Would you hold space for these big questions by answering a few others?

1. Who are you?
2. What experiences have you had, and what or who have they opened your eyes and heart to?
3. What are your persistent dreams and desires?
4. What do you value?

These answers serve as pointers to your calling, your purpose on this earth, your raison de etre.

The point at which these things intersect with what the world needs is where we find the answer to life’s most important question:

Why am I here?

Who You Are:

You are not here by accident. You are also not you by accident. You and your personality and gifts are by design. If God prepares good works in advance for us to do, doesn’t it follow that he also prepares us for those good works? Taking an inventory of our personality traits and giftings isn’t an act of self-indulgence or navel-gazing, but a necessary step for discerning the ways in which we have been uniquely equipped to meet the needs of this world.

What are you good at that not everyone is? Discounting or diminishing your uniqueness and gifts may seem like humility, but in reality, that willful blindness keeps you and what you have to offer the world hidden. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Bringing them into the light is a first step toward putting your gifts and who you are into service to others.

Your Life Experiences:

There are many life experiences I wish I’d never had. Some made me wish I’d never been born. Maybe you’ve felt the same. We were never meant to experience this fallen world, to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And, yet, even in the experiences we would wish away, there is a gift. The worst of my experiences opened my eyes and my heart to the suffering of others.

Have you experienced loss, failure, abuse, addiction, treachery, sickness, depression, or suicidal tendencies? Your suffering doesn’t have to be wasted. It can be traded for treasures. Your life experiences, both positive and negative, can be repurposed for good in your life and the lives of others.

Your Dreams & Desires:

The longings in your soul—a wrong you want to see righted in the world, a need you want to meet—or something you love doing because it brings you joy, are all pointers to your calling.

Do you love caring for the elderly or children, advocating for refugees, ministering to prisoners, gardening, feeding the hungry, making art and beautifying the world, taking in stray animals, caring for the sick, proclaiming truth, or writing? These are all worthy endeavors.

The Miracle Question is fantastic for its ability to bring clarity and even to give us permission to dream:

If money were no object and you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do with the rest of your life? 

The answer for me is:

1) to help others recognize their callings and live them out,

2) minister to the needs of refugees in Jesus’ name, and

3) write books that reveal the true nature of God and how he co-labors with his image-bearers to do wonders in the lives of people in trouble, especially in the lives of the least of these—the poor, widows, orphans, strangers, the trafficked and exploited.

I would love to hear yours!

The World’s Need

The place where your personality, gifts, experiences, dreams, and desires intersect with the world’s need is your calling. As followers of Jesus, we emulate him. We pray his prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” And we co-labor with God to embody that Kingdom of Heaven, of which we are citizens and ambassadors, on this earth.

That Kingdom is within us, as is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, who gives us the power to live out Kingdom purposes in a Kingdom way.

What is it like in Heaven? What is Jesus’ vision for this earth? In Heaven, there is no war or conflict, no sickness, no tears or despair, no abuse, no hunger, no oppression or injustice, and no violence.

Any dream or desire that puts us in a position of co-laboring with God to bring about that vision is worth doing, worth devoting our lives to.

Taking Our Places

Once you have clarity about your purpose, how do you make the shift, re-order your life to live it out? 

The Miracle Question is useful, but in this world, money is often an object, and we do fear failure. There are real-world obstacles to stepping into our callings to live them out—we have to pay rent or a mortgage, support families, and attend to their needs.

But there are also the obstacles between our ears, and these are usually the bigger ones—false beliefs about ourselves and what we’re capable of, false beliefs about who God is and what he’s capable of or willing to do with and through the likes of us.

Dear Ones, I believe so much more is possible with God than we have dared to ask or imagine. Do you have a dream than feels bigger than  you?

Stay tuned. I’m dreaming of offering a 12-week group for other preposterous dreamers, a launch pad of sorts. I plan to offer course content on: the obstacles between our ears, the kind of person God uses, common fears, counting the cost, mission & money, funding the dream, finding your people, faith & imagination, time & timing.

If this group of interest to you, please drop a comment here or reach out to me by phone.

If you’d like to get started sooner with one-to-one coaching support for launching your dream, please contact me at 470-239-0405.

If God is good, why is there evil in the world? Plenty has been written on that subject. The answer usually boils down to free will. Humans used the free will God gave them to plunge themselves and the world into a fallen state. We caused harm — to ourselves, others, and the earth .

‘Free will’ as an answer to the question makes sense to me, at least cerebrally. Philosophically.

But mental ascent is something quite different from emotional reconciliation to this truth. Living with chronic sickness and pain, I puzzle about why God hasn’t healed me. From my limited human perspective, it makes no sense. If I’m honest, I feel the sting of abandonment in it. It’s very personal.

If my friend were hurting, and I could alleviate her pain, I certainly would. If God can heal me, and he’s my friend, why wouldn’t he?

I can’t explain it. And God is not obligated to explain it to me. He sees things we don’t. His ways and his timing are higher than ours — as high as the Heavens are above the earth. He takes the long view, the eternal view. He knows my life is a breath, even when it seems to drag on and on.

I take comfort in knowing Job felt the angst of not being able to reconcile his lived experience with what he knew was true about God. I take courage in knowing Job believed God and refused to curse God and die, as his wife suggested he do. I take solace in knowing something cosmic was happening behind-the-scenes that Job couldn’t see. His suffering had purpose, even when he didn’t see it.

Job refused to give in to the temptation to agree with God’s Enemy about who God is, to make a false accusation against him — that he isn’t good. Such an agreement would be an act of treachery, a shifting of his allegiance to the Father of Lies.

