Books,  Faith,  God,  Nursing,  Spirituality

Things I Suck At: Purpose

I mentioned in another post that I have been really focused on purpose lately. I’ve felt completely restless and like I was being called to something, with zero clue as to what that something could be. So I started seeking out Christian resources on purpose in an attempt to maybe once and for all figure myself out.

I started off with Annie F. Down’s 100 Days to Brave which is, you guessed it, a 100 day devotional. It was great and I recommend it, but it didn’t quite go deep enough. It did have some really great insights like listening to ideas that pop into your head because those ideas might just be put there by God and you shouldn’t ignore them just in case.

But while it was a good read and gave me lots of food for thought, I was craving something that was going to take me deeper (Oh! Remind me to write a post on the word deeper sometime. I’m holding you to it). That was right around the time that the IF: Gathering was happening in Texas. I was stuck at home with a pukey 3 year old so I got to watch the entire livestream. The founder of the conference, Jennie Allen, was advertising her new book Made For This: 40 Days to Living Your Purpose. Convenient subject, hey?

So in March I timed it so that I would be finishing the book on Easter Sunday and dived in. And let me tell you, this book makes you do your work. There are charts and graphics and arrows and maps, all with information trying to figure you out in relationship to God and His purposes for you and for His glory. I loved this book. In the course of 40 days I felt a total change in my outlook on life. I realized that every moment spent here on this earth has meaning, even the mundane things that seem unimportant. And that God can use all of the unique gifts and talents He has intentionally given us to accomplish His purposes. And ultimately His purpose is always to bring Him glory and have Him be known to all people so that we can all be united to Him.

When you start to frame your life in the context of living out God’s purpose based on your own giftings and callings, things start to have different meanings. As I mentioned before, for me, this was nursing. I realized my career was taking up too much of my mental energy, and I wasn’t chasing after God’s desires but my own. Turning my back on nursing has allowed me to fully face the cross, fixing my eyes on Jesus, and running full tilt after his purposes. Will I pick up shifts if my family needs some money and to keep up registration? Duh. Yeah. But first and foremost, my focus is on the Kingdom and the one who wears the crown.

If you have questions about your purpose, I can’t recommend Made For This enough. If you are wondering about who this Jesus guy is and why you should care at all, I suggest reading the Gospel of John. Which you can get for free on the internet. Or…anywhere because some Christian will be walking down the street and be way too happy to give you their bible should you be eager to read it. We’re like that.

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