A friend once asked me to look from my vantage point and tell her what I saw as her primary job in God’s kingdom.
She asked me to consider how God had equipped and gifted her, and what that might say about her purpose in life. I wanted to provide a well-thought-out answer, so I prayed before responding.
As I talked to God about His purpose for my friend, I envisioned a tall glass and a shallow pie pan, each filled to the brim with water. Both held the same amount of liquid. But one was deep, the other wide.
God has given us all a certain measure of abilities.
He has also established a 24-hour day and a 7-day week.
The liquid I saw represents our time and talent. God wants us to fully invest ourselves in the work He has called us to. We can either dive deeply into the projects we undertake, or we can spread ourselves thin.
As I do each time I sit with God, I closed my eyes and whispered these words: Speak Lord, for your servant is listening. In that moment, I was drawn to the 4 x 6 card I’d picked up from the bottom of the basket on a whim and tucked into my Bible before heading outside that morning. I pulled out the card to see what it said—especially curious when I recognized my own handwriting.
Before we can embrace our purpose in life, we need to establish godly priorities.
If you’re like me, you try to make plans that prioritize the things that matter most. But how do we determine what ranks as more important than the next item on a long to-do list, especially when urgency makes unavoidably loud demands?
My husband may have one idea about how I should order my day.
My daughter may have another view of what really matters.
And what about my own needs?
Should I focus on what matters most or who matters most?
Thankfully, Paul addressed these questions in Philippians 1:9-10.
I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return (NLT).
I see two things we need in order to establish godly priorities:
love that overflows
knowledge and understanding that grows
If you’ve been feeling drained, perhaps you’re spreading yourself too thin. When someone other than our Creator establishes our priorities, our supply can drop below the rim. Stop and consider what will cause your love to overflow more and more.
If you’ve been feeling ill equipped for the tasks at hand, invest your time in pursuing greater knowledge and understanding. As you focus your thoughts and energy on loving God and loving others, your knowledge and understanding of them will grow. This growth will equip you to fulfill your purpose.
I believe if we work on going deeper, God will expand the width of our influence.
God supplies us with a greater measure of “liquid” so we remain full without sacrificing depth. As your love overflows and your knowledge grows, God will steadily increase your abilities and even multiply your time. It’s much easier to pour out of a tall glass than a shallow pan.
I’m not sure my illustration of the glass and the pan was what my friend had in mind, but I learned something valuable about God’s purpose for each of us.
Our primary job in God’s kingdom is to love.
For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus… What is important is faith expressing itself in love.
— Galatians 5:6 (NLT)
