Born for a Purpose

Christmas Tip #10:

Curl up in front of your fireplace and Christmas Tree with a hot beverage in hand and read your Bible. It is the Comfort of all comforts!

Luke 1:45

"Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

Yesterday, while on the way to get blonder and less gray, I was listening to Glenn Beck on the radio. He was talking about something very near to my heart and the subject of today's devotion. He was saying that "every human being was born with a purpose, but that it's up to us to find that purpose." I agree with Glenn wholeheartedly - we are all born with a purpose. Yet he's missing a very important ingredient to finding that purpose: We will never find our God ordained purpose for living apart from God and His Word. This brings us to today's Mary and Elizabeth -

Mary had just been told her reason for living. She would be the mother of our Lord and Savior, Jesus! What a task! What an assignment! I love what happens next: she treks the the 60+ miles to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. In addition to the obvious, we also see the tenderness and kindness of our God in these passages. (Read Luke 1:35-56 when you get a chance.)

1st: God provided someone to share Mary's joy and her belief in the impossible. How precious for God to provide someone nearby who could relate. The two women - one too old - the other too young - both had one thing in common: questionable pregnancies, sure to stir up some town gossip!

2nd: God used Elizabeth to confirm what He had told Mary. Without Mary even saying anything other than a greeting to her long-lost cousin, Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaims, "blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (v42-43)

So how does this relate to us today? Just as Mary and Elizabeth were both born for a divine purpose, YOU and I WERE TOO!

I have a good friend named Amy Carroll. She's on the Proverbs 31 Ministries speaking team. We met in Bible study years ago and have been friends ever since. I can remember when she first began speaking. She told me, "Tara, I feel like I'm going to be sick every time, but I was born to do this." I've never forgotten that statement.

Even in my own life, my dream was to be a stay-at-home mother. I didn't want anything else out of life. God graciously blessed me with this. Yet, something was missing. After finally getting what I wanted, how could I be so discontent? One dreary day in February 2004, when I was up to my eye-balls in dirty diapers and whiny children, I asked God, "is this it? Is this what I'm here for? There's got to be more in life." The very next day in my quiet time, my Scripture reading was 1 Timothy 4:12-14:

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity... Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift."

I had a secret desire to teach yet, I had not told anyone about this desire, not even my husband. Yet God was nailing me. Soon after getting this Scripture, God used other women to confirm what He had told me - just as He did for Mary. Without me uttering a word, they randomly told me that one day I'd be teaching God's Word. (By the way, that would freak me out a little bit. I was still relatively young in my faith.) Three years later, God opened a door and started this ministry.

I am no one special. Just an ordinary woman, who loves an extraordinary God who's in the business of giving us the desires of our heart. You too were born for a purpose. Do you realize this? Do you even believe this? Listen to some of these Scriptures:

"Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord? He [God] will instruct him in the way chosen for him" Psalm 25:12 (bold mine)

"We ask God to give you complete understanding of what He wants to do in your lives, and we ask Him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom" Colossians 1:9 NLT

You were born for a purpose. If you are unaware of your God-ordained purpose, start spending time with Him on a regular basis. He'll make your purpose known. What are your dreams? What are you naturally good at?

Our purpose will always include sharing with others what we know about Jesus in our spheres of influence. Our purpose may take us out of our comfort zones. However, when we live out our God ordained purpose, we will live life like no other!

In a horrible economy, in a time of unprecedented unemployment and political unrest, God is shaking things up. Could He be drawing you to Himself so that you can start living life like no other? I'd love to hear your comments today. You can post anonymously.

Can't wait to hear!