Living with Purpose: Honoring God Through Your Mission

To often we ask people “What do you do.” As a result, we tend to define the person by that answer.

An example might be Albert Einstein. Everyone knows Einstein liked the violin. What a lot of people don’t know is he once gave a concert that received rave reviews. So, when people would fawn all over him, he’d chuckle and take the old clipping from his wallet and say, “You’ve got me wrong. I’m a famous violinist.”

In his mind, there was difference between who everyone else said he was and who he said he was. He was one of the world’s foremost intellects, but what brought him pleasure was playing the violin. Was his mission in life to elevate physics into a whole new realm? Or was it to do what really made him happy and that’s to play the violin.

And, so, what is my mission?

If I were to point at my day job which is a “VMware engineer” and use that to define my mission, then my mission is to build virtual plantations that will be virtually bulldozed in a few years because of the advancement of technology. If so, where’s the permanence in it. Does it bring glory to God?

Since it is for the medical establishment, it does help people. But is that enough?

Is it my place to gain riches and honors when all they really benefit is me? Even that is temporal. Seventy-five years after I’m dead, if I’m lucky, I’ll be a footnote in history. More likely I’ll just be a name in someone’s genealogy (trust me – sometimes being forgotten by the world isn’t a bad thing).

So, what I want is a mission that matters. One that makes a difference and brings glory to God.

Perhaps my mission is found in the Bible, and especially the part where Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “

So, let’s break it down.

Avoid obsessive accumulation of wealth and possessions

-Are you really going to take it with you when you’re gone. There’s only one person who seemed to have had a shot at taking it all with him when he was gone and that was old King Tut. I paid twenty bucks and go to see his stuff, so I guess he didn’t take it all with him.

Help the poor and those in need.

-Oddly, this is a place where some of the most satisfying things I’ve done have happened. We had a church member who was in a horrible accident and she needed a walk in shower isntalled. Working with a group known as Faith in Action, we pulled out the old tub, put in a shower pan, drywalled everything, and got it paineted and etc. It’s something I can point at and say I’m honestly proud of doing that. Maybe I need to do more things like it.

Take risks that honor God.

-This is hard because we live in a world where we want to honor ourselves. I write because I want to tell stories and make a living off it. That said, and while I do try to show Biblical applications to life in my stories, is it enough. That’s the constant question I’ve got. Am I honoring God?

I guess he’ll let me know.

Live a simple life.

-Too many times we live without asking a few questions. Do I really need the bigger house, the newest cars? How deep in debt do you need to be to be happy. If it robs you of sleep, is it worth having.

Seek the Kingdom of God first.

-This is a no brainer in my book. There’s much more than simply attending church or reading the word. I’d about making it part of you. Seeking first the Kingdom of God is about getting your priorities in order. What is most important in your life? is it the guy in the mirror or is those around you and if it’s the rest of the world, to what degree.

Personal experience, put God first and everything else falls in place. It’s tough to always do. I’m a hyuman being and not a saint.

Trust God and be anxious for nothing.

-Now, this is the hard one. Trusting God? To many times, I’ve discovered that it’s easy for me to confuse what I want with what God wants. I go out and do something stupid (like get in debt) then wonder how I’m going to get out of it. Was that really God’s Will or mine that landed me there. This is the hardest of them because you’re trying to figure out what God wants, not you. And then letting him do it and enjoy the ride.

To sum it all up. My mission is still growing. It’s still getting refined and won’t end till they put a toe tag on me. And I’d like God to say to me, “Now, wasn’t that fun and worthwhile.”

Those are words I’ll never hear if I try running my mission and not his.