Finding purpose. That one thing we were meant to do. Born to be.
It can seem elusive, the search never-ending. Just out of reach or too confusing to identify.
But what if I told you our purpose isn’t about us? Would that help take some of the pressure off?
Because it isn’t. As Christians, followers of Christ, our purpose is not about us. Not about finding that one job, that one talent, that one mission or ministry or calling that’s ours.
No. It’s about God.
Just God.
Communing with God. Fellowshipping with God. Talking to God. Seeking God. Listening for His voice.
Our purpose is grounded in grace. What God did for us, not what we can do for God. Isn’t that cool?
And it gets even better! As we grow closer to the Father, the more His character imbeds itself into our very souls. Then He can show us the direction He’d like us to go, the person He’d like for us to talk to, the ministry He’d like for us to serve. And we do those things, not out of guilt or obligation or in an effort to make ourselves worthy of Him, but because we love Him so much, we can’t help but want to show it in our actions, our words, our service. We do good things because He is good. And the more we get to know Him, the more we discover the good things He wants us to do.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
It’s not about us. It’s about Him and Him only.
Living in that purpose of fellowship with God, however, means there may be times we have to choose Him over something else. Sometimes that’s easy. Cut and dried, good versus evil. Choosing Him over barhopping. Choosing Him over that relationship that threatens to pull us down a bad path. Choosing Him over that television program that glorifies things of this world or that book that goes against biblical principles.
But sometimes that choice may be difficult. Not all options are good or bad. Sometimes we may have to choose Him over another good thing.
Harper in my new release, Love’s True Calling, comes up against this and has to make a heart-wrenching choice. Stay on course with the man she loves, or follow God down a different path? She and Wyatt both are called to ministry, but maybe not together. That’s the question set before them, the choice they have to make. Being together and growing their relationship is a good thing. But is it the best thing? Is there something else God has in store for each of them and what are they willing to sacrifice to find it?
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21.
As believers and Christ-followers, there is one sure thing. Nothing He asks us to give up will be in vain. He will always bring us to something better. Something higher. Something holier. Maybe even that thing we sacrificed, brought back to us even better than we left it. Just like Abraham’s Isaac. The boy he was willing to sacrifice became the seed of a great nation.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11.
May you find peace in your purpose today. Peace in the presence of God.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
After years of jumping through other people’s hoops to be all they thought she should be, and enduring a tragedy no mother should, self-described “newbie” Christian, Harper Townsend, has finally found her true calling … and her true love. Until it appears that to follow one may mean leaving the other behind.
Adolescent Psychologist, Wyatt McCowan, is beyond delighted to have the-girl-that-got-away back in his life, and his heart. But even as they fall more in love, he realizes that being obedient to God’s calling on each of their lives may pull them apart. She rejected him once in favor of another, which left him hurt and angry. But this time, he can’t fault her for following hard after the God she loves with all her heart, even if it means leaving him once again.
Love’s True Calling was the 2022 winner of the ACFW Genesis Award for Romance. It’s available for purchase now.
Lori DeJong (pronounced DeeYung) is a contemporary Christian romance author who enjoys penning stories full of grace and the redemptive power of God’s love that inspire others to hope regardless of circumstance, find joy in the moment, and grow in their faith.
Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Lori arrived in Texas in 2005 and dug those roots right in. She currently resides in beautiful Georgetown, north of Austin, with her husband of thirty years. Other than their two fur-babies, their nest is empty, as their daughter graduated from college and settled in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, where she is thriving in her faith and career.
Lori loves to write about love and romance and all that fun stuff, with a firm foundation of faith. Clean but sassy, sparkly, and even goose-bumpy romance, with God in the middle and characters seeking and learning and changing, couldn’t be more heartwarming or spine-tingly.
You can connect with Lori by visiting her website, follow her on Facebook , Instagram, or sign up for her monthly newsletter.