Your Life...Extraodinary or Ordinary?....

What is life? Is it just a span of time? What is the purpose of your life? If someone were to ask you what is your life purpose? What would you say? Maybe purpose never really enters the mind. Maybe your life is like a sailboat at the mercy of the winds with no harbor to seek driven by extemporaneous happenstance.

Does God have a purpose and plan for each of us? If He does, is it to just exist, to be mediocre, to be status quo, and resolved to mimic others even if it means falling far short of our potential? It's clear that life is a gift but what's difficult to ascertain is how to take the gift of life and all the uniqueness that is us and arrive at the conclusion that God created us for great purposes.

Can those purposes be discovered? Can we truly live a purpose-driven life? Does God have unique assignments for us to accomplish in the span of our lives? Can He supernaturally converge our personality, talents, experiences, relationships, circumstances, and situations in such a way that we fulfill our unique God-given purpose? Which is better to live without purpose & aim, or to live with the absolute knowing that you and I have a definite purpose?

I am convinced that the follower of Christ is meant to live an extraordinary life. A life driven by purpose, intentional pursuit of dreams, aspirations, and goals born of God. It's a life that is vibrant, dynamic, and full of adventure. It's a life of faith, a reliance on the inexhaustible resources of God to deliver us, grow us, bless us, and lead us through the darkest of valleys and to ascend the highest of heights. It's a life where we abide in a close relationship with the living God and He uses us in whatever station of life we find ourselves through His Holy Spirit to accomplish unique assignments for His glory.

This world defines the extraordinary life in many ways. The pursuit of fame, fortune, wisdom, influence, power, and the accumulation of material possessions to name a few. Yet through the annals of time, so many have accomplished these and more and yet like Solomon decare .."I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind." Ecclesiastes 1:14

In light of every nation and every person's natural affinity towards conformity of thought and aversion to pursuing what is of God, how does one truly live an extraordinary life? Is it possible for the invalid who is a prayer warrior to live an extraordinary life? How about the abandoned child or the one born in poverty? What about those who feel they have very few of any talents or abilities of note? Aren't they especially relegated to never escape a life defined as ordinary?

For the believers in Christ, the truth is no matter what circumstance one finds themselves in, God has great purposes in store for each person who will put their faith and trust in Him. He promises, "For I know the plans I have for you, " declares the Lord, " plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 However, His definition of an extraordinary life is different than the world's. So we must adjust our perspective and understanding to align with His lest we be discouraged, disillusioned, or distracted from God's best.

I am convinced that God has unique plans and purposes for each of His children. Yet time is short, our lives even if lived a 100 yrs are but a vapor in view of eternity. There has to be an urgency and passion to know Him, to learn His plan, and to accomplish the assignments He has uniquely positioned, skilled and blessed us for.

If we trust Him, follow Him, and obey Him, we like so many before us will know what it's like to look over the balance of our lives not in vain but with an unmistakable knowing that our lives were far from ordinary.....they were extraordinary!

"The word of the LORD came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:4-5