...continued from yesterday.
WHY ALL THESE FUSS ABOUT PURPOSE?
Why
is the discovery of purpose so important? Why must I discover purpose to be
great? Can't I just lay my hands on anything and succeed in it?
Well,
the truth is that you can venture into anything in life and still be rich and
famous. The world will celebrate you as great by its own standard. But in the
sight of your Creator, you would be a product that malfunctioned. You developed
fault and so couldn't fulfill the original intention for your creation. If
riches and material possession were all there is to greatness, then, even armed
robbers and frauds would be called great men.
True
greatness is fulfilling the purpose for which God originally created you. The
ultimate goal is to please the One who has created you. If Bishop Oyedepo had
chosen to enter into any business apart from the ministry he was created for,
he would still have been rich, marry and have kids. But where would the Covenant
University, the fifty thousand capacity Faith Tabernacle (the largest single
auditorium in the world) and the entire Living Faith Church had been?
Had
William Henry Bill Gates III chosen to go into the law enforcement profession
like his parents had wanted, who would have given birth to the multi billion
dollars corporation called Microsoft. Had Bisade Ologunde gone into the finance
profession like he studied in the university, we would never have had Lagbaja,
the masked one. You need to understand that living is not entirely about you.
It is all about God and His purpose.
You
can never be truly great outside your purpose. Therefore, make all diligence to
discover yours. Let me quickly share a few things with you about the
connections between your purpose and your life.
1. Your
purpose is the only thing that will distinguish you from all other people on
earth – The population of the world presently stands at around 7 billion
humans. In a world as large as this, it is easy to get lost in the crowd. However,
your purpose is the only guarantee you have to be different. Your purpose is
your peculiarity. Failure to discover and live your purpose will get you lost
in the crowd. And to tell you the truth, the world already has too many fakes
and imitators. What it is yearning for now are people who will dare to be
original.
In my calling as
a pastor, I have come to discover that not all pastors possess a burning heart
for the same subjects. Some burn for holiness, some burn for faith, some are
passionate about leadership and nation building, while some others burn for the
Holy Spirit anointing. We are all pastors but the purpose of our calling is not
the same. As it is in the spiritual
business, so it is in every other field. Purpose can never be the same. Your
purpose is your stamp of excellence.
Even when two
people share a passion for the same subject, there will still be a nuance of
differences between them. No two authors can write the same thing in the same
way, even if they are given the same topics. No two singers can sing in exactly
the same way, even if they are given a song of the same contents. The only
thing that sets you apart in a world so full of talents is the discovery of
your own specific purpose. Dare to be different. It is the only way for the
world to feel your impacts.
2. Your
purpose holds the key to your fulfillment – Cars, houses and other material
possessions only bring happiness, which is temporary. I have seen and heard
people in enviable professions complain bitterly about how frustrated they are
about their jobs. They are not happy doing what they are doing. Why? They are
not meant for it! They went into whatever it is they are doing now because of
peer influence, societal factors or parental pressures. You can never be
fulfilled outside the original purpose of your creation.
Years back, I
read in the news papers about a man who resigned from a lucrative banking job
to take up teaching appointment in a Polytechnic. I also watched on Today's
Woman, a TV show hosted by Adesua on NTA,
how a woman who graduated with First Class in Chemical engineering and working
with a multinational company resigned her job to start a furniture making company.
Now, you might
say they were foolish or being influenced by some unseen evil forces. But I say
no! They simply resigned from what was not giving them fulfillment to enter
into what gives them pleasure.
If only we
would just stop looking at life from the
material possession angle alone and start looking at it from the point of
fulfillment; doing what brings you joy. Too many people are living in absolute
frustrations and angst in spite of jobs that is paying them huge salary. Our materialistic mind set in Africa has made
us place money above personal joy. That is not the way God ordained living. You
are not meant for whatever does not bring you joy.
As a pastor, I
enjoy what I’m doing. I am not physically rich yet but I can tell you that I'm
fulfilled being in the ministry. There is an on-top-of-the-world feeling I
always have every time I'm able to minister people, whether to a crowd or to an
individual. I feel joy and energy flowing through me. I have never had a day of
regret doing what I’m doing. But I'm not alone in this exhilarating feeling of
satisfaction. Everyone who has found something to live for also can testify to
this experience. You cannot find your purpose and not find joy and fulfillment,
even if there are no immediate gratifications. Don’t run after just making a
living but making a life.
3. Your purpose is
the only thing that keeps you going when circumstances do not encourage it
- I wish that I could tell you that
things will run smoothly all the way through to the end but I can't. You must
understand that in the pursuit of your destiny, you will face rejection,
persecution, hardship, hunger, financial constraint, and a whole lot of other
challenges that will come with the intention of stopping you from going on.
But your purpose
becomes your motivation and driving force. It infuses you with energy that you
can't find elsewhere. There is no motivation as effective as self-motivation.
