the purpose of life

What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of MY life? Man, I have asked myself that hundreds, if not thousands of times over my life. It seems like I've been on a lifelong quest to determine exactly why I was born. Chemical imbalances in my brain can make me question why I have to even exist, but my faith leads me to believe that even though I was a 'whoops baby,' my life was no accident. I am here for a reason. You are here for a reason. 

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." -Jeremiah 1:5

Although this particular verse was spoken in regards to the prophet Jeremiah, I believe this sentiment holds true to every single person in the world. The Lord knew your life before it even began. He saw its entirety laid out before him. This is not to say that he orchestrated every single thing that will happen to you, because that would make free will invalid. I'm just saying that he saw it all, the good, the bad, the ugly. He saw it. He knew it would happen. He sees your screw ups and it doesn't surprise him at all. He still loves you. 

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest command. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." -Matthew 22:37-39

It took a long time for me to realize what life is truly about. True life and being alive is serving others and trying to see past your own selfish ego in order to minister and love those around you. You will never feel more alive than when you set aside your own desires in order to serve others. It is not always easy, and it is definitely not always pretty. We often want to do what we want to do. It can seem less messy to not look for ways to help and live in your own pollyanna la la land. Been there, done that. It doesn't work. 

You might think you have no special gifts or talents that you can use to help others, but you know what you do have? Time. Time is the most precious commodity, because once you've used it, its gone. You can't get it back. People know you care about them when you're willing to spend your time with them and give them your undivided attention. People know when they are only half being paid attention to. When we feel ignored or unwanted it can leave invisible wounds that fester and turn into all sorts of negative emotions. 

A lot of us are depressed now and grieving a future that is not going to turn out how we imagined. We turn to mindless distractions like the internet, drugs and alcohol, porn and other addictions. We want to numb ourselves from our daily lives because we've either been hurt in the past, or we are scared to live in the now, so we try to disconnect from reality any way possible. 

But this is only going to make you feel worse.

Turn to the Lord. Ask him for ways to serve. Ask him to bring people into your life who you can help. I've had to be patient for answered prayers before, but I have never had to wait when I asked God to bring people into my life that I can minister to. The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. Jesus said that. There's so much work to be done. So many ways that you can feel alive and understand your purpose. Often when we ask what our purpose is, we are thinkinging ME, ME, ME, but our true purpose doesn't even begin until we look outside ourselves and to others.