God designed this world to be a place of peace and harmony. Satan has hijacked that plan, and after generations of compounding sin, the world today is quite often a frustrating, discouraging, and painful place to live. It’s easy to get caught up in the swirl of war, disease, distrust, and evil around us. While we want to live for Christ, sometimes the path gets dark and we lose our way.
Our dreams of making a difference fade and far from living a purposeful life, we find ourselves drifting, pulled along by an invisible flow pervading our existence. And tomorrow it all begins again. How do we break out of the cycle and begin to live our lives on purpose and in step with God’s design?
One key to living a purposeful life is to quit looking to fill our lives with mountain-top experiences. When everything is going well, when we feel close to God and in tune with our mission, those feelings can be addictive. Many are the mornings I don’t want to leave my time in prayer with God. I am where I belong, communing with my Creator. Why would I ever want to go anywhere else? I want to stay on the mountain-top, not slog through the valley before me. But the key to living a purposeful life is to find meaning in the valleys. We have to take what we learn from our time with God and use it to serve and love others. We were created to glorify God and the best way to do that is to reflect His character in our day to day interactions with those around us.
Until we learn to find satisfaction in the mundane duties of our life, we will always feel we are missing something. We’ll be discouraged and frustrated. As Brother Lawrence taught in his classic book, “The Practice of the Presence of God”, we can find God in the smallest and most ordinary tasks. When we find God, we find satisfaction. When we keep our focus on Him through everything, we will live a purposeful life. There is no greater feeling t to lay your head on the pillow at night knowing you have kept your mind in a state of worship throughout the day. It’s not a feeling. Those will come and go. Finding God in the crudest and most minute details requires focus and a radical shift of mind.
We can’t stop the various influences bombarding us each day. Satan is always finding new ways to try and entice us to look his way. But we can choose how we will respond to those influences. We can keep our selves disciplined in our behaviors and choices. This becomes far easier when we have trained ourselves to always be looking for God in everything we do. If you can’t find Him, just begin talking to Him. You’ll realize He is right there with you, regardless of where you are or what you are doing. When you keep yourself aware of His presence, you will find the temptations of Satan will loosen their grip. Before the day begins, determine to remain aware of God’s presence at all times. Begin there, and soon you will find yourself living a purposeful life.