, and wounds from your past.

And some of you are saying, “Could you go over those again?” Yes, I’d be glad to.

Your purposes are going to flow from natural abilities and personality, life experiences both good and bad, spiritual gifts, and wounds from the past. So, here’s the deal. God made you. Psalm 139. You know, in your mother’s womb, God was crafting and forming you.

Before the foundations of the earth, He has a purpose for you. So, guess what?

You have some natural abilities, you have some bents, you have the way that you process information, you have some natural gifts that are unique to you that God is going to use. And part of your purpose is discovering and identifying what those are.

The second is life experiences. Romans 8:28 says. “God works all things together for the good, for those that love Him, for those that are called according to His purpose.” Yes, of course, to do – what? Conform us to the image of His Son.

So, what are your natural abilities? What has God wired you with? What are some of the experiences you have had? Really good ones and maybe even some of the bad ones.

Some of you, the bad ones are hurts you have been through that make you sensitive.

Think about what you are good at, what are some life experiences, think about your passions and where you grew up and just God gave you a toolbox and part of that toolbox is natural abilities. Part is life experiences.

And part of it is your spiritual gifts. We teach at Living on the Edge and I hope your church is teaching you should know what your spiritual gifts are. These are supernatural endowments that allow you to do things to build up the body of Christ in supernatural ways.

When I discovered that God had dropped into me a supernatural gift to communicate His Word, and I got great joy from it and I saw that He used it, it was like I know what to say yes to, I know what to say no to. What do you say yes to, based on your spiritual gifts?

And then the last one, this is a tender one, often God’s purpose flows out of your wounds.

Some of your wounds are going to be the very things that God uses. Some of your weaknesses, some of your difficulties, are you ready? Some of your failures will be the very thing that God will do this supernatural judo move and use you in ways that you never dreamed.

Number five is you are responsible and will be held accountable for the discovery and the fulfillment of your purpose.

So, God has given you gifts, He has given you a toolbox, lots of different sources, you are responsible and you’re going to be held accountable.

Matthew 25 talks about the talents, right? The five talent, three talent, one talent. And it is God has given certain things, you are a steward, I am a steward of my time, my money, my spiritual gifts, and you are a steward of this purpose. You will stand before God, and I will stand before God, and 1 Corinthians chapter 3 says we will be tested by fire, not for our salvation, but we will be tested by: What did we do with what God gave us?

And I don’t know about you, but I want to have a good report at the Judgment Seat of Christ. That’s what it’s called. The Bema Seat or the Bema Seat. That’s where God will ask me and where He’ll ask you: Chip, I gave you this gift, I gave you this time, I gave you this money, I had you born in this family, I redeemed you out of this situation. Now, what did you do with what I gave you? Because you are the light of the world, Chip. You are the salt. Part of your purpose was I was going to use you to do in others what I have done in you.

So, I would ask you, I mean, there’s a sobriety here. Are you taking seriously that you’re going to give account to the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill your purpose?

Number six: You will never discover your purpose alone. Romans chapter 12, verses 4 and 5, it says, “Just as we have many members in our physical body and all the members don’t have the same function, so we who are many are members of one another.”

And then he goes on to talk about our spiritual gifts. But all I want you to know is that you can’t do this alone. The Christian life isn’t about being a lone ranger. It’s people who observe your life and they say, “Hey, you know, you’re good at this. And when you do this, that’s great.” Or when you struggle, having people in your life who lift you up. Or people to coach you.

There’s a pastor named Don Geiger and he was a pastor at a church called Reinhardt Bible Church he is ninety now, godly man, still walking with God, still mentoring people, swims every day. I want to be like Don when I grow up. Don was a pastor and I was in that church during seminary and I did the college group and we became friends. And then I would meet with him and he mentored me. And then I took this little church and God was working in this church for a few years. And I had this, this something inside of me and I couldn’t tell whether, is it just ego or is God putting something on my heart?

And this little church group, pretty significantly in this little community, but I had this passion to be – I want to be on the cutting edge, I want to be where people don’t know Christ, I want to make a big difference for God. And, well, is that just me? And I thought, you know, as I looked at churches and what could happen and dreams and I always sort of was an entrepreneur.

And I’ll never forget, I can still tell you where I was sitting, on the phone. I said, “Don, I don’t know. You know, I’m here in this little community and I thought I was going to be a major college basketball coach and then God sent me to seminary. And then I thought I was going to be a missionary. And then He said, ‘No, I want you to be a pastor.’

And now I’m in a town of three thousand people and I’m glad we started with thirty-five people and the churches have come together and, you know, I think we’re running about four hundred and fifty or five hundred. And I know, but there’s like, I drove around, Don, there are sixteen churches within a mile of our church that share the gospel. I want to go where people don’t know. And I’d like to see a church, I mean, grow and explode and make a difference. Am I just full of ego? And would you help me?”

And I’ll never forget, Don said, “Well, Chip, first of all, pastors of small churches, medium churches, or large churches – none are better than any others. God has a role for different pastors of different sized churches. They require different gifts.

Pastors for large churches,” he said, “Chip, I have friends,” it was, he pastored a very, very large church, “all around the country and there are openings everywhere, but they need a special type of gift mix. And it’s communication and leadership. Now, they may not be the best counselors and they may be very good at some other things, but those are their strengths.”

And then over the phone I heard him say, “Look, Chip, that desire is because God gave you those two gifts. He’ll open a door, probably, and when He opens the door you can feel free to say yes.” I needed another person to give me permission to do what I’m currently doing.

I remember the late Bob Buford who, Leadership Network, we became friends. And one of the questions he asked when you would go through a group with him that was so profound, I’ll never forget, I was sitting in a group like this and he happened to turn to me and said, “Who gave you permission to become the person who you have become?” Think about that. Who gave you permission to become the person that you have become?

And then you realize we have the power to see in other people what they can’t see in themselves. You’ll never discover and pursue and really fulfill your purpose alone.

And then number seven, God has two big agendas for your life and they are inseparable.

Agenda number one is His work in you to make you more like Jesus.

And agenda number two is His work through you, fulfilling the purpose of your gifts and calling.

And number one agenda always takes precedence. God is always working to say, “Your character, your intimacy with Me.”

And here’s the final principle, are you ready? Seven facts, here’s the final principle.

God must work deeply in you before He’ll work significantly through you. Let me say that again. God must work deeply in you before He will work significantly through you.

You see, so many of us, we want to do the big thing, we want God to have the sheet come down and say, “Do this or do that.” And this big thing that is in our mind and heart. And God says: I want you to deal with the pride issue. I want you to deal with the relationship with your wife or one of your kids. I want you to deal with the money that you’re not handling well. I want you to deal with, I told you something and you’re obeying in other areas but not this area.

And so, all I want you to know is the greatest thing you will ever do is discover, pursue, and fulfill God’s purpose for your life.

There are seven facts and one principle.

Fact number one: God has a specific purpose for your life.

Fact number two: God wants you to discover and live out your purpose.

Fact number three: God’s purpose is good.

Fact number four: The purpose of your life will flow out of your natural abilities, life experience, spiritual gifts, wounds from the past.

Fact number five: You are responsible and will be held accountable to fulfill your purpose.

And fact number six: You’ll never discover your purpose alone.

And then finally: God has two big agendas - His work in you, His work through you.

Here’s what I want to leave you with. He must work deeply in you before He will work significantly through you. Now, who do you know that you could partner up with to say, “You know what? I don’t want to just discover my purpose. I am going to pursue it. I want to make it happen. I want to do whatever it takes. I want to give God permission to do whatever He needs to do in me so I can be positioned to do whatever He wants to do through me.”

And you know what happens? People are going to get loved, fresh water will end up to people that don’t have it, people will be delivered from the sex trade, people will find Jesus would have never found Jesus, families and homes and communities and churches and groups and workplaces will be changed because that’s how it works. Each one of us, one at a time, discovering our purpose. Are you ready? Let’s go for it.