There is an intentional design to our purpose. When we find clarity to our design, we learn more about what we were made for – our “unique mission”. As we talked about at church over the weekend, I believe that every one of us has one.
Beyond the Gates of Splendor is a film that chronicles the events leading up to and following Operation Auca, an attempt to contact the Huaorani tribe of Ecuador in which five American missionaries were killed.
Because Jim Elliot, one of those missionaries, understood his unique mission to reach the Waodani people with the life-changing message of Christ, he was able to find resolve in his purpose, passion for the journey, and even more importantly, something worth dying for.
It’s been said that if you haven’t found something worth dying for, then you haven’t found anything worth living for. Jim Elliot, before dying a martyr’s death at the hand of the Huaorani, wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
William James said, “The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.”
Understanding our “unique mission” is the secret of life. It comes down to understanding what and who we were made for.
I believe one of the reasons so many people struggle with finding their “unique mission” is that they simply have too many options. Having too much on our plate, being overextended, and burning the candle at both ends just leaves us with nothing left to give where it really matters. Just like my wife suffering from “entrée paralysis” in a fine restaurant as a menu laden with too many choice foods beckons her, we struggle to make a firm decision. When we have too many options, it paralyzes our decisiveness, and we cant find resolve. As a result, we fail to gain momentum in any one area of our lives.
In the Parable of the Hidden Treasure, Jesus talked about the secret of life.
He told his followers “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
When we truly find our kingdom-purpose – everything else takes a back seat. We spend our days with more passion, creativity, imagination, love, compassion, sacrifice, resolve, and determination. We give ourselves over to something far more meaningful than success – we give ourselves to eternal significance. We find lasting joy, and become more alive each day. This is the secret to life, and the key to sustained momentum in our journey.