Even Job’s friends declared untrue things about God and the causes of Job’s present reality. Job refused to internalize them.

Although he couldn’t reconcile his own experience with Yahweh as a good and all-powerful God, he kept believing God was who he said he was.

There is a greater reality than our own lived experience. By resisting the temptation to believe what his experience or his friends would have him believe about God, Job unwittingly proved himself to be what God believed he was. Job’s stubborn refusal to swallow lies about God put him on the winning side of an unseen spiritual battle. And after Job prayed for the friends who’d done him emotional harm with their untruths, God rewarded him handsomely. “…the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10, NIV).

The truth is: God is good, no matter what we are suffering. And nothing can separate us from the love of God — not even pain and chronic illness, if we refuse to let it.

My own declaration of God’s goodness, despite my pain, takes the form of a song. When despair causes me to long for Heaven, I put on worship music and sing out what is true about God: he is good and always will be.

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15, KJV).

Prayer:

Lord, will you fix in our minds and hearts what is true about you, even when we’re tempted to believe otherwise? Will you give my friends who suffer with chronic illness and pain, relief and unwavering confidence that your goodness and mercy follow them all the days of their lives? Will you perfect your power in our weakness? Will you keep us faithful like our brother, Job, and reveal to us even more about your nature?

If you had a superpower, would you use it?

What if you could fly or become invisible? Or walk through walls or time travel?

It’s not even a question, right?

What if I told you that you DO have a superpower?

Otherworldly wisdom.

This supernatural wisdom comes from Heaven and is both a superpower and your birthright as a believer.

What is wisdom from Heaven?

It’s the ability to navigate this world well, according to the principles that govern its operation. Because this wisdom is born of God, it allows us to see what we otherwise may not—to see beyond our own line of sight, our own experience, and even our own lifespans. Heavenly wisdom also supersedes mere head knowledge to encompass behavior. It is knowledge applied to real-world circumstances and the governance of our own lives. Knowing + doing.

If we invite wisdom in, it can govern every realm of our lives—our speech, our finances, our relationships, our decisions, and the management of our time.

Scripture offers abundant evidence of this otherworldly wisdom at work including:

• Bezalel and Oholiab’s technical and artistic talent with gold, silver, and bronze and stone-setting (Exodus 35:30-35),
• Solomon’s ability to solve impossible conundrums and administer justice through a deep understanding of human motivations (1 Kings 3:15-37),
• Wide recognition and awe by Israel of the extraordinary wisdom at work through Solomon (1 Kings 3:28),
• Queen of Sheba seeking audience with Solomon (2 Chronicles 9:5),
• Numbering one’s days aright (Psalm 90:12)
• The happiness of those we lead (2 Chronicles 9:7-8, Proverbs 29:2),
• The happiness of our parents (Proverbs 29:3),
• Execution of justice and righteousness in our realm of authority (2 Chronicles 9:8).
• Purity, peace, gentleness, mercy, fairness, and lack of duplicity (James 3:17), and
• The ability to outwit serpents (Matthew 10:16).

In short, wisdom is a superpower.

We need this other-worldly wisdom, both to conduct our own affairs and to execute justice and righteousness in our realms of authority and influence—our families, communities, workplaces, and social and professional groups. These are not our own personal fiefdoms, but stewardships, entrusted to the agents and emissaries of the Kingdom of Heaven by our Creator and King. Indeed, we are appointed kings and priests in that kingdom. As such, we both represent him and co-labor with God to establish his kingdom here on earth.

How can we hope to execute such a lofty mandate without wisdom from on high?
We can’t.

Amazingly, this otherworldly wisdom is ours for the asking.

God promises it in abundance and without reproach.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5, NIV

We often have not because we ask not (James 4:2).

Lord, thank you for the promise of abundant wisdom when we ask. We come believing you and your promise. Will you give us this day abundant wisdom to govern every area of our lives? Wisdom to make upcoming decisions? Wisdom even to know how to pray and what to ask for? Give us unbroken connection to your Spirit through which wisdom flows and courage and discipline to apply that wisdom to our lives. Thank you for entrusting treasure to people with clay feet. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Journal prompts (please feel free to share your answers in comments if you would like to):

Tell of a time when you prayed for wisdom and received it.
What would characterize the realms you have authority or influence in if governed by supernatural wisdom from Heaven?
What would you say keeps you from asking for it regularly?
What would you have to believe to ask for this otherworldly wisdom?

In her blog for writers, Kristen Lamb mentions an author whose book was rated a three-star rating by an Amazon reviewer because it was not Jimmy Dean sausages. Argh.

In the Lincoln Museum in Springfield Illinois, there is a wall plastered with insults and criticism of President Lincoln published by the press across the U.S. such as “Lincoln speeches consist of condensed lumps of imbecility, buffoonery, and vulgar malignity.”

The words leaped off the page as if God were speaking directly to me.

Don’t be afraid of them or anything they say.

Don’t be dismayed [terrified, broken down, confused, or discouraged] by the way that they look at you.

But to fear man over God is to revere man over God. That is absurdity.

Our affections can be misplaced, but so can our fear. Either is a kind of idol worship.

Ezekiel was called to a rebellious people God calls hard-hearted and hard-headed (Ezekiel 2). If we are called to deliver a message or live out a calling in the face of critics, or even rebels, we are in very good company. Ezekiel, Abraham Lincoln, even Jesus, are among them.

God told Ezekiel to deliver the message “whether they choose to listen or not.”

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7