All the great men in history also had their own seasons of turbulence when they
thought they wouldn't be able to make it through. In fact, many of them gave up
on their dreams at one time or the other. But when they remembered the big
picture of what they set out to achieve in the first place, they were
challenged to return to their pursuit, they picked up strength again. Myles
Munroe says, “Purpose is the source of personal discipline.” People who have
found a goal to pursue are able to endure challenges more than those who have
nothing to live for. This is why it is essential to discover your personal
purpose. It is the only thing that keeps you going, even when the circumstances
around does not encourage going on.
4. Inside
your purpose lie the resources that you need to be great in life – The late
Nigerian ace comedian, Gbenga Adeboye a.k.a Funwontan, shot into lime light,
not as a politician, finance or investment expert, medical doctor or pastor but
as a comedian. You can't hear Gbenga talk and not laugh, even if all the
problems of the world is on your shoulders. He is a multi-gifted man who could
mimic any tribal accent and voice he wanted.
When asked in an
interview, how he composed his jokes, he simply answered that he didn't write
joke down on paper or worry about what he will say. But once he mounts the
stage, different ideas and concepts will
begin to flow out from his mind. He didn't need to think too hard before he got
ideas. There was no late president of this nation that has ever been given the
kind of burial that Gbenga had when he died.
I am someone who
strongly believed that not everybody can become bankers, engineers, architects,
pastors or politicians. We are created for different purposes according to
God's desire. However, whatever purpose for which God has deigned you, He has
equally equipped you with great abilities to do it. You have great untapped
potentials that I love to call God's resources inside you. These resources
empower you to fulfill your purpose without any struggles. I don't struggle to
preach. Wake me up in the dead of the night, I will preach, even without my
sermon notes or a bible. Preaching is what I'm created to do. It comes natural
to me.
Just as birds
don't struggle to fly because their purpose is to fly and are equipped for it,
so also, you shouldn't be struggling to do what God has designed you to do. If
you're struggling to do what you're doing, it could be an indication that
you're not meant to be doing it. Fulfilling your purpose should come to you as
natural. You're like a well-oiled hydraulic, you operate without frictions. And
as you do it, people begin to know you for it. It doesn't take long to enter
into greatness once you discover and are doing what you are wired for.
Also, your
purpose attracts the people that you need to you. When you begin to walk and
work in your purpose, you don’t need to worry about how
you will get the resources because God has placed the resources you need in the
hands of some people and as you begin to carry out God’s assignment, such
people will begin to locate you. When God gives an assignment, He also gives
the resources to accomplish it. God is bound to sponsor whatever He commands.
You have what it takes to fulfill it, if it is your life’s purpose.
5. Your
reward is in your purpose – This is the point where our personal gratifications
come in. You are not only fulfilled in carrying out your purpose but God also
ensures that you are paid and well compensated for your work. Hardly will you
see a man who faithfully stays committed to his purpose that didn't prosper.
Proverbs 22:29 says, “Seest though a man diligent in his business? He shall
stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” God is faithful and
His Word cannot be broken.
God
is not a cheat. When He sends a man on a mission, He ensures the man is fully
satisfied. Your greatness and your rewards is in the discovery of and
commitment to your purpose. Mother Theresa, the mother of the poor in Calcutta,
India, sat at the same table with world's most powerful men while she was
alive. Had she chosen to pursue her personal ambition instead of answering
God's call upon her life, she never might have risen to such a place of
prominence in life.
I often wondered
why people would pay exorbitant amount of money just to go watch Klint the
drunk, Basket mouth, Ay and those other comedians. Wealth and fame are included
in the package of purpose. When you discover your purpose and walk in it, you
cannot but be rich and popular. They come as a byproduct of purpose
fulfillment. People who don't care about God's purpose over their lives but are
only after money will engage in all kinds of ungodly acts just to get it. But
people who have found their purpose never pursue money. They pursue vigorously
how they will fulfill their purpose. Then, money does not have any choice than
to locate them. You cannot walk in God's plans for your life and be poor. It
simply is impossible!
5. Your purpose is
the only thing that matters to God at the end of the day - John Mason says,
“God holds us responsible, not for what we have but for what we could have, not
for what we are but for what we might be.” When at last you stand before your
creator to give an account of your stewardship, He will never ask you the
number of cars you bought, the houses you built or the vastness of the wealth
you acquired. Those are mundane, irrelevant issues. He will only ask you the
degree to which you were able to fulfill the purpose for which He created you.
He will want to know if you walked in your life mission to the earth or you got
distracted by other things in the world and forsook your primary purpose of
creation.
Remember, it is
not about you at all. It is all about God and His plans. And one day, He will
ask you. “For we all cannot but stand before the throne of judgment…” And God
will never take it lightly if we fail in our purposes. Why? One, every
resources and grace that He has deposited in us are a waste. Two, there are
other destinies attached to ours. In fulfilling our own destiny, they are also
lifted and helped to find their paths in life. Our failure means their failure
and the failure of the destinies that are attached to theirs. And the ripple
effect of our own failure goes on and on and on. You see success and failure
have domino effects.
...to be continued!
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