Purpose ... Do You Know Your's?

From my childhood, I prepared myself to be a preacher ... evangelist / pastor. I knew that God had called me to this special calling and I prepared myself for it and entered the ministry after attending Texas Bible College out of high school.

My ensuing career as an evangelist / pastor led me to several years as an evangelist, the founding of two churches, pastoring two other churches and ultimately pastor in Crosby, TX for eight years. It was in Crosby that I began to struggle unknowingly with MS which eventually disabled me and resulted in my resigning as pastor and entering a very difficult period in our life as a family ... not knowing what the future held and how we would survive given my physical state at the time.

As always, God's hand was at work and I was brought into contact with Dr. Erica Simpson-Green who finally diagnosed me and began treatment which I responded to very quickly. Though, still in a power chair, I began teaching high school sciences at Life Christian Academy and poured myself into study and preparation. Having only attended Theology school, I reentered college determined to be the best high school science teacher possible.

However, there was an internal struggle going on which is finally the purpose of this post ... PURPOSE - Do You Know Yours? I had spent my lifetime preparing for something that seemingly had been jerked out from under me and now I was wrestling with all my might to retrain myself for a new career ... determined to provide for my family. It was at this time that I began to search deep within myself in prayer and meditation to discover what my purpose in life really was.

I believed, if I found "my purpose" my career, my situation, my condition ... none of these would matter ... I could still fulfill "my purpose." Then it came to me as clear as the sound of a striking hammer on a crisp morning ... my PURPOSE was to "inspire others to reach higher, go farther, and do more than they ever thought possible!" Wow! Finally I got it! Many questions were answered. Understanding my PURPOSE was liberating!

I no longer had to be anything ... do a certain thing ... be called by a particular title ... just fulfill my PURPOSE! Inspire others ... to reach higher, go farther, and do more than they ever thought possible. I could do that! It's really what I had been trying to do all along anyway while thinking I had to BE something.

My advice to you is to discover YOUR PURPOSE. Why did God put you on this planet? When you discover that answer you will discover a new-found freedom. It will not matter what changes occur in life ... you cannot control life ... but you can remain dedicated to your PURPOSE!