Whatever the circumstance you are in it can always be used for the purpose of your life. When your cause is to proclaim Christ, when your mission in life is to love God and love others and when you are daily carrying your cross then you never get to the place of thinking ‘what about me?’
The followers of George Whitfield wanted to form an organisation. His reply was, “No, let the name of Whitfield die, so that the cause of Jesus Christ may live. Let the name of Whitfield perish, but Christ be glorified. I have had enough popularity to be sick.”
Robinson Crusoe was written in prison; John Bunyan wrote Pilgrims Progress in the Bedford Jail; Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison; Luther translated the Bible while confined in the castle of Wartberg;
Greatness emerges during the cross of crisis. But these people were prepared to die for that cause and they did.
“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 16 v 25-26)
Living with a purpose focuses our life, it gives a sense of direction in a confused world and it makes us realise that we can make a difference.
Many have become side tracked, wandering and drifting and as a result accomplishing very little. With purpose only the important issue remains important.
Karen Watson, 38, was one of four missionaries who died in Iraq in 2004 after their vehicle was ambushed on March 15. Karen wrote a letter, dated March 7, 2003, just before she left for the Middle East and was meant to be opened only upon her death: “I wasn’t called to a place. I was called to Him,” she wrote. “To obey was my objective, to suffer was expected, His glory was my reward.” She quoted a poem for every missionary: “Care more than some think is wise; Risk more than some think is safe; Dream more than some think is practical; Expect more than some think is possible.” Then she added, “I was called not to comfort or success but to obedience.”
Purpose is not subject to the approval of men but is who God has made you and as a result He becomes more important than popularity.
You will let go of even your own life to be that disciple of Jesus.
He is leading you to the cross of submission and surrender. Are you fixing your gaze on Him?
It is the place where Jesus is absolutely everything.
Missions Paul 