Finding God's Purpose and Vision for Your Life

Chapters

• 2:25 Warm Welcome And Life Updates
• 3:37 Event Invite: Covered In Prayer
• 4:55 Why Vision And Purpose Matter
• 7:39 Meaning In Monotony: Purpose Fuels Us
• 12:02 Suffering, Character, And Hope In Romans 5
• 17:32 Hope As Anchor: Holding In Storms
• 20:19 Vision Demands Sacrifice: Esau’s Trade
• 23:22 Move In Faith: Don’t Stay Parked
• 26:31 Fix Your Eyes On Jesus, Our Model

Transcript

Audrey: 1:13

Hello and welcome back to Grace for My Home. I'm Audrey McCracken, and what a pleasure it is to be back with you again this week. I hope that you're having a fantastic week. My husband Michael and I, we just returned from a long weekend in Asheville, North Carolina. It was such a wonderful trip. We had a few days together, which we don't get to do very often. We visited some friends who live near Asheville, and we went hiking on a beautiful trail and just had a great little quick getaway. And I'm so thankful we were able to do that. But there's no place like home. I was ready to get back home. I missed our boys, and I'm not so sure they missed us, but I missed them. And then we jumped right back into real life. I have a large event at the shop this week, and so I've been spending most of the day today getting ready for that, baking, and and just buying what we need and those kind of things. This weekend we're going to on a college visit for my middle son who's graduating this year, Luke, and we will see how that goes. So that's exciting. Um, last week, in case you didn't hear, last week I announced that I am going to have another covered in prayer event on Saturday, November 15th from 5 to 7 p.m. at Awakened Coffee Bar, and that's in Mullen, South Carolina. We're gonna have a night of prayer. We're gonna gather together, share a meal together, and pray with and for each other. Last time it was specifically for moms, but this time it's open to all women. This event is sponsored by Grace from My Home, my blog and podcast, and also Christian Fellowship Church, which is my church, and Awakened Coffee Bar. So if you live in or around the Mons, South Carolina area, we would so love to have you. We would love for you to join us. I would love to meet you. I'll leave the registration link in the show notes. You can also find out more information on my blog, gracefromyhome.com. I so encourage you to go and check that out. We had such a great time at the first one, and I know this one will only build on that. So if you're interested, like I said, go to gracefrommyhome.com or look in the show notes and register for that. It's called Covered in Prayer, A Night for Women. This week I'm sharing with you a teaching that I shared with my church a few years ago. It's about finding God's vision and purpose for your life. The audio may sound a little different than what it usually does because I recorded this as an online Bible study for my church about four years ago. And I was going to re-record it. I was going to reteach it for the podcast, but after I listened to it, I thought I can't teach it any better than I did the first time. So I'm just going to replay it for you guys. I hope that this message inspires you. I hope that it gives you hope for God's plan for your life. He made you on purpose for a purpose. And this life is a gift. And part of our calling in this life is to find out why we were created, is to find out what gifts God has placed inside of us and how to use those gifts and talents and that calling for his glory. And it's a process, and it the beautiful thing about it is he walks with us as we figure it out. He walks with us and helps us figure it out. You know, he didn't just sit us on the road and say, Okay, good luck. He takes us by the hand and he walks with us. I hope you're blessed by this message. Enjoy. Today, I just wanted to talk a little bit today about one of my favorite subjects, and um that is vision and purpose. And this I really enjoy, I really love talking about vision and purpose because um, you know, it's why we do what we do, and it's really easy to just float in life, it's easy to float from one thing to the next and get almost like a um a ball in a ping-pong machine, bounce from this thing to that thing to that thing, um, when we don't have a purpose or a direction, and it's real easy to let other people determine what we do on a daily basis when we don't have a vision for our own lives. And so my prayer, my desire for myself and for you is that we would have a clear understanding of what God has called us to do. You know, a vision, when we talk about a vision, having a vision, um, you know, all the all a vision, all a vision is, is being able to look ahead and say, you know, what do we want our lives to be like, or what should our lives be like in the future? You know, whether that's um this afternoon, whether that's next week, next month, five years, ten years. Um, a vision is what do we want the future to look like? And for us as Christians, we believe that God has something in mind. So it's not what do I want my future to look like, what has God planned? What's part of his plan? You know, where do I fit in in that plan that he already has? And so it's looking