The topic of purpose has been an ongoing discussion for me. I believe with every fibre of my being that we are born for a reason, our existence is not in vain and God allowing us to be alive is not a coincidence.
One perspective which overshadowed my thoughts on purpose in my high school and tertiary education days was about purpose with respect to my career. But as I grew and experienced a little more of life, new perspectives on purpose have arisen, balancing out previous perspectives.
One of the characters that have helped shape this new perspective for my life and how I impart knowledge about purpose to young people is Moses and the story of his life documented in the book of Exodus.
Many times, our pursuit of purpose is focused on our abilities and experiences, our giftings and talents. For some of us it is our resources and monetary dexterity or the lack thereof. What the story of Moses reminded me of, was that our pursuit of purpose - if we can even call it a pursuit, cannot be independent of God's master plan.
It was whilst Moses was in exile, that the scripture says, that God decided to come down and take His people out of misery, out of their suffering. If we are truly looking at the big picture, we would realise that Moses was selected to fulfil God’s plan.
Yet we so often get caught up in our own fulfilment, forgetting that we are pieces of the puzzle for God’s master plan. Yes, many years after the great miracles were done, we still remember Moses’ name, but let us never forget the STAR of the show – God himself.
Moses did have a choice and chose to obey but it was God orchestrating his every step throughout his life that led him to this great moment. Interestingly while reading the book of Exodus, I thought, look at how Moses got the full picture, God told him what he was going to do and how He was going to do it.
I know for me; this has been a constant desire - “God please show me the plans you have, and I will move in obedience to fulfil it.” I know many of us are caught currently in this trap of wanting the whole picture to be unfolded before us before we make a step.
But as I continued to reflect, I realised Moses only got a synopsis of all of what was to come. I doubt He would have imagined walking on dry land through the Red Sea and the backlash he would have received from the same people God sent him to deliver.
Yet he obeyed God and kept obeying God, as the plan of God unfolded.
Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes concluded the book by saying the whole duty of man is to serve God and keep his commandments and I want to proffer that this is how we find purpose and fulfil it. We are not called to fame and exploits – instead, we are called to fulfil God’s tremendous masterplan.
Our reason for living, the purpose we were created for does not originate with us and may not yet have been revealed to you, but know, God has the blueprint and will reveal it in his time.
May God give us the discernment to discern the times, understand his masterplan and walk in obedience completing every task He has and will instruct us in fulfilling his plan for mankind.