It’s on a subject that is dear to my heart –
discovering your God-given purpose. Enjoy it.
If you’re living without knowing your purpose
in life, I can safely say you’re not living well yet. This is because knowing
your purpose is central to your finding meaning in life; it’s central to your
happiness and fulfillment; it’s central to your success in life. Or let me just
say it’s central to everything just like a Sprite Soft Drink
advert says “Image is nothing. Thirst is everything. Obey
your thirst“, knowing your purpose is everything to life and living well.
Listen, you’re not
created by accident. God had a plan for your life before creating you (Jeremiah
1:5). God saw a problem that only you could solve in this world before creating
you and until you find that mission and fulfill it, you won’t find meaning in
life. In other words, you’re a round peg created to fit into a round hole but
you have to find the right hole to fit into.
Just as the iron was created to iron clothes
and the refrigerator to preserve food, you were also created for a purpose and
you must find the purpose and fulfill it.
Have you ever wondered why some celebrities
you thought had it all (money, fame, connections, etc) commit suicide? Even
though we may not fully understand their reasons, I sometimes think it has a
connection with their not being happy or not finding meaning in life despite
all their material possessions (vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity
of vanities; all is vanity- Ecclesiastes 1:2). They may look happy on the
outside but inwardly, they’re depressed and in desperate search of meaning
which they cannot find in their array of material possessions. So, in their fickle
imagination, they think suicide is the way out but I dare say that if you’ve
found your purpose, you won’t take your life because you have something to live
for, you have found meaning, you know you were created to solve a problem and
you constantly align yourself towards your purpose.
This brings to mind the story of Henry, a
young upwardly mobile guy who was born into a family of Engineers. Immediately
he got into secondary school, his dad made him a director in his engineering
company. So, Henry was sort of prodded into doing science subjects and
proceeded to do civil engineering at the University, even though he had a flair
for the arts. He loved to talk, he enjoyed making people laugh their hearts
out. He was cut out for comedy but his dad would have none of that. He was
always reminded to read and graduate with flying colours so he could take over
the company when his dad retired.
Henry wasn’t too happy but he managed to
graduate, did his youth service and proceeded to work in his father’s company.
On the outside, he did well and his dad always patted him on the back but
inwardly, his mind was on comedy but he dared not rock the boat, especially
after his mum reminded him he was fortunate to get an employment immediately
after graduation as most of his classmates were still roaming the streets
looking for a job. So, he decided to pursue survival instead of significance.
At the end of the day, Henry lived and died an unfulfilled man.
While we can be quick to castigate him, we’re
all like Henry in several respects. We live just to survive and not to fulfill
our purpose in life. But in my own case, I dumped survival for significance. I
dumped the certain for the uncertain just because of this purpose ‘thing’. Yes,
I quit my day job to fulfill my purpose in life.
By nature, I’m a voracious reader and very
early in life, I came across “The
Purpose-Driven Life”, a book by Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback
Church in the United States. The book opened my eyes to the fact
that I was created for a purpose so after I read it, I started asking myself
questions like: what’s my purpose in life? What on earth am I here for? Finding
an answer to these questions became a huge burden on my heart and I’d wake up
early to read the Bible, meditate, search my mind, and pray for answers.
After so many sleepless nights, I got the
answer that I was to impact my generation positively. I was to build up people
and not bring people down. This mission contrasted sharply with the job I was
doing at the time so I started planning my exit. I started attending seminars
as well as buying and reading business opportunity magazines. After a while, I
was able to key into one or two business opportunities and kicked off my
Internet business in 2003. Four years later, I started getting dissatisfied
with my City People job and going on assignments became an issue. When it got
to the point where I was searching the Internet for news stories instead of
getting on the road to look for news, I just knew I had to jettison journalism
for my Internet Business but it wasn’t an easy decision to take.
Luckily, I proceeded on Maternity leave for
three months and it was such a relief as I could face my Internet Business
without the hassles of sourcing and writing news stories. But throughout the
period, I was asking myself if I wanted to go back and face the job. My heart
said no but I kept on praying for direction. I had so many sleepless nights and
it got to a point where I’d just wake up in the night and start panting. Yes,
it was that bad!
I remember vividly that the night of August
3, 2007 when I was to resume from Maternity, I didn’t sleep one bit. I was
awake throughout, just tossing on my bed but I still took courage and went to
the office to submit my letter of resignation. What gave me the courage? God’s
word and promises that I won’t regret the decision because I was taking it to
fulfill my purpose in life.
It was a real shock to my colleagues, many of
whom called asking if I was sure of what I was doing and I said yes, with a
note of finality. But five years after, I thank God I took that bold step. I
thank God that I took the path of fulfillment and I can boldly say I’ve got no regrets
whatsoever!
In the Bible, I can relate with the
experience of Nehemiah as that of finding his purpose while serving as the
King’s cupbearer in the Palace of Shushan. He had comfort and more than enough
in the palace but he was dissatisfied with the condition of his people (the
Jews) after he heard of their plight from some of his brethren who came
visiting. He was unhappy and the Bible says he prayed and fasted, after which
he went to ask permission from his boss, who willingly granted him permission
and even helped him with some building materials.
So, Nehemiah risked everything (his
possessions, dignity and even life) to achieve his purpose in life – rebuild
the broken walls of Jerusalem. Today, Nehemiah is remembered the world over for
that singular feat.
So, How do You Find Your Purpose in
Life?
Make sure you’re on the right standing with
God and ask yourself these pointed questions:
* What comes naturally to me? I do it without
stress even though other people complain it’s stressful or hard to do.
* What do people say I’m good at?
* What dissatisfies me? What pisses me off?
* What activity can I engage in even when I
know there’s no remuneration attached?
* Is there anything I can do for hours
without getting tired or bored?
* What is it that excites me to no end? Is it
talking, writing, drawing, painting or singing?
* What activity brings me inner peace and
joy?
Pick a pen and notepad and start jotting
whatever occurs to you. Just keep writing until you have exhausted your ideas.
You can then look at your list again and one will just pop at you. Explore it,
if it’s your purpose, you’ll fit in easily. If it’s not, explore another option
on the list that pops at you. However, I want to say you should not
discountenance the still small voice at such a time. It’ll always speak to you
but you’ve got to listen. You’ve got to create a quiet atmosphere around you
for you to hear it audibly.
So, let me ask you: are you on the road to
survival or significance? It’s a must to discover your God-given assignment and
fulfill it because your happiness in life depends on it. God is not a waster;
He didn’t create you just for creating sake. He has put something in you that
you can leverage for significance. Find that one thing and leverage on it.
The only reason many of us are struggling is
we have not found our niche in life. When you find your purpose or gift in
life, align yourself to it and you will not lack. But am I saying you should
just go and resign in your place of work because you’ve discovered your niche?
No. Apply a lot of wisdom, like I did. Start planning towards achieving your
purpose part time and see how it goes. If it’s a God-given assignment, it will
grow to a point where you have to leave paid employment to face it.
Free Purpose-Driven Life Pdf
Click here to download the first seven Chapters of the
Purpose-Driven Life. It’s an excellent way to start your journey of purpose.
Click here to read Rick Warren’s Views on Discovering Your
Purpose.
And with that, we’ve come to the end of
another exciting edition of Monday Morning Dew (MMD). Keep a date with me next
week for another life-empowering edition. Please don’t forget to share this
with your friends through the social buttons below.
I realise that we all need some form of push
when it comes to taking action, so, I’ve decided to start what I call the Action
Takers Club. If you want to be more productive by taking action on
your dreams, please subscribe below:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment