catapult magazine

As christians we exist for God’s purpose, so I gather. All things work together for the greater good and so on and so forth. Is it possible to not ever see the purpose for your existence? God may have one, but is it at all possible that one may never truly know their purpose? Yes, everyone is part of the body of Christ, can someone be say, the belly-button lint in the body of Christ? There, but for what reason we do not know. . .

In act 5, just before all the plots set forther earlier start to fall into place, Hamlet says, “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them though we will.” I had a long discussion with my class yesterday about God’s calling in one’s life and how you figure outwhat he wants you to do. One of the things we concluded, based partly on Biblical stories like Jonah, is that ultimately, God will put you where he wants you. He allows (and I think encourages) us to make our own decisions about how to serve, but it the Lord of the Universe needs you to do something, whether you are consious of it or not, I’m thinking he’ll put you where you need to be.

Ok, so we don’t need to know where we need to be or what we need to do.

Does that mean that we should stop trying to figure out what we are supposed to do?

Jonah got a message straight from God on that one. We have the bible and prayer but nothing as straightforward as that.

Should we try to figure out what our purpose is, or should we just live and see what happens?

Good question…seems familiar…

Well, yeah, you should try to figure it out. Sigh. Paradoxes seem to be integral to this universe, don’t they?

“Our inability to answer all the questions [can become] an opportunity to learn more about God.”
Dangerous Wonder page 42

Thanks BBC ;-D

Paradoxs can sometimes define existence itself.

Perhaps this discussion is already closed, but somewhere I read this quote:

“God’s will for your life is where your passions and God’s Kingdom meet.”

We can draw a few things from this quote:

First, one’s purpose doesn’t just have to be a single road.

-Some have a passion to paint. They love to paint. God has given them that desire. Painting is what they love to do. And they can glorify God and advance His Kingdom through that: their passion.
—Most accountants love to work with numbers. God gave them that desire as well. They can offer up the use of their gifts as a gift to God-and those around them can see their dedication to Him, which advances His Kingdom.
—Though it may be rare, a person may have a desire to paint AND be an accountant. These passions, these God-given gifts, are part of his purpose on earth, part of God’s will for his life.

Secondly, it means we don’t have to be on a constant, uncertain scripture and soul search for God’s will.

—God has given us his commands, teachings, and gospel (the Bible) and he has also given us things that we love to do (our passions). We already have everything we need to do what God wants us to do.

Proverbs says that if we delight in the Lord, “he will grant us the desires of our heart.” Many people misinterpret this verse to mean that if we love the Lord, we’ll get whatever we desire.

In fact, it means that God will grant us our desires—our passions—means by which we can glorify Him and fulfill His will for our lives, when we are happy in God.

John Piper, an amazing speaker and author, talks about Christian Hedonism—the fact that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” We glorify God by enjoying Him and His gifts, or in other words, we “delight [ourselves] in the Lord, and he will grant [us] the desires of our heart.”

Glorifying God is the #1 purpose in the Christian life. That’s His will for all His children.

There is so much more I want to say, and I’d like to apologize for already being so long-winded, and Christian Hedonism opens up a whole nother can of worms, but I’ve been reading up on this for a while, and when I saw the discussion I couldn’t pass it up. Thanks for bearing with me—I hope I’ve brought a little insight, and I’d be happy to hear what you guys think.

Those are several good quotes. You guys ought to post them on the quote section of the general cino message board.

Thanks for a good discussion. Norm, that quote about where your passions and the world’s needs intersect is one of my favorites. As for Christian hedonism (a bit of a misnomer or oxymoron — but i see what you (or Piper) are getting at) — it makes sense to me. We wonder sometimes why, if God is good, this world is so messed up. As i grow older, I become more and more convinced that if we woul;d just do what He says, we would have a pretty happy and fulfilling life. Most of the pain and suffering in this world is pain we inflict.