What's the purpose

What does that mean? What is your life purpose?

Purpose. It’s a strange word. If you keep staring at it long enough, the spelling starts looking odd. To me, at least.

Purpose. Purpose. Purpose. Saying that seems so strange.

But that’s beside the point. . . .

Purpose started circling my head today (and it’s not unusual), so I’ve started writing in order to share it with you.

You see, I finished my TEEX Cyber Security 101 course today (I need to write a course review soon). Immediately, I started planning for my next course. I am pretty excited because I have just 2 courses and one test remaining to finish up before I transfer to my target college.

So, anyhow. I looked at the calendar. And I began to put things in: travel, coaching call, travel, church programs, travel, church programs, travel. . .

All of a sudden, my spirit sighed within me, “I don’t want to do Microbiology. At all.” I don’t know how that happened, but right away, my heart decided that I didn’t want to do anything.

But. “I have to do something!” I thought. “What am I doing now, anyway?” College. A BS in Elementary Education.

I frowned. “I don’t think I want to do that for the rest of my life.” But I have to do something. But what? “I wonder what made me choose that degree, anyhow.” Then and there, I became so tired of it all; I could have sulked.

My stupid mind cleared up only after I got a drink of water. . .

Purpose.

I’d forgotten the purpose for which I was doing all these things. The things didn’t so matter in and of themselves, but they were leading me to the purpose.

And what was my purpose? I think I must have bouts of amnesia or something. . .

My purpose is to serve God. He has given me a passion and a burden for children, remember? “Oh, yes. . . vaguely.”

Mhmm. But service isn’t the true purpose. There is a greater purpose. “Oh?”

Yup. He loved me. He bought me from the cruel master. He bought me with His own blood. He bought me so that I could be free from the cruel master. He bought me for Himself. Now I am His. “Oh. . . it seems to come back to me now. A little bit. . . ”

Good. Listen, I am His now. He is my master. I don’t have to serve the cruel one anymore. Jesus is my Master now, and will I not love Him? “Oh, yes! Of course!”

Truly. And if I love Him, will I not obey Him? “Sure! He has said that if I love Him, then I am to keep His commandments.”

Then, what is His commandment? “Well. . . there are lots. . . like in Ephesians 4 and 5 and 6 and Colossians. . . ”

No, stop. I didn’t mean that. I did, but in a different way. . . You see, keeping those commandmentsdoes show my love for Him, but that’s not what He really saved me for. Don’t you remember? “Oh, yes! I do — now! He called me into Himself. It was so that I can have fellowship with Him.”

And I begin to smile all at once. . . and the whole world seems different.

Purpose. .  .

Life has purpose now it never had before.
There is meaning to each day and even more;
For a joy and peace I can’t explain is mine,
Since I found new life in Christ, my Lord divine.

Oh, it is wonderful to be a Christian;
Oh, it is wonderful to be God’s child!
Oh, it is wonderful to have your sins forgiven;
Oh it is wonderful to be redeemed, justified, forever reconciled!

— John W. Peterson

Last Day of 2014

2014 was a special year for me. I know every year has been, but this was especially special . . . up until this year, I guess.

I had so many new experiences; I learned so much; and I really grew. So many things changed this year — the place where I call home, the people I call my neighbors and friends, academics, and even myself. I made a countless mistakes, but I had the opportunity to learn and grow for them, too. . .

I have many thoughts, but few words to express them with. All I can say is that these verses have grown wondrously beautiful to me:

“For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:11-13).

Especially the last verse.

Just this week, our family received a present of the music CD Count It All Joy. I have not had time to listen to all of the songs yet, but I want to include “The Father’s Love for Me” here. Older people might find my choice amusing, and it may seem a bit ironical (because I have more than three decades remaining to turn fifty) . . . but I love the words.

“The Father’s Love for Me”

How the years have gone by as a dream
But what are they to Thee, in the light of ETERNITY.
And though the times have changed, You have ALWAYS been the same
As I look back and see, Your faithfulness to me

In Your goodness and Your grace, I have always found Your strength
You have taught my heart to see, Thy wondrous will for me
And in the joys and tears, in life’s trials with its fears
You have caused my heart to sing, neath the shelter of Your wings

How the years have gone by as a dream
And what are they to me, in the light of Thy Majesty!
And soon Christ comes for me, in Thy presence EVER to be
Then FOREVER will I sing, of Thy wondrous for me
Then FOREVER will I sing! Of my Father’s love for me

— DJP I.F

I don’t know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future! And I can rest in peace, because He has proved Himself faithful. . . Come, Lord Jesus!

A quotation from Amy Carmichael

Being single-hearted?

That is very hard sometimes. Or so I am finding it.

Wake up, devotions, kitchen work, guests, house work, school, kitchen work, music, kitchen work, school with familyandmusicandchurchandrelationships squashed in somewhere amongst them. . . At last the heart in the grist mill begins to wonder if the whirl will ever end, if there will ever be a peaceful hour again . . .

The daily duties can become a grind and life can seem lifeless IF you don’t abide in the Giver of Life.

For sure, there are countless things in life that try to tear the life apart, but the patience that will look to the Life will survive. Patience isn’t doing anything. It is just abiding, staying, waiting. I like to remember that word in 2 Peter 1:16 — it means to simply stay under and remain under whatever is pressing from above. God has not commanded me to lift the weight that is over me; but He has commanded me to be patient as long as I am under it. And He will be with you, as He has been with me — even under the trials! And with Him, all is joy and all is peace.

“Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace. If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is.”

He has provided the way of peace! Praise Him!

Through the Fog

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Fog. I wonder if there is any traveler who likes fog. Artists and poets might find something good in it, but I doubt that any pilgrim could appreciate it.

As for me, I hate fog — especially when we are traveling. The grayish-white cloak of monotony is wearisome: it shrouds the scenery with gloom and an all-encomassing despondency. It is a veil that conceals every mountain, tree, and rock. Even the edge of the road is barely perceptible, sometimes!

Some time ago, we were traveling through fog. It was not the thickest fog we had seen, nor was it nighttime. Still, the bleak surroundings seemed overwhelm me. I was tired — tired of the fog, tired of the tortuous roads, tired of traveling. My soul seemed to be as dreary as the fog outside the misted window-glass.

Then I remembered a song I’d learned years ago:

Why should I care if the sun doesn’t shine?
Jesus is mine, all of the time.
Why should I care if the storm clouds are low?
Jesus is with me I know.
He will never forsake me, I am under His wing,
Tho’ trials o’ertake me,
I will praise Him and sing.
I am ever so happy,
So why should I care if the sun doesn’t shine?
Jesus is mine all the time.

Then, the remembrance that Jesus is mine aroused me, invigorated me, and fired me with zeal for my Lord. . .

Or . . . that is what . . . should have happened, right?

Well. It didn’t. It was good to remember; but still, my heart was weary. I was still tired of staring at the fog. You see, simply knowing God’s truth isn’t enough for victory.

Until I decided that I was going to trust God that He was with me although I couldn’t see Him through all the weariness of my mind and obey Philippians 4:4 in spite of the fog, that song was just an ideality to wish for.

But when I did trust, He blessed. Sure, the fog was all around and the U-turns were as bad as ever, but I had the peace that passeth all understanding. Faith as a grain of mustard seed, and He accepted it.

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

How amazing He is! And He is the ever-faithful one that always rewards even our feeblest footsteps to draw near to Him (James 4:4).

We climbed higher and higher up the mountain. Reaching the summit, we broke through the fog. Behind, I could see the impenetrable gloom. Ahead, the mountains and valleys were spread out in majestic grandeur. And I remembered the sweet promise in Isaiah 44:22:

“I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist.”

Brother, a Boeing 747-8, and a Believer

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Trees, trees, and more trees. Rolling hills and valleys. We are flying through the Nepal East-West Highway at 100 kph. I stare out the window, and my mind wanders.

“Baba?” my brother’s voice breaks through my thoughts.

“What?” my father answers him.

“I think —” he says ponderously, “I think the pilot of the Boeing 747-8 must be like God.”

Hearing his awed voice, I stifle a giggle. Sumpurna has fallen in love with that airliner this month because of the video Baba downloaded for him.

My father is wiser. “Why?” he prompts him.

“Because there are all those dials and things,” my brother replies, enthusiastically. “There are so many things that he must be like God to know everything all at once!”

“Well . . . I think he is more like a believer more than being like God.”

Now it’s my brothers turn to ask, “Why?”

“The pilot cannot use his eyes to pilot the plane — I mean, he has to, but not by looking out the windshield. He has to look at the dials to guide him to the airport. He has to pilot by faith. It is like the believer looking at God’s Word and walking through life by faith, not by sight.”

Anyone would think that my brother would be satisfied with the answer; but, no, he has more questions: “Don’t the dials ever go wrong? What happens if it does? Doesn’t the pilot look out of his windshield to look at the lights when he is landing? What do the people on top of the tower do?”

“The people on the towers direct the pilot as the Holy Spirit directs the believer. If he doesn’t hear them, the pilot will not be safe.”

The conversation goes on and on. We have crossed the jungle and reached the suburb areas. I stare out the window, and the houses flash by.

Mazes, dead-ends, and the Way to Success

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And Theseus . . . returned to the entrance of the Labyrinth. . . with a pelekis, a ball of red fleece thread, and great intuition . . . he had prevailed over the fearful Minotaur. . . 

If you happen to have a puzzled look on your face, go read Greek mythology to find out  . . .

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Is life a maze?

Sometimes I feel that way — especially when I see the same dead end before me again and again. Finding myself at the same place I had hoped to never see again is quite disheartening.

How did I get there? Obviously, I arrived there because I went through the same entrance, followed the same path, and made the same turns.

How was that possible? Probably, I forgot. Most certainly, I did not realize it was the wrong path. If I had, I wouldn’t have come all the way there!

For me, the most grievous part being deflected in such a way is the knowledge that it did not have to happen. As a child of God and redeemed by His infinite grace, I know that it is not my Father’s will for me to waste my life by “going in circles” and ending up in cul-de-sacs.

What light, direction, and guidance I need, He has already provided. It is when I step into the darkness, depart from the way, and leave my guide, that I get lost. The Psalmist has said,

“Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:103).

He has not promised to light up the whole maze, but He has promised to be our guide, even unto death (Psalm 48:14 ). The light we need to take one step ahead of us, He has promised to give. But when I step away from the Light of Life, how can I possibly expect to walk in the same path as He is, in Whom is no darkness at all?

He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. He is the Light, the Lamp, the Guide. Dear reader, do you have Him with you? He has given His promise that those who put their trust in Him shall not be ashamed. The flip side of it is: if we do not, we shall be.

I wonder how I could have lived 13 years of my life without that Light. I wonder how I can still turn my back to Him and step aside, into the darkness. It is possible — it is easy. The old one within me loves that. But the end of it are the ways of death.

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” (Deut 30:19).

Choose life, choose life! That is the beautiful command of our soul’s greatest Lover.