By Nathanael Breeden and Travis Weber
Religion Columnists
“What is our purpose in life?” It may be one of the most common questions to mankind, pondered or ignored by people from every walk of life, from every region across the globe.
People look for purpose on a strictly physiological level, “purpose” meaning whatever it is that we are best qualified to do or the area in which we can exert the greatest influence on those around us. Or it can be taken on a spiritual level, where “purpose” refers to the underlying reason for our existence, even pondering the purposes of a relationship between God and humanity.
Most of us want to know that there’s a grand purpose to our life, or at least some kind of master plan to ensure that our deeds and efforts over the course of a lifetime are not done in vain. We want to know that there’s a reason for our existence in this world. Some even feel there’s a specific calling or role in life that they are meant to play, and the pursuit of that calling will serve to direct their path until they find it.
In other words, there’s a common understanding that part of our purpose in life is to find our purpose.
There are a plethora of books that seek to explain and help people discover the one true career, spouse, graduate program, house, etc. that is meant for them. These books tend to sift life through a strainer, simplifying the complex and compartmentalizing the tangled.
It’s is as if we’re living in a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book, forced to choose our way out of situations in order to find out what happens next. Will the police officer chase after the “bad guy,” or stay to help the dying victim? Will we take the plunge into the dark tunnel and risk being killed, or take the safe road and risk losing the treasure?
The point is if God has only ordained one specific path for our life story, then we’re all toast. After all, we’re only human. Surely we’ve shut doors better left open and stepped onto wrong paths. Surely we will continue to do so.
But maybe, once again, we’re asking the wrong question. Instead of becoming so engulfed in trying to find our purpose in life, maybe we need to step back and look at what we’re doing right now. After all, the present is our only means of getting to the future.
Perhaps we need to stop straining to see what’s around the corner, to stop pleading with God to show us our purpose or reveal His master plan for our lives. Maybe it’s much simpler than all of that. Maybe we should be asking God what He wants to do in our lives today, how He wants to use us where we presently stand.
Maybe it’s not about finding our purpose in life, but living each day in the faith that God’s purpose will be carried out no matter what we do, no matter what choices we make or which directions we choose.
Maybe it’s not about finding the correct job or the correct graduate school, but choosing to live fully in God’s grace and sharing that gift with those around us.
Maybe it’s not about having control over our life goals, but living a life of prayer in constant dependence on God.
Maybe we need to simply rest in knowing that He is God, and we are not.
Submitted March 25, 2004