forward with purpose because he has a purpose for us, and we're not just to float around, you know, we need to find where our purpose is and connect to it. You know, even not just the Christian world, but even in you know, in every in the world out there, psychologists tell us that we need a purpose, that people are happier who have a purpose or who have a goal or who have direction or trying to achieve something. And that's how God's made us. He's made us to be happiest when we're growing and when we're going towards something that we greatly desire. And this isn't just true for this is true for churches, this is true for companies, this is true for families, for individuals. We all need something. We need to see that we're going towards something worthwhile, something, something that matters, something that has meaning. You know, we we are created for things that have meaning. And really things that are meaningless or to us that feel meaningless are very draining. They don't give us energy, they drain our energy. But things that even maybe to the outside world seem monotonous or to other people may seem completely like a waste of time. If we see the purpose behind them, then we can find, we can find energy in those things. We can find fulfillment in those things. I sometimes I relate it because I'm a mother, sometimes I just relate it to being a mom. And I think at least some people out there who are moms can understand. But I think you can kind of see the broad picture when I say that a lot of things that mothers do are very monotonous, they don't seem um grand or exciting in the least, like making supper or fix or cleaning dirty dishes or changing dirty diapers. You know, those are things that are very monotonous and they're they happen every day. You have to do them every day. There's no day that you can't even catch up one day and be free from it the next day. It's every day. And it doesn't seem that seems like those things that it seems like something that could drain you. You know, think about you know changing dirty diapers. I mean, there's nothing glorious about that, right? But when you love that child, and when you see that God has put this child on the on the earth, you know, for me to love, for me to encourage, for me to grow up to follow Him, then it gives that dirty diaper, it gives that bottle a whole different sense of meaning. And we need meaning so that the things that we do in our life are not drainers. And that doesn't mean they're not work, they're still work, it can still be very exhausting, but while I'm while I'm in the middle of it, I can see that there's a greater purpose for this, and that's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about, I'm not talking about going out there and just doing these huge things. I mean, unless that's what God's called you to do. For me, it's being being able to see the greater purpose and the little things that has helped me feel more fulfilled in my life, and I and I know that's a God thing. I know it's it's a blessing from the Lord, because not only are we made for purpose, but we live in a fallen world, and in that world, there's a lot of pain, if you haven't noticed, and the it says that it rains on the just and the unjust. You know, everybody who lives in this world at one point or the other is gonna face hardship and pain. And when we know our purpose, it gives us a reason to go through the pain and the difficulty. If you have your Bibles this morning, if you have your Bibles, turn to Romans 5, chapter, chapter 5, um, verses 3 through 5, and we're gonna read that together. I'm gonna read um the King James Version, and it says, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope does not make us ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. And you see the progression here, God is saying, you know, we glory in the things that some people fight about. You know, we we take on, we um we don't give up when we face difficulties or sufferings or trials. You know, we we glory in these things because we know that they're working, they're working in you, they're working in us, these things that that we go through that we wish we could avoid and we can't avoid. Um we can avoid some things, that's wisdom, but there's other things that is just life. We can't avoid all pain. And so when we go through these trials, we're it's working in us in patience. Another word for patience is endurance, it's it's waiting and holding on, but it's holding on with perseverance and fortitude, it's not giving up, and so that's the picture there. You know, they're working patience in me. I'm gonna hold on, I'm not gonna give up, I'm not through, I'm not giving in. And that patience works in me, experience. And the word here for experience is the same word as for character. It's working character in me. Your character is very important to God. He wants his children to have his character. You know, it's not enough to the Lord for us just to do his will. You know, he might give you an assignment and you go out and you do that assignment, and that's good. It's better to do it than not to do it, right? But he also cares about your will, he about your your character, he cares about who you are because that reflects on him. He wants us to be like him. And so as we do these things, as we hold on, it changes our character and we become more godlike, we become um more honorable, we become someone that has something to give the world, and then as we develop character, it gives us hope. Because as we go through these experiences, as we go through these things that perhaps um they're not pleasant things, things that we wish we could run from, but we can't, because we're gonna hold the line. As we go through those things, and we go through more and more, then we we develop hope because we see as we hold on through these things, that in the end good things happen. See, I've been through trials that at the time just seemed like they were never gonna end, and I couldn't see any good in it. And sometimes in the end, it actually worked out a lot better than I thought it would. And sometimes, even when it didn't work out better than I thought it would, it changed me. It made me see that I was capable of a lot more than I ever thought I was, and it made me see that I have developed, it has developed strength in me that I didn't know was there. And so these things are working in us, and it I love that part where it says, and hope makes us not ashamed, you know. Hope does not disappoint, you know. That hope inside of us is making us um more and more like Jesus. That perseverance is developing in us the character of God, and it's a good thing, it's a good thing. You know, we are made to need and crave purpose in our life, and we have to find that purpose. We have to find that, you know, we have to rise up and and and and not cast off um our hope. You know, Hebrews 7 19 says that hope is the anchor of our soul. You know, what does an anchor do? An anchor holds on, a hang an anchor holds the ship in one place. Without an anchor, when the storms come, that ship can be thrown, not just blown off course, but completely destroyed. But that anchor holds, and so hope is like an anchor to the soul, it holds us to God when we would rather not. You know, and my prayer and you know, our prayer should be: Lord, hold me even when I don't want to be held, Lord, keep me in the faith even when I and it just seems easier just to throw up my hands and say, forget this, it's not worth it. It is worth it, it is worth it. Serving Jesus is worth it. You know, hope does not disappoint us, it does not disappoint us. He will not disappoint you. Um, you know, I when we talk about vision and purpose, you know, you have to understand that these are things that um that should be something that we actually want. You know, we a purpose should give, should should do something inside of us. It should be like, you know, I want that so much that I'm willing to give up something else that I really want. And you know, it says Michael mentioned this last Sunday in the message that he that he gave at church, that you know, that scripture that says without a without a vision, the people perish, they cast off restraint. See, a vision, when we can look in the future and see how we want things to be, how things could be better than they are now, then we are willing to give up something in this right now for something greater in the future. And that's hope, and it's faith that if I do this, then the reward will be there. And it makes me think of Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau were brothers, and Esau was the oldest, and so the birthright was his, and it was his to give away. And Jacob wanted that birthright. He saw the value in that birthright, but Esau did not see value in it. So Esau comes home from hunting, he's tired, he's hungry, he's famished, and Jacob offers him lentils, he offers him lentil soup, some stew, and he says, If you'll give me the birthright, I'll give you my stew. And Esau says, Well, what good is my birthright gonna do if I if I if I starve to death? What good is that? So I'll, yes, I'll take your bargain. And so he sacrificed his entire future for something that he wanted right now, and I think this is what the world does, and this is what the enemy wants us to do. This is what our flesh will do. It sees something it wants right now, and it says, I will, I want this right now, and I have to have this right now. And it sacrifices what could be. Guys, don't sacrifice what could be. You know, ask God, Lord, show me what you want my life to be like. Show me the good things that are worth giving up the the the things I want right now. Show me, Lord, and he will do that. Um, I want to be able to say no to the things that right now my flesh are screaming for because I see that in the future there's better. In the future, it's gonna be worth it. And that is a that is not easy. That is not something that we naturally do. That is something that the Holy Spirit comes in and helps us to. And the more we do that, and we see and we get to the thing we were waiting for, and it's really good, and we are so thankful we waited, then the more it gives us a taste for that. And we continue to do that. And you know, don't be a don't be afraid of asking the Lord. We need to ask the Lord, Lord, what is your plan? What is your purpose? Of course, for our church and for our