Lately I’ve been so focused on life. Not living life, but trying to manage it. You know… juggling the many challenges that arise from work, marriage, motherhood, and other responsibilities. There just always seems to be something new added to the list. Every time I feel like I have it all together…like I’ve found a balance, a new monkey wrench gets thrown into the equation. There’s always a new responsibility…a new challenge…something that I have to figure out so that my life can get back in balance. And, as I sit here looking at these last few weeks of my life, it’s clear that I’ve been a bit distracted. And while challenges are a part of life, I don’t want the challenges that I face to distract me away from my purpose.
Challenges can become distractions if we do not refocus ourselves.
I am in a place of refocusing right now. I have been reminding myself that challenges do not excuse me from walking in purpose. When I have a bad day, I must still walk in purpose. When I find out there’s been a change in plans, I must still walk in purpose. When I face challenges at work, at home, in my marriage or with my children, I am still called to walk in purpose. Why? Because my purpose is bigger than any temporary challenge that I may face.
Challenges are temporary but purpose is eternal.
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT)
There will always be a new challenge. There will always be troubles that we face in life, but at the end of the day, we must bring glory to the name of our Father in heaven. We were created to live for Him, not ourselves. We were formed and fashioned to shine a light on Him, not ourselves.
We must decrease so that the glory of our Father can increase.
He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. (John 3:30 NLT)
“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Luke 22:42 NLT)
Jesus is our example. He showed us that bringing glory to the Father comes with a price. We must be willing to give up our perfectly planned lives. We must be willing to live in the uncomfortableness that comes with walking in faith. The Gospel of Luke says it like this:
Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23 NLT)
When I began this journey with Christ, I purposefully gave up my own plans. I laid down the life that I wanted for myself and I told Him that I would do whatever He asked me to do. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but what I didn’t know is that my sacrifice would be even greater than I could imagine.
I have realized that most of what’s stopping me from walking in purpose is in my head. It’s the inability to believe I’m worthy. It’s the inability to believe I’m capable. It’s that fact that I can’t seem to prioritize the time. It’s the fact that I allow my struggles, challenges, emotions, and feelings to prevent me from doing what He’s called me to do. And I can hear Him saying so clearly, “Can I have it all?”
When we give Him our challenges, He empowers us to walk in purpose.
But how do we walk this out?
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. (Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT)
We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
When we’re faced with bad news, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. When we’re dealing with a new challenge at home or at work, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We don’t focus on our problem, we focus on our Savior, because He’s bigger than our problem.
I don’t know what your life is like. I don’t know what challenges you are facing, but I do know that you were created for a purpose. You were created to bring glory to your Father in heaven even when life gets tough…even when it feels like you just can’t catch a break.
You have a race to run, so run it.
Run towards your purpose. Don’t allow your challenges to stand in your way. Instead give them to your Father so that He can enable you to overcome them. If you need provision, ask your Father, and trust that He will come through for you as you continue to run towards purpose. If you need peace, ask your Father, and trust that He will come through for you as you continue to run towards purpose. As you continue to trust Him, He will strengthen you. He will provide for you. He will enable you.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for choosing me, and thank you for creating me for a purpose. Today, I have been reminded that you are greater than anything that I may face. And I have been reminded that even though I may face trials in life, they are temporary, but your purpose is eternal. So today, I am making the decision to trust in you. I will no longer focus on the problem, but I will keep my eyes fixed on you. I will run towards my purpose, and I will allow you to take care of the rest. I believe that you are with me; I believe that you are for me, and I believe that you will enable me to do all that you have called me to do. I love you Father. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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