I was just past my 34th birthday and a four-month-old Christ-follower. Friends had come in from out of town and we had decided to visit First Baptist Church of Atlanta. None of us had ever been there. It was downtown, hard to get to, hard to find a parking place, and easy to watch on TV without all the hassle. But we got it together and were ushered into seats just behind a television camera. They’d have been Restricted View tickets if we were paying. But they were free.
I opened up the bulletin and Charles Stanley’s name wasn’t there. The guest speaker was Ronald Blue, CPA. I thought, “I didn’t go through all this to hear a bean-counter drone through some boring talk about money. I came to hear the man. Dr. Stanley. The motivator. I came to be inspired. Not guilted about giving."
But there was no way out. We sang, we prayed, they passed the plate. And then Ron Blue walked to the podium and asked a question that changed my life. I don’t know what he said after this. Have no idea about his three points or call to action. All I remember is when he asked this question…
“If your life is a dollar, what are you spending it for?”
I was stunned. Embarrassed. Knocked off balance.
Thirty-four years old. Never thought about why I’m here or what I was doing with my life.
He continued…
“My purpose in life is to glorify God by using my financial knowledge, skills and experience to help people become better stewards of the resources God has given them.”
Wow!
Here was the first person I ever heard ask and answer that question. If I’d written down my answer to his question, it would have said...
“My purpose in life is to glorify Regi Campbell by going as far as I can, as fast as I can within AT&T.”
Pretty lame, huh?
Every single one of us is different. While our DNA is 99.9% the same as any other human, there are 3,000,000 differences between one human and every other human. And that’s just what we’re born with. Add the unique influence of parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, teachers, ministers, counselors and friends, and we become even more different from each other. Pour each life over years of one of a kind experiences and you see why every single person becomes so unique and different. ???
Our omniscient Heavenly Father isn’t the least bit surprised by the person you’ve become. In fact, He had a huge role in shaping your journey, creating some of the opportunities you’ve had and redeeming some of the ones you tried to make for yourself.
Since we know that God doesn’t screw up and that "for every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven,” (Eccl. 3:1) what’s your purpose? Have you thought about it? Can you state it? Not the generic version..."We’re all to glorify God." We’re all created to be worshipers. I’m talking specifically to YOU.
Is there some unique thing about you that, if given over to God, could make a huge difference in people's lives? Is there something designed into you that, if unleashed, could bring tremendous meaning to your life and glory to your Heavenly Father?
