Equipped for My Purpose
When we consider the two reasons that God created us, all of us, glorifying God and spreading the Gospel, part of the reason we are daunted is that we know the Great Commission says to go in all the world. I think it is more reasonable to say that our individual purpose also includes a geography or specific set of people – an audience.
Audience and Geography Changes
If we consider Peter, the rock upon which the church stands, we might agree that he had a purpose which matched his profession, which was to spread the Gospel. But the interesting thing about his purpose is that, although he was present for the Great Commission, he stuck with the Jews as his audience and he stuck close to home. It was over 10 years before Peter’s audience changed. When he had a vision and was sent to Caesarea, he baptized the first Gentiles in Acts 10-11. In considering audience and geography, it ties to your purpose but may change over time.
As I search my brain for another example, I land upon Ruth. In the Bible, we have a full story of a significant time in Ruth’s life. It would certainly be a time in which she shows her true colors. And she shows true dignity and grace. She cares for a woman who calls herself ‘Bitter’ (Mara) and even follows the bitter woman’s instructions apparently with no second thought. Through the story the only purpose that I see for Ruth’s life is to care for and love others as the Lord does. Her audience seems to be her family. We are not told of any larger scope before the move back to Bethlehem and it seems she is content to stay with her family, Mara and Boaz and of course her son Obed. I suppose we could say her geography changed, but for her it did not change the audience: her family.
Connection to Audience
Each of us may have a specific group that we feel for. That may be family or women or men. That may be an ethnic group or nationality. It may be the homeless or immigrants, it may be prisoners, the elderly, the infirm. I recently wrote out my purpose as ‘to share Him with others so that they will know Him and his freeing love. So, I think my audience is people who need to know God’s freeing love. It is a discipleship mission more than an evangelism mission. But I find if I have the opportunity, I am interested in donating or volunteering for either a food bank or the homeless. I suppose those are the groups that we can easily identify with needing freedom that comes from knowing God or knowing Him more deeply. I can also carry out this purpose at church, with any group. And of course, this work on InspiritEncourage is pretty full-time in that purpose.
Audience Composition
It is important to note that the size of the audience is not terribly important. Even Jesus had a small group of 12 men and a small geographic area about the size of Maryland or Vermont, less than 10,000 square miles (about 26,000 sq. km). The group of people is the group that God has set out for you. Not sure? Just ask Him! Like I mentioned, the audience will change over time and over the reach of differing priorities in our lives. It may be family for a period of years, but always with an eye on another group and we can extend the audience to more when we feel lead. If anything, I think we can also fulfill our purpose more often, by ‘finding it’ or writing it down and then actively seeking to reach out and do, more often or in a new audience, what God designed you to do.
He Equips the Worker
Remember too that it is God who equips us to carry out His purpose. We need only offer ourselves to him and He will meet us with the rest. ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go,’ Joshua 1:9 says. The Lord is who works the purpose in and through us, we have nothing to fear. Perhaps you have heard ‘God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.’ You have a purpose that He will ensure you are prepared for, giving you all the tools and skills necessary. We just have to step out in faith and do, without expectation other than to please God and follow in Jesus’s footsteps.
If you would like some guidance in identifying your purpose, check out our resources on identity and purpose listed on our Resources page. We hope you will check these out.
