A Desperate Plea for Purpose.                                                                 She was pretty, petite, blonde and intense, and I’m guessing about 38 years of age.  By just about everyone’s measuring stick, she was a successful woman--a marathon runner, wife and mother of two lovely children, an engaged Christian woman—oh yeah, and a structural engineer with advanced degrees, having designed and recently supervised the buildout of Los Angeles International Airport.  Truly,  she was anything but idle, ignorant or ignoble—far from it.  And I will carry her face in my mind forever because of the question she posed-- ‘Can’t you tell me my purpose in life?!’  She knew there was more intended for her.  She was right.

Second only to introducing a friend to Jesus Christ is helping that friend discover his life purpose, how to step into it, and dance it out.  Yes, ‘dance’ it out.  Long ago, I wrote a briefing called “Grace Dances”, and I do believe it does.  There would be no relationship with God, no life purpose, and no living it out without the amazing grace of God. 

Grace does not walk, it dances, and sometimes, it even runs—like the heart-broken father who spied his son off in the distance … ‘Was it him?  Could it be him?’ he wondered.  ‘Should I even hope it might be my boy?’ and his heart began to beat faster,  ‘why yes, it is him!’  He couldn’t stop his feet from running—no, he raced to embrace his rebellious son, returning from the world he had felt sure would fulfill him.  Grace ran to him.

These are the emotions of a God who loves us with abandon—who draws us into relationship with himself, longing to give us the desires of our heart when we find our delight in him.  This same God dares to fill us to overflowing with meaningful relationships and adventurous pursuits, which honor the design he had in mind when he formed us in our mother’s wombs.

In “Big Questions answered Simply”, http://pastorwoman.com/ReadArchive.aspx?id=694 , I proposed that you personally entertain the biggest questions in life—namely, how did we get here?  do we have a purpose?  (If you haven’t already, you might want to read that morning briefing before this one.)  My friends, when we recognize we are here by the design of our Creator, we see the incredible value of life.

The pot cannot ask the potter what he was thinking when he molded him on the wheel, BUT we can know our Potter’s thoughts toward us.  What’s more, we ought to query our Creator about his thoughts and plans for us!  He has made known to us the path of life in his Word, and it includes a unique purpose for each one of us. 

Pray with me -  “Lord, would you make your truths come alive as we consider your thoughts toward each one of us and our life’s purpose.  Speak to us now, we pray.  Amen.”  So be it. 

I think the Lord would say, “Yes, Child, that is a prayer I love to answer!  I want you to read my Word looking to understand me, seeking to know how to live and be, and what are my thoughts toward your life.  My Spirit will guide you as you read.  After all, as I told my servant Jeremiah, ‘you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’** 

Tomorrow, we shall step onto the pathway to discovering our purpose, with fresh ideas and inspiring thoughts from Scripture.  We will seek Him and find Him; we will seek to know His thoughts toward us, and then step out in what we know.  And then—well, as we begin to live out our God-given purpose, all around us we will feel grace dancing, desperate no more.

Christine