Whose Purpose-Driven?

Twice I've been part of leading a "Purpose-Driven" program with our congregation.  Once about five years ago when we did the 40 Days of Purpose, and again last year when we did the 40 Days of Community.  Both programs were well received, and seem to play well to those of us who seem to do better when we have a specific goal.  When we have a specific goal in sight, it seems much easier to strive toward.  We have small groups in our congregation who were spawned during both programs that still endure.

At least part of the concept behind this program is rooted in the idea that God has some specific purpose or goal in mind for each of our lives.  When Paul was preaching in Antioch, he commented, "when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed . . ." (Acts 13:36).  What a challenge -- to serve God's purpose in our generation!  I can't help but wonder if David realized that purpose while it was unfolding?  Did he recognize he was fulfilling God's purposes while he was doing this thing called life?

My struggle here is knowing what to do when I feel like I'm in-between purposes.  When you're pretty sure what the Lord wants you to next, it isn't terribly difficult to stay motivated to go toward it. Of course there are other sorts of obstacles and distractions.  But what I find most difficult personally is when you're not really sure what your next goal should be.  I've been in a season of my life for some time where I have been striving toward a particular goal.  But now that I see that season of my life fading, I'm wrestling with what to run toward.

Of course I know the "right" answer is to run to the Lord.  That ultimately HE is the goal, the prize, the direction, and the motivation.  And perhaps deepening my personal walk with him is precisely what needs to be the sole consuming passion of my life right now.  It may be that my relationship with him must be deeper and more intimate before I will be equipped for the next thing or task He has for me.  I can life with that, but I find that relationships are harder sometimes to know precisely how to pursue.

For example, as a Dad I know I need to spend time with my kids.  Sometimes I know what to do with them.  But other times, I just have this vague sense that I should be doing something, but I'm not sure what it ought to be.  Similarly, as a husband, I know I need to find ways to love my wife in a way she can receive and appreciate.  But sometimes knowing what specifically to do (other than taking out the trash on time) is hard to do.

What I know more than anything else is that I don't want to substitute my purposes for His.  I don't want to try to make myself feel important or valuable by contriving my own sense of purpose to replace my felt absence of His purpose.  I believe it would be all too easy to devise some scheme and conclude that must be what the Lord wants for me.  But I would rather live an aimless life than settle for a self-made sense of identity.  So, yes perhaps we ought to be Purpose-Driven, but let us make sure it is His purpose for which we live.