A few years ago, pastor Rick Warren published a book called “The Purpose-Driven Life.” In forty days, a person could discover his or her reason for existence, could discover his or her purpose for being a living, breathing creature in this world stained with sorrow and joy. “Why am I here?” is one of the greatest questions anyone can ever ask. It’s been contemplated by human beings since the dawn of time. “What is the will of God for my life?”
I believe that God has two types of “wills” for our life: general will and specific will.
God has a general will for our lives, a will that is the same for every single person on the planet. First, God wants us to believe in His Son. This “belief” involves commitment, repentance, and obedience. Second, God wants us to pursue holiness. He wants us to obey Him and try to live as He wants us to live. Third, God wants us to evangelize. He wants us to tell other people about Him and to introduce them to His grace. As long as we believe in Christ, pursue holiness, and evangelize, we are purely in the will of God.
Yet God also has, I believe, a specific will for us. This is a will that differs from person-to-person. When I look at the countless stories of the scriptures, I see that God had different plans for different people: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, the countless prophets, John the Baptist, the Apostles… And I believe God has specific wills for every one of His people. He has a certain desire for our life. He wants to use us in a certain, unique way.
“What is the specific will of God for my life?” I believe His specific will for my life is two-fold: first, to preach or teach in the name of His Son, to advance His kingdom. Second, I believe He wants me to be a good husband and a good father. My opportunities for the first continue to grow and evolve, and it is exciting. Yet sometimes I become discouraged about the latter. I feel out-of-place when I am not doing what God wants me to do, and so when it seems hopeless that I will never be a husband or father, I become depressed. Yet I realize that God operates on His own timetable. He has told me, I truly believe, that He has someone special out there for me. He has someone whom He wants me to be with. Have I met her? Perhaps, but probably not. I just need to have faith like Abraham, even when it seems to become more and more impossible with each passing day.
4 comments:
Warren has convinced many Christians that there are five purposes for our lives: ministry, worship, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship.
To be honest, although I personally think that Warren simplifies Christianity more often than not, he makes our purpose more difficult than it has to be.
Jesus gives explicitly tells us what our purpose is and it comes down to a two-fold design: love God and love our neighbors. by doing this, not only do we sum up all the Law and the Prophets, but also the Gospel according to Rick Warren.
Good point, Mike.
In the class Prof Snyder teaches ("The Will of God"), the three scriptural points he makes (belief, obedience, and evangelism) flow into loving God and loving others.
Belief in His Son as well as obedience/pursuing holiness flows out of our love for God. And evangelism is the natural overflowing of our love for other people.
I am reading "Purpose Driven Life" right now, and I have a few other books on the will of God that I am reading to try and gain some different perspectives.
I agree that he does tend to detail it out more..No matter how you word it...we don't always do it..we don't love God with all our hearts and we don't love our neighbors as he would like us to. It's hard to truly live as a Christian without reminding yourself of these things several times a day
As far as specific will...it will happen....but it may not seem like it's on your time line..doesn't mean it won't happen..I remember when I was 23 I had just come out of a relationship and honestly believed I would never find "the right person" I met the right person 7 months later. I know you probably don't like to hear this but you are young...you have to give God to get that "right person" in your life ...He may have areas he wants you to grow in first ..he may have areas that he wants your future wife to grow in first before you meet...
I can echo Rochelle's words! I too came out of a relationship in my early 20s (at age 24), and thought "its over, I'll never find anyone" ... but 9 months later I was dating my now husband (and I dated someone else in there for 2 months). You have so much more time on your hands then you realize. When I was 18-20 I thought if I wasn't married by 24 it would be the worst thing in the world ... the closer I got to 24 the more I realized I didn't want to marry until I was 28ish.
On the other topic Rochelle mentioned, I agree too, we don't get how poorly we love God and our brothers and sisters ... I also have realized as I've gotten older, that I have a very very small grasp of how much God loves me .... and I think if I could let myself sit in the depth of that more it would revolutionize me. It's so weird how its the most wonderful place, the few moments I've let myself sit there, and yet how quickly I pull away .... I don't completely understand why, but I can feel myself do it. Those moments are overwhelming ... perhaps its the intensity, I'm not sure ... I just think there is something there that I'm missing, and it would sort of take me to another level of faith.
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