“And so finally the sower scattered his seeds in a patch of good earth. At home in the good earth the seeds grew and grew. Eventuallythe seeds bore fruit, and the fruit grew ripe and was harvested. The harvest was immense – 30, 60, 100 times what was sown.” {the voice}

Do you know who you are?

Do you understand your purpose?

These are questions that we all – Christ followers or not, ask. We live in a world that is constantly trying to answer these questions through the choices they make. People let their jobs, friends, possessions and extra-curricular activities define them in an effort to say

-This is who I am and what I like to do.

Purpose is the essence of life.

Without it, we would simply wander from place to place with no plan and no desires. And certainly there are those who do that, but they do that in order to say to the world –You can’t tell me who I am, only I can do that. Their purpose is to buck the system, to be a rebel – there is still purpose.

We all want to feel like we are making a difference, or at the very least have a reason to be here. That desire is built into our DNA … put there by the Creator of all. Purpose makes life worth living. For the last several years, I have been all about the purpose.

Why I am here

What my place is in this world

Who I was created to be

I have had my periods of flitting from one thing to the next – searching. I have had my moments of doubts. I still do, frankly. I’m not sure that ever goes away. I have gone from fully committed, to needing to BE committed. What I have discovered recently is that I gauge everything I do by the numbers – the response of others to what I have worked on, whether that is art, writing, conferences, jobs…

I tend to judge my success upon worldly standards – and I know better!

When I search my heart to determine why it would do what I know better than, I have found that I don’t want to do anything outside the will of God. His path for me is the right path – I know this full well. So I spend all of my mental energy trying to discern His will for my life, then expect the abundance to come. And when I am not seeing it, I think it is because I am not accomplishing my purpose…I must have made a wrong turn somewhere.

But here’s the thing…

Abundance isn’t always in the form of numbers, people, money, or acceptance. Abundance can simply be the immense peace that we have when the right choice is made. Sometimes it is in the one, not the many. The one person we are to write to, the one prayer that will make all the difference, the one aha moment that can be our own turning points. And most often it is about you…not everyone else.

Just you and the One who loves you most.

It’s about the relationship building that goes on in the day in and day out activity of life, the time spent getting to know who the Father is by exploring the things He has given you. The people, the home, the family, and even the “enemies”. Through these daily explorations we discover a God who cares about the little things, who cares how you spend your time, and how you interact with the world around you. But this is a journey, not a destination. And a lifelong one at that. There will always be something more to learn about Him, something more to discover through your day to day living.

In Jesus’ parable about the seeds, the voice version says that eventually the seeds bore fruit. There is always a germination period with seeds, and each one requires different care. Radishes come up within a week, you barely have to even water them….but squash? It could take 3 times that to see any visual sign of life, even with daily watering.

I don’t know about you, but I find this comforting.

Just because you aren’t seeing any visual growth above the soil line of life, doesn’t mean that there isn’t something happening beneath the surface. And beneath the dirt is where Jesus does His greatest work! So be encouraged – if you aren’t seeing evidence of your purpose already, you can be sure that the Lord of all is working on it somewhere in the depths of your dirt.

And it will emerge

Eventually

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Lisa is a wife, a mom, a lover of Jesus, and all around creative soul. She has been gifted as a visionary and leader, and seeks to be obedient in that calling from God. Her personal journey is varied and ever changing as she takes obedient steps each and every day, and follows the leading of the Lord.