The Why
One day a man visited his doctor because he was in excruciating pain. The doctor asked him, “Where does it hurt?” The man answered, “All over.” The doctor told the man to touch his shoulder. The man touched his shoulder and cried out in pain. Next, the doctor told the man to touch his forehead. The man touched his forehead and cried out in pain again. The doctor told the man to touch his knee. The man touched his knee and winced in pain. He said, “Doctor, everywhere I touch, I’m in pain.” The doctor thoroughly examined the man and concluded, “No wonder you are in pain everywhere you touch – you have a dislocated finger!”
We may laugh at the ridiculousness of this man’s situation, but many of us are doing the same thing, just in a different way. Many of us feel like everything in our lives is wrong, yet in fact just one thing in our lives is wrong. However, this one thing affects everything. This one thing is this: many of us are living a life without the "why". Without purpose. Foundation. Why? We are simply going through the motions – existing day by day, weighed down by the emptiness of a life without meaning.
I have four children so it is not uncommon to hear the word “why"! The kids hear my words but don’t understand what I'm saying. Many have heard the words of Christ and can quote the Bible. Many have memorized their favorite quotes and song lyrics but the question still remains. “Why?” Why is the grass green? Why can’t I watch that? Why can’t we have dessert again today? One of the famous parental responses is: BECAUSE.
Purpose is not measured by what you have done compared to what someone else has done, but by what you have done compared to what you are supposed to do.
I have often talked with people who have served the Lord a long time and yet they aren’t sure why. The only way to know your purpose is to experience and walk closely with the One who has created and destined you for it. If you are a Christian, you do not need to be running around trying to discover your purpose.
It is in experiencing God that your purpose will be made known.
Experience God, and you will experience your purpose. Your foundations are critical to growth, specifically your foundation in Christ.
“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ”
If you have all these great things but don't have a foundation - the why - you've missed it. One of the greatest benefits that arises out of a close relationship with our heavenly Father is in His ability to guide, direct and prepare us for the purpose He has for our lives.
When you truly embrace the principle found in the book of Psalm, “Be still, and know that I am God,” you will experience the abundant joy that Christ has promised you.
You will no longer be spending your energy trying to see if this plan, relationship, job, or path will work. When you know that God is God, and you seek to get close to Him, He will show you your path, your job, your mate, your relationships, meaning, and purpose.
If you want to experience God’s purpose for your life, experience God! It is in the close, abiding intimacy with the Father that you will not only discover Him but you will also live out the destiny He has purposed for you.
The WHY is that which differentiates the simple do-ers from the fiery and passionate. It’s one thing to articulate your why, and another entirely to keep it alive.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”