“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8, ESV)
To know one’s purpose is to have a life direction—a target at which to aim. Having purpose is different than knowing what we want “to do” someday. It’s more about knowing “how to do” life. God’s word makes it clear that we must walk humbly with Him, but how does that look in real life? It is doing life in an unpretentious way, or as Webster would say, “to destroy the power or prestige of”….which sounds a whole lot like doing life God’s way not my way. Being humble is being unassuming. When we walk closely with God we can allow Him to direct and guide us without us assuming we’ll take over when we think He’s not doing it right. We can trust Him.
Let’s pray that we, as parents and care-takers to our loved ones, will be the example our children need to see, and the ones they want to emulate because we’ve listened carefully to our Creator to fulfill the purpose He had for us.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sow to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:7-9, ESV)
An apple seed will only grow up to be an apple tree that bears apples. You can’t expect to find oranges growing on that tree. Similarly, when we sow good deeds in life, we can be assured, that good deeds will continue to grow. We can’t stop doing/sowing good deeds when the storms of life knock us down – we have to get up and continue doing what we know is right…not just what is easy, fun and comfortable! Even the pruning of a tree brings forth more and better fruit… but not THIS season… the next. So when you do something kind and good, and it’s not accepted or welcomed in the way you’d hoped it would be, don’t become disappointed. Watch for how it will blossom if we continue caring for others.
Let’s pray that we not tire out or become weary in doing good to and for others. The only One who needs to see it for it to be worthwhile is God. Our job is to persevere. If He is pleased, we have sown well and He will bless it.
Written by Cindi Ferrini
