Most of my life I wandered around not knowing who I was, or my purpose for being on the earth. I was good at a lot of things—great in school, great in the arts—and I even enjoyed my pursuit in those endeavors. But ultimately, I felt like something was missing. I felt like all I did was futile. I’d get suggestions from friends and family members about what route I should take, but none of it felt right. All of it lacked meaning for me. I’ve always known that I had a deep meaningful purpose for my life. Something that would make an impact on people’s lives—that’s all that I care about. And so, as I thought over and over about my options, nothing made sense. Yes, I could have done this or that, and even excelled in those areas, but I wanted more than to be successful. I wanted a fulfilling life, the one that I was created for.
The Creator is the only one that can define us and reveal our purpose to us.
I think that this is what we are all searching for. We want our lives to have meaning; we want fulfillment. We’ve all wondered why we are here, on the earth. Most of us have asked God this question ourselves. I know I have, but He never answered me in the way I expected Him to. Instead of telling me the plan, He gave me His presence. And in His presence, He ministered to me. He began to do a deep work inside of me, healing areas of my life that had pained me for years.
Working through pain leads to purpose.
God has wonderful plans for all of us, but many of them will be revealed through our pain. And it’s crazy, because most of us run from our pain. We run from the past that haunts us; we don’t want to think about the trauma or sorrow that we’ve been through. But I want all of us to understand that God has so much more planned for us. We don’t have to suppress our pain, because He wants to heal us from it. No, we will not forget the things that we’ve been through, but He can take the broken things in our lives, and bring beauty out of them.
To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. (Isaiah 61:3 NLT)
This is the promise that God has given us. He doesn’t leave us broken. He pulls us out of the ashes, and brings beauty from them. He gives us blessings instead of mourning, and He gives us the ability to sing praises to Him, instead of living in despair. But more than all of that, He promises that we “will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.” I want you to take that in… out of anything we would be compared to, the bible says that we will be like great oaks, one of the strongest trees known to us. In fact, when I looked up the strength of oak trees, this is what popped up:
“…The oak can withstand incredibly strong storms, like tornadoes and hurricanes. Even when they are stripped of their leaves, oak trees survive because of their strength, their curvy branches, and their incredible root systems.” (Hanson)
God wants to build us up strong, with a foundation that can withstand the test of time, and the testing of life. His will is to take us out of our pain, so that we can have a beautiful flourishing life, and His word says that He will do this all for His glory. But we have to remember that His word also says that He will do the planting. And what is planting? It is placing a seed beneath ground so that it can grow. This is the part that doesn’t feel good. Because while we are waiting for God to raise us up, He desires to plant us low, and He is looking for us to humble ourselves in the process. His word says that once we humble ourselves before him, He will exalt us in due time.
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. (1 Peter 5:6 NLT)
God has planted His seed of purpose inside of all of us, but we have to be planted in His will, so that we can uncover the treasures that He has for us. But what if I told you that the answers you are looking for are hidden in the places that you don’t want to go? What if your biggest blessing is hidden in the tragedy of your past? What if in those places, He reveals the person that He has called you to be?
This is my story of finding out who I am. It wasn’t through seeking answers in the world; it came through sitting in the presence of God… praying and asking for His will to be done in my life. But it also came through the tears of past hurt. It came because I humbled myself before the Lord, and told Him that I needed Him. I told Him that I could do nothing without Him, because the truth was, that I couldn’t. And at that point, He began a deep work inside of me, but it didn’t feel good. It was hard. I had to sift through all the hurt, giving Him each tear along the way. He held my tears, and gave me His peace in exchange. It was the process of being planted by Him. And in that process, He brought forth my identity… the one that had always been there, but it had been lost in life. He built me up, and showed me that He had a calling on my life. He gave me a testimony; He gave me purpose.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28)
This is one of my favorite scriptures, but I saw something different as I read over it this week. The Holy Spirit highlighted the end of the verse for me, “according to his purpose for them.” And I realized that this is why we can’t run from our pain, because when we face it, and give it to God, it leads to our purpose. God cause everything, good and bad, to work towards us walking in His will. But how can He cause the bad things in our lives to work towards our purpose if we won’t allow Him to? When we turn to Him, facing our fears, facing our pain, He takes that pain and gives us purpose instead.
God gives us purpose when we give him pain.
This is so powerful. If we can understand the treasures that God has waiting for us, and that they are hidden in our sorrow, we can be empowered, knowing that God has good things planned for us. Yes, even in the midst of our darkest hour. We can go to Him, and trust that He will give us beauty instead. We can trust that He will take us out of our pit, and place us in the middle of His will, so that we are walking the path that He has for us. This is His promise to us. His presence comes in and turns our sorrow into beautiful testimonies that are used for His glory.
Your resurrection is your testimony. Your testimony is your ministry.
Our God is a resurrector. This is what He does. He takes dead things and brings them back to life, and this is what He desires to do in our lives. This is why He plants us, so that he can raise us back to life, in His original design. This is how we experience the glory of Christ. But how can we experience His glory without understanding what He had to go through to receive it. He died…for us, and was raised back to life…for us. And He said that we would have to share in His suffering if we are to share in His glory.
And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. (Romans 8:17 NLT)
This is our portion, and it is the path that we must take to receive the life that He has for us. And that is a life of joy and fulfillment. That is a life of light.
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:14-16 NLT)
When our Father pulls us out of the pit, He lights a lamp inside of us. And this light is our testimony, our victory. Through the finished work of Christ, we have new life, we have a Spirit inside of us that empowers us to overcome the world.
And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony… (Revelation 12:11 NLT)
And so you see, this is how we defeat our enemy, through sharing our testimony…by letting our light shine. We don’t cover up our testimonies, we share how we’ve overcome so that we can empower others to overcome. This brings glory to our Father in heaven. This is all that matters… glorifying Him, and changing lives. This is your purpose; this is why He put you hear on this earth.
Stop running from your pain. Stop running from your fight, because your fight reveals your purpose. It reveals the specific void that you must fill in the earth. Whatever it is that pains you, whatever brings you sorrow, take it to your Father in heaven. He has a promise for you. A promise to take your pain, and give you beauty instead. He promises to plant you strong, in His will for your life. He’ll give you a firm foundation so that you can stand in the midst of any trial. If you stay at His feet, He will give you a road map out of your pit. And that road map won’t just be for you, it will be for someone after you, because when He grabs us out of pits, He does it so that we can reach back and grab someone else out of theirs. This is the life of fulfillment that you are searching for. Don’t uproot yourself; stay planted. Allow your Father to take you from pain to purpose.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for providing your Spirit in this moment. I need you. I need your comfort, and I need your strength. I need you to give me the courage to face my fears, and the pain of my past. I know that your word says that you will use everything in my life—the good and the bad—to work towards the purpose that you have for me. And I know that I can cast all of my cares on you, because you take care of me. So Father, as I turn to you, I pray that you would take my ashes, and give me beauty instead. I pray that you would give me joy, instead of mourning, and the ability to praise, instead of despair. I pray that as you plant me in your will, that you would strengthen me, so that I can stand in joy and peace, even in the midst of challenges. I trust you Father. I know that as I humble myself before you, you will give me a testimony that will be a light for others. You will give me a road map that I can share with others. And I will be able to walk in fulfillment and purpose. I know that as I walk in your plan, that I will live a life that glorifies you, and that’s all that I want. Thank you in advanced for the work that you are doing in me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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