When God Brings Us Back to Our Purpose

 

When God Brings Us Back to Our Purpose

Scripture

“My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.”

— Isaiah 26:9, NLT

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.”

— John 14:16, NLT

“The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them.”

— Proverbs 20:7, NLT

“Many nations will join themselves to the LORD on that day and will become his people.”

— Zechariah 2:11, NLT

When Our Souls Long for God

These four Scriptures weave together a beautiful picture of what happens when we live in relationship with God.

It begins with a longing.

Isaiah says, “My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.”

There is something very honest about that verse. There are nights when we lie awake with our minds racing, wondering how tomorrow will work out. There are mornings when we wake up and the problems of life are waiting for us before our feet even hit the floor.

Yet Isaiah reminds us where our hearts can turn.

Toward God.

The night can represent our seasons of uncertainty, fear, waiting, and loneliness. The morning can represent a new day and all the responsibilities that come with it.

God wants to meet us in both.

True devotion isn't simply checking a box because we read our Bible or said a prayer. It is developing such a relationship with God that our hearts actually long for Him.

And when we begin to seek Him, something changes.

Our problems may still be there, but we no longer face them alone.

We Are Never Left Alone

Jesus promised His disciples that when He left them, the Father would send another Advocate—the Holy Spirit.

The Greek word is Parakletos, meaning one called alongside to help, encourage, comfort, counsel, and strengthen.

Think about that for a moment.

God didn't save us and then send us out into the world saying, “Good luck. I hope you figure this out.”

He gave us His Spirit.

We may feel alone sometimes, but if we belong to Christ, we are never truly alone.

God isn't merely somewhere nearby.

He lives within us.

That truth has become much more real to me over the years.

There was a time when I thought I could walk through life with God on my own terms. I prayed. I still loved God. I still loved spending time in the woods with Him. Honestly, there were times when sitting quietly among the trees felt more like church to me than sitting inside a church building.

But something was missing.

I had separated myself from the regular spiritual nourishment that comes from being part of a church family.

And slowly, almost without noticing it, I began to drift.

How Easy It Is to Drift

There was a time when Ross and I were fully committed to following God's direction.

We actually put our house up for sale and moved to North Carolina so Ross could attend Bible college. Looking back, there were so many things that seemed to confirm that we were where God wanted us to be.

Homes became available.

There were opportunities for our children to attend Christian schools.

We found jobs we enjoyed that paid reasonably well.

Things seemed to be falling into place.

Eventually, though, we came home to serve in our church.

Our first pastor left, and after that we went through one pastor after another—sometimes every nine months to a year.

Things became difficult.

Eventually, we walked away.

And the hardest part wasn't simply leaving the church.

We never found another church family.

We told ourselves it was just going to be us and God.

And while having a personal relationship with God is absolutely essential, God never designed us to live completely disconnected from His people.

Without that regular spiritual food, we slowly began to backslide.

The scary thing is, we didn't really notice it happening.

We were still praying.

I still talked to God.

I still loved Him.

But little by little, our hearts became harder, and life became harder.

Then came the fire.

Then came homelessness.

For two and a half years, we lived without a home.

By then, our faith felt like a tiny, fraying thread.

We had reached a place where we had tried everything we knew to try, and nothing seemed to change.

So we started praying differently.

We started making promises.

We started crying out to God.

And you know what I have learned?

God is incredibly merciful.

Even after we had basically turned our backs on Him, He hadn't turned His back on us.

He hadn't forgotten us.

He hadn't stopped loving us.

He was still there.

God Didn't Just Rescue Us—He Redirected Us

Our God didn't simply help us survive.

He brought us back.

He began putting our feet on a path that led us toward His purpose for our lives.

And eventually, He brought us here.

Here, where we have a beautiful church family filled with people who love God and care about others.

Here, where there are opportunities to serve.

Here, where we can be involved with children, help at the food cupboard, minister to people in nursing homes, worship, write, teach, and occasionally even stand behind a pulpit and preach.

God put us exactly where we needed to be.

We found our purpose again.

And boy, does it feel good to be held in the hands of the very One who created us!

His love sustained us.

His mercy brought us through.

