What is Purpose?
According to the Oxford dictionary, Purpose is the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.
On that note, each and every one of us, created by God, have a reason for which we were created. God(Our Creator) didn’t just feel like creating something for fun, and then created us as a result of that. No, just like every other creator or manufacturer, God had a purpose for Man before he created man. Man does not just exist, man exists for a purpose.
And it is for this reason that Man(Male/Female) is constantly in pursuit of the discovery and fulfillment of Purpose – This is because we were not created to just exist, we were created for a purpose higher than us, and we’ll never be truly fulfilled until we start to travel in the path of our Purpose, as designed by God (Our Creator).
Hence, the topic of Purpose discovery is one that is mostly discussed by young people today, and this is because there’s a longing in our hearts to fulfill the purpose for which we were created and live the life that was designed for us, by our creator.
This longing in our hearts is usually so strong that life makes no sense until we finally discover and begin to live for the reason, for which we were created. And this is because the Purpose for which we were created is the reason for Life itself, so life makes no sense, and fulfillment pitches its tent far away from us until we discover and begin to maximize purpose.
This also means that Success in life is judged by our maximization of Purpose.
Purpose was not designed to be guessed, but to be discovered, and because of this, the question in the heart of young people regarding this subject matter has always been this – “How can one find Purpose?”
There’s been some sort of unclarity concerning this subject matter, and this is because Purpose has been mystified by different people, hence it has left so many young people frustrated, as they do not really understand this subject matter.
Some people are in support of the school of thought that says that for one to discover purpose, there are some factors called ‘The Pointers To Purpose’ that should be put into consideration to make the discovery of it easy.
These Pointers are basically major unique discoveries about yourself that are believed to single you out, and help you realize your design and by extension your place in life.
While some other people are of the school of thought that these pointers are too logical, and Purpose should only be revealed to you by God. These set of people believe that an attempt to engage the pointers of Purpose in the pursuit of it would only birth activity, and not Purpose.
These two School of thoughts concerning Purpose has always left the subject of it surrounded by questions like;
“Are we all just supposed to sit and wait for God to specifically tell us what our purpose is?”
“Pointers or an Encounter with God, which is truly essential for Purpose discovery?”
Just as I stated earlier, some people believe that all you need to do, to discover Purpose, is to have a relationship with God, and have him tell you your purpose by himself, and outside of this it cannot be discovered.
While some other people are of the opinion that you don’t necessarily need to have a relationship with God to discover Purpose, and all you need is to pay attention to some specific pointers within you and that’s it.
Hence, there’s such a great confusion in this world, as to what Purpose is and what it is not. This has left many frustrated. It has become a mystery, and the work this article is here to do is to help demystify it.
The funny part of all of these is that the second group of people see the first group of people as too religious or as we put it here in Nigeria, “The Spirikoko people.”
While the first group of people see the second group of people as being too logical, and might have actually replaced God with logic.
This has truly made Purpose a Mystery to many, as a lot of people out there are in desperate pursuit of it, but do not really know what to believe.
They are in a great Dilemma!
“Should I hope in my relationship with God to find Purpose?”
“Can I actually focus on the pointers to Purpose and forget about this ‘Relationship with God’ thing?”
This has brought great confusion in the purpose discovery journey of a lot of people, including mine, until I made up my mind that I wasn’t just going to sit down and do nothing about this confusion, I went in search of light – Light that would help clear all the clouds in the air, and indeed take Purpose from the place of mystery to a place of simplicity, where everybody can understand what it is truly about, begin to maximize it without the fear of if they are doing it wrong or right.
Part of my ultimate goal in life is to demystify and simplify the concept of Purpose, so much that more people would find it easier to navigate their way through this journey of Purposeful living, because this actually is what it means to lead yourself to Success – Fulfilling Purpose.
So, which school of thought did I find out to be the final answer to the question of Purpose discovery?
Well, I go with the school of thought that says both a relationship with God and the pointers to purpose are equally important for the discovery and fulfillment of it, and I believe you only fall into error when you choose to depend on just a relationship with God or just the pointers to purpose. And this might be the reason why you are still struggling, just as I used to.
Firstly, when we talk about the purpose of anything, we cannot do that without mentioning the creator of that thing.
This means that every time we want to know how to use any product at all, the first thing that comes to our mind is to know why the creator made it in the first place. It is for this reason we always run to check the manual of our home appliances when we purchase them. We want to know what the manufacturer is saying about it.
It’s the same for you and I. God is our creator, and to fully understand why he made us, we must go back to the manual he left us with.
And in Genesis 1:26-28, which was the first place Man was ever mentioned in the Bible, God stated why he made Man. Right there in Gen 1:26-28, God stated the purpose of Man.
Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.
If you read from verse 26, you’ll see that the creation of Man was about a Dominion mandate. God had a Dominion mandate to make heaven look like earth, to ensure that the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven, and Man was created in the likeness of God – Like God, to do what God would do, if he was on earth. This is the general Purpose of Man.
We are all here to serve the Purpose of God! And I like the way the Amplified version puts it. It said, “God blessed them, and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, using all its vast resources in service of God and Man.”
Our Purpose here is simple – To dominate the earth, using all the vast resources of the earth to first of all serve God, and then to serve humanity.
Meaning, if what you are doing is serving God alone, your Purpose is not complete yet, and if it’s serving humanity and not God, it is not complete still.
Our Purpose is to be part of God’s Dominion mandate, using all of earth’s resources to serve God and Man, until the Kingdom of this world becomes the Kingdom of our God. It’s the same for all of us.
Yes! It’s the same for all of us, but because of how large the earth is, and how broad the systems that governs the earth are, we will not all do this the same way, and that is why we were not all created the same way – We all are unique, and this is Where our ‘Individual Purpose’ come in.
Each of us would need to find our unique place in the Dominion mandate of God. Each of us would need to find the unique part we need to play in the accomplishment of this divine assignment, as it aligns to our unique design. And this is where the pointers to Purpose come to play.
With these pointers to Purpose, you are able to find your unique place in God’s Dominion mandate, and this is what is referred to as our ‘Individual Purpose ‘.
You need both a relationship with God and paying attention to these pointers to discover and fulfill Purpose, because first of all, it is about serving God, it’s about being a part of God’s business, and there’s no way you can be a part of someone’s business without a relationship with that person. You cannot serve a God you do not know, so it’s not just about the activity. Can all you are doing be said to be a service to God? And if yes, how come you have no relationship with this God?
You also need these pointers, because they let you access your inner self, and reveal your uniqueness to you, so it’s easy to know your path, and where best you fit into, in the Dominion mandate of God.
While this generation is excited about activity, and have truly lost what Purpose is really about, it is very important that we understand the true concept of purpose, and to understand it in its simplicity.
Both the Man who says you need a relationship with God and the one who says you need the pointers to Purpose, are correct. It’s just that we equally need both of them, and none should be ignored or considered irrelevant.
While it is important to know thy God, and know the work he has sent you to do, it is also important, Man, that you know thyself. A Relationship with God, and the Pointers to Purpose gives you access to both of them.