community and for our family, but Lord, what is your purpose for me? You know, right now, maybe his purpose for you right now is just to be finding his purpose. I know that sounds may sound kind of um strange, but maybe right now your assignment is to find out what your assignment is. Maybe right now he wants you seeking him for direction. You know, maybe you have to try on a couple of hats to see which one fits you better. It's impossible to change the direction of a car that is not moving. You know, you can set in a park car and you can turn the steering wheel any way you want, but you're not gonna change the direction of that car. It's still going the same direction. The only way to change the direction of that car is to get it moving. If you can get it moving, you can turn it around, but not unless it's moving. And that's how we are. A lot of times we don't move ahead in things, we we get stuck because we're afraid of making a mistake, and that's the worst mistake we can make is to get stuck and do nothing. You know, if we're moving forward, if we're going forward in faith, even if we're not sure what our next move is, but we're going forward in faith, then God has something to bless. Then he can turn us around. But God honors faith, and he honors faith as somebody doing something, um, moving forward. You know, he told Abraham to get out of his city, get away from his family, and he and and he didn't even know where he was going, but he got up and he went. And so I feel I hear the Lord, you know, just saying to me, you know, God honors faith, and faith involves movement. You know, fear paralyzes, fear paralyzes us. We don't know what to do, we don't know what to do, so we don't do anything. But God is saying, trust me, move out and do something, even if it, even if if it doesn't work out the way we want it to. You know, faith is always looking forward, and it's a God like it's a God quality, it's a God quality. Faith is always moving forward. You know, we need to hear what is God saying right now, what is he saying right now for my life? And the only way I can't tell you what God has for you at this time in your life, but I can tell you that it's good. I can tell you that he wants to tell you, he wants to speak to you, he wants to show you what he has for you in the future that is worth sacrifice today, that is worth giving up something else that I might want more right now because I don't see anything better in the future. And you know, it says in Hebrews 12 2, it says looking unto Jesus. Hebrews Hebrew Hebrews 12 2 says looking unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. So he started this thing and he's gonna finish it. He is the author and the finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. So Jesus had a vision, he had a vision, he could see that there's something I want, but I have to go through something I don't want, and it was worth it. And what he wanted was you. It's why you were made, it's why you were created, and it's exciting. It gives you a reason to get up in the morning, it gives you a reason to suffer through things that that you know, pain's gonna come, issues are gonna happen, things are gonna happen to the just, to the unjust. We might as well get something out of it, we might as well grow from it, we might as well let it work in us, something good. Um, my prayer is that more and more we would see the vision. You know, it says, you know, in the word in the word that, you know, it was it it's like the noonday sun, it gets brighter and brighter when we walk with the Lord. It gets brighter and brighter like the noonday sun. You know, when we first start walking with the Lord, we're just hoping that this this is gonna work out well. But if we hold on and we don't give up our hope and we stay faithful to Jesus, then more and more we see him, and it encourages us to hold on because the more and more we hold on, the more we see him. He is worth it, he is worth the fight, he is worth the struggle, he loves you, and he has more for you. He has more for you, and I pray that that encourages you this week to find yourself at his feet to find out what is the next step, Lord, what's the next stage? What do you have for me at this time? Before I let you go today, I just want to pray with you, and um I pray, I I I bless you, and I hope you have a wonderful week. And um, I love you. Let's pray, Father. We just thank you for hope, Lord. I break discouragement off of your people, Lord, today. Lord, I break worry off of your people today, Lord. I break frustration off of your people today. And I ask you, Father, to give us eyes to see, eyes to see a future that is so much better than anything we could work out or figure out. God, give us hope. Hope that, Lord, your future for us is way better than anything we could we could make happen. God, I pray that, Lord, that it would be that hope would be an anchor for us, Lord. And I just bless your people today. And I thank you, Lord God, that you've not left us, Lord, you've not left us as orphans, but you've sent your spirit with us to bring us comfort. And Lord, I just speak speak comfort and vision and purpose and hope and joy to your people today. In Jesus' name. Amen.