His Spirit never abandoned us.

And His path brought us home.

The Legacy We Leave Behind

Proverbs reminds us that a righteous life has an impact beyond ourselves.

That doesn't mean we have to be perfect.

Thank goodness for that!

It means we strive to live honestly before God. We make choices that honor Him. We get back up when we fall. We try to make sure the person people see on Sunday is the same person they see on Monday.

Our children, grandchildren, the children we teach, the people we work beside, and even strangers who cross our paths are watching how we live.

Our greatest legacy isn't necessarily money, possessions, or accomplishments.

It can be as simple as someone remembering:

“That person loved Jesus.”

That is the kind of legacy I want to leave.

What Is Your Purpose?

Maybe you've been feeling lost.

Maybe you feel empty, anxious, afraid, or constantly on edge.

Sometimes we look at our living conditions and believe they are the entire reason we feel that way.

Certainly, difficult circumstances affect us. We've lived through enough difficult circumstances to know that firsthand.

But sometimes there is a deeper hunger underneath all of it.

Our souls were created for God.

And nothing else can completely fill that space.

Maybe God is calling you back into a deeper relationship with Him.

Maybe He is calling you to serve.

Maybe your purpose is writing.

Maybe it is teaching children.

Maybe it is helping at the food cupboard.

Maybe it is visiting someone in a nursing home.

Maybe it is encouraging a lonely neighbor.

Maybe it is simply being the person who notices when somebody else is hurting.

And maybe—like Ross and me—it is a little bit of all of those things.

Don't worry about having everything figured out.

Just take the next step God puts in front of you.

Let Him guide you.

Let Him restore you.

Let Him use you.

Our Circumstances Don't Have the Final Word

And I want to be honest about something.

Finding God's purpose doesn't mean our problems disappear.

Ross and I still struggle.

Our power is off.

It took months, along with help from others, to get our Jeep back on the road.

Our taxes are behind.

By the world's standards, those things should have us living in complete panic.

But they don't have the final word.

God does.

We don't know exactly how every situation will work out.

We don't know when every bill will be paid or when every problem will be resolved.

But we know the One who holds us while we're walking through them.

And that makes all the difference.

The problems of life will come and go.

Circumstances change.

People change.

Seasons change.

But God doesn't.

He isn't merely nearby.

He isn't simply close enough to reach.

For those who belong to Him, His Spirit lives within us.

The same God who found us when we were lost is the God who continues to lead us today.

And that is why my prayer for you today is simple:

Build a loving relationship with God. Seek Him. Make room for Him. Find your purpose in Him. And then trust Him enough to follow where He leads.

You may not understand the whole journey.

Neither did we.

But you don't have to know the entire road to take the next step.

Sometimes faith is simply saying,

“Lord, I don't know where this is going, but I know You are with me. Lead me.”

And when we place our lives into the hands of the One who created us, we can finally stop trying to carry everything ourselves.

That, my friends, is where we found peace.

That is where we found purpose.

And that is where we found our way home.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for loving us even when we wander.

Thank You for never abandoning us, even during the seasons when we have forgotten how much we need You.

Lord, awaken our hearts again. Give us that deep longing for You that Isaiah spoke about. Help us seek You in the night and in the morning, in our struggles and in our victories, in our uncertainty and in our joy.

Thank You for giving us Your Holy Spirit to comfort, guide, strengthen, and help us.

Show each of us the purpose You have for our lives. Give us the courage to follow You even when we don't understand where You are leading.

Help us remember that serving You doesn't always look big or important. Sometimes it looks like a kind word, a helping hand, a meal, a visit, a prayer, a child who needs teaching, or someone who simply needs to know they are loved.

And Father, when our circumstances frighten us, remind us that You are greater than our circumstances.

Thank You for bringing us back when we wandered.

Thank You for Your mercy.

Thank You for Your patience.

Thank You for Your unfailing love.

Hold us close today and lead us exactly where You want us to go.

In Jesus' precious name,

Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

And the power,

And the glory,

Forever and ever.

Amen.

BELIEVE, OBEY, BE BLESSED.

AMEN. BOBBA ❤️

Love, Penny 💛 

##Godisgood ##faith #devotional