Does Your Purpose Have Purpose?

Though it has been quite some time since I last played a pinball machine, anytime in my youth and college years I had both opportunity and money available, I played.  The dinosaur pinball machines I played on in the 1960s and 70s were not as sophisticated as the computerized versions of today, but the concept was the same–put the pinball in play, use the bumpers to score points, and use the two flippers at the bottom of the playing surface to keep the ball from falling into the hole at the bottom.  The direction the ball travelled hinged upon the direction the bumper sent it, and also the skill of the player to use the flippers to keep it in play.  Obviously, the longer the ball was in play and the more valuable the bumpers it hit, the more points one scored.

Have you ever known people whose approach to life is like it’s one big pinball game? Birth puts them into play, and once in play, direction in life is determined by which way various bumpers in life (like health, financial circumstances, and personal relationships) knock them.  They do their best to operate the flippers to remain in play.    

Let’s ponder these questions for a moment.  What is needed in this person’s life which, if present, would help exchange his/her pinball life for one that is full and meaningful?   What would enable them to be proactive rather than reactive?  What one thing, more than any other, would enable a person to live with such intentionality such that rather than allowing life’s bumpers to determine his/her final destination, he uses life’s “bumpers” to help him navigate his journey?  

• Is that one thing effective planning?  Afterall, if we plan our work and then work our plan, doesn’t that help lead to a life of direction and meaning?  
• Is that one thing developing a life strategy?  Strategy, as an overall plan for accomplishing a job or task, is vital for a directed life.  Having a strategy in place is important because it drives specific planning, but it doesn’t drive all the other disciplines needed. Thus, it cannot be the “one thing.”
• Is that one thing self-discipline?  Self-discipline is a vital cog in living a meaningful and directed life.  Self-discipline is the external evidence of the internal motivation and determination to not allow the bumpers of life to determine one’s meaning and direction.  But as important as self-discipline is, it is not what drives the other disciplines.
• Is that one thing goal setting?  Is the major lack in a pinball life the absence of written or verbalized declarations of what one hopes to achieve, when he hopes to achieve it by, and the way he will measure results. Setting goals is a key component in achieving a directed and meaningful life, but still, it is not the one thing missing that drives all the rest.
• Is that one thing having a clear mission to accomplish – a strongly felt desire, aim, or calling to accomplish something important with one’s life?  A clearly defined mission goes a long way in inspiring and motivating self-discipline for the development of goals, strategies, and specific planning, yet it too is not sufficient to drive all the rest.

The key missing ingredient the pinball life is purpose: that understanding and conclusion a person comes to regarding why he or she is alive, what he or she was born to accomplish, their reason for existence.  Why is purpose so important?  Purpose gives us a reason to get up every day and motivates us to live each day to the fullest.  Purpose gives us focus.  Purpose, no matter the realm of life, drives mission, goals, strategy, and planning.  Purpose motivates self-discipline essential for fulfilling our purpose even when bumpers in life want to knock us off course.

But the most important reason that purpose is the key missing ingredient is that having purpose in our lives, and living to fulfill that purpose, affirms the truth that self-proclaimed atheist British philosopher Bertrand Russell (1870-1972) was stating when he said, “Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.”¹⁵   None of us is on this earth by accident.  We are here on earth because Creator God created us and put us here for a reason. Purpose originates outside us in the heart and mind of God but is then revealed within our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit.  To fulfill that purpose  we must first discover it.

Time to ponder:

1. God has given two types of purpose to every person: (1) A general purpose to love and worship Him with all our hearts, and to love our neighbors in the same way we love ourselves, and (2) a personal purpose tailored just for us.  Do your know God’s particular purpose for your life and more importantly are you seeking to fulfill it?
2. Does your purpose have purpose?  This question borrows from the two aspects of the word purpose: (1) It refers to the reason for which something is done or created or exists. (2) It refers to a person’s sense of resolve or determination to fulfill his/her purpose.  Having purpose for your purpose means you have a passion for fulfilling that purpose?

Keep these truths in mind as you seek to recognize and fulfill God’s purposes for your life:

• Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
• Philippians 2:13 (ESV) “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  

God works with purpose and expects us to do the same. It’s the best way to avoid a pinball life.

 

¹Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2012), as cited by In Other Words….iows.net.