Your God-given purpose

If you long to find real meaning or purpose in your life, you’re in good company. Many biblical characters needed to find or regain direction and purpose. As they prayed, they not only found God to be a source of comfort but also learned what God really is—all-good, omnipotent Principle, infinite Love.

Paul’s second letter to the young church at Corinth reveals deep spiritual truths of God’s infinite, purposeful care for His children. Encouraging them—and us—to press forward in our Christian journey, Paul writes, “It is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. . . . We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (II Corinthians 4:6, 8, 9, New Revised Standard Version).

That may seem a depressing list, but Paul reassures readers that these suggestions of confusion and doubt are not the last word when he continues, “Because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. . . . So we do not lose heart” (verses 14, 16, NRSV). The fact is, God is light and expresses His divine purpose in each of us every moment, and we each have a unique role in God’s creation.