Making Your Life Count (Part 4): How Can We Know What God’s Mission for Us Is?

This is the fourth in a series of writings on how to discover God’s mission for your life. In the first post of the series, we focused on Ephesians 2:10, in which we concluded that you are a masterpiece made on purpose and with a purpose. In the second post, we looked at Ephesian 5:15-17, which challenges us to make the most of every opportunity, both spontaneously and strategically. In the third post, we challenged you to think outside the box and how God might have been preparing you for your future by things you have experienced in your life up till now.

In this post we address the issue of not just how to have ideas about what to do with your life, but to KNOW what’s on God’s heart. What are the good works that you are supposed to be doing? And for that matter, how would you even find out? We are not trying to dream up our own vision, we are seeking God and perhaps even dreaming with God.

John 15:4-5 (ESV) says: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” The way to come to understand God’s vision for your life is through abiding with God. As these words of Jesus emphasize, you cannot do anything of lasting value — that is, you cannot bear fruit — unless you have an intimate walk with Jesus. “Abide” means “to live your life in”.

As you abide in Jesus, you will begin to know His heart more and more, and you will be able to sense His guidance and will better and better. Abiding is a choice we make. It means that we intentionally make space for Jesus in our lives, by setting aside time. It means that we purpose to grow in love more and more every day. It means we do our best to do His will, once we understand what that is. In fact, in terms of hearing God’s voice and understanding what his plan for you is, you won’t get very far until you get to the place where you want God’s will for your life more than your own will for your life. This sounds hard, but actually once you get a revelation of how loving he is toward you and how wise his ways are, it becomes much easier.

Graham Cooke, in an article called “Choosing With Intention”, writes: “We can choose to be a victim rather than a warrior. We may prefer to be an employee rather than an heir (Luke 15:19). We can cut down our dreams to manageable proportions. [But] God will have none of this. To live the life that only he can create for us we must first, of necessity, accept His vision for us. We must step into the place of intention when we agree with the identity that He prefers. When we take the road we must journey with the same intention as the Father… [through] abiding.”

We have a tendency to dream small, because we see ourselves as small, and we lack faith that God would come through for us in a pinch. But I want to challenge you to muster all the faith that you have when you are seeking God for a vision for your life — something that can only come to pass if God is in it. We know that in our own strength, we are weak, but as we are reminded by Philippians 4:13, we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

This passage from 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 seems to say very plainly what we need to understand: “‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ — but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.” Commentators believe that in this passage, the Apostle Paul was quoting from Isaiah 64:4, except that the phrase “those who love him” was substituted for “those who wait for him”. The original version emphasizes the idea of abiding — that is, people who love God enough to listen to him and wait for his timing and guidance. Note that these things God prepared for us are revealed by the Holy Spirit.

If possible, cialis prescription cheap try to use this remedy twice per day. As its effects last for 4-5 hours one can cialis price in canada enjoy long-lasting physical act for getting young-aged passion back on the way. In addition to rehabilitation, chiropractors also regularly work with patients on proactive treatment purchase levitra online plans to help people live healthier, more productive lives. First time use of levitra properien https://unica-web.com/archive/2011/palmares2011.pdf this medicine may not give much influence. Father, it seems scary sometimes to listen for your still, small voice, and wonder if your plans are too difficult for us. It would be much easier just to make our own plans for ourselves. But we have come this far with you, and we don’t want to get to the very end of our lives and have nothing of heavenly value to show for them. So we ask you to please help us sense your heart for us, and help us to understand the things you have planned for our mission. Give us courage to walk out our mission in step with you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Discussion Questions

1) Do you have any fear of what God’s plans for you might be? If so, what is the root issue of that fear? How might you overcome it?

2) How are you doing with abiding and listening to God’s small voice? If you feel like you would like to improve, do you have any ideas of ways to do that? What are they?

Part 1 of the series: Hand-crafted for Specific Works
Part 2 of the series: What You Do With Your Life Matters a Lot
Part 3 of the series: Secular Schmecular, It’s All God’s

This is part of an earlier message had all the parts posted on this website, but which was very long. That message came out of a sermon given at Harvest Church in Hampstead, Maryland, USA, in April 2012.

2 Replies to “Making Your Life Count (Part 4): How Can We Know What God’s Mission for Us Is?”

  1. This passage from 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 “‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ — but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” has really blessed me personally. In a recent trip to Asia, when my arrangements did not work out, the Lord fixed it. When we were happy with a nice cosy room by the sea, the Lord has blessed us by upgrading us to a suite on the top floor. My experience seem so focused on comfort but I believe, the Lord wants us to be comfortable, to experience “nice” things, to eat well. We serve a God who is SO BIG. Too often we limit our expectations. So Thanks Tim for this reminder. In whatever things we do, abide and know that HE loves us and KNOWS our hearts.

    1. Thanks for bringing in that verse from 1 Corinthians, and sharing how it uplifted your heart in your recent travels! I love that verse, not the least of the reasons being that it reminds me of how much bigger God is than us, and how He uses that to surprise us with good things.

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