“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

Proverbs 19:21

God has a unique purpose for you 

1  Corinthians 12 explains how our spiritual gifts make us part of one body. All parts of the body are necessary. It is common for Christians after learning of this to then focus on their spiritual gifts when identifying God’s unique purpose for them. This is a great start, but we need to look deeper if we want to truly fulfil our purpose in God’s Kingdom. That’s because, as discussed on Day 1, both a purpose, and a plan, are required to fulfil vision. 

Purpose is the reason why something is created. As Christians, our God-given purpose is to make God’s vision of a new Heaven and new Earth come to pass. God also has a unique purpose for each of us which is beautifully aligned with His vision. Our unique purpose as individuals depends on a number of variables. The first is based on all of us being made in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:27), thus giving us all a share of God’s characteristics. Other variables include our personal ancestry, personality, identity, values, strengths and weaknesses, spiritual gifts, and passions. Another key indicator of your purpose is found in looking at any persistent or profound challenges you have faced or still face today. This is because your unique purpose is tied to a problem you should be bringing the solution to. And more often than not, you will have faced and been tested in the place of that problem in an intense way. The devil creates the problem to distract, drain and demotivate you and make you question your worth and ability; God recycles it to grow your problem solving muscles and catapult you into your purpose. 
Our purpose becomes clear when we reflect on all of these variables, pray and seek the Lord. This then helps us in living a life that is harmonious with God’s vision. 

“by being authentic to our purpose, we will in part embody God’s vision.”

We (Gyles and Vanetta) have recently realised that God’s vision for our lives is tied to our purpose of bringing restoration to people. We have both dedicated our livelihoods to bring restoration to people as individuals – Gyles, at first through life as a Doctor and now as a Clinical User Experience designer and Vanetta, through working as a manager, counsellor and her experience in church ministry. Together, through our marriage, we also bring restoration through coaching and community building. It was our understanding of our purpose which has defined much of our lives. By being authentic to our purpose, we will in part embody God’s vision. 

A plan is a proposed set of steps to achieve a goal. As Christians, our plans should be a proposed set of steps to facilitate making God’s vision a reality. We cannot change or control God’s purpose or vision. But through freewill, we can control our actions. Therefore, our plans and how we enact them are a powerful determinant of whether we fulfil our purpose in life since they are governed by our freewill. If we are not careful, we can miss living how God intended us to.

As you know, it was Adam and Eve’s freewill which led to them turning away from God and His vision. Their purpose was already made clear by God, but they chose to listen to the serpent and eat fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. As a result, their plans in the garden changed. God’s purpose and vision for them were already set and could not be controlled or changed by them. But through freewill, they enacted a plan that did not support God’s purpose for them nor His vision. They temporarily enjoyed the fruit, but their corrupted plan eventually led to a disconnection from God and their suffering and hardship. However as Proverbs 19:21 explains, no matter what our plans are, God’s purpose will prevail as Adam and Eve’s purpose of  knowing God and making God known still came to pass despite their fall.

“Only God knows what He has in store for you.”

Through prayer, reflection and putting what we learned to the test, we have identified 7 key domains we should have plans for. There may be other domains, but these 7 should be acknowledged as they affect everyone. Since these plans we will be creating specifically lead us to God’s vision, we like to call them vision plans. The seven domains are:

1. God: your relationship with God
2. Self: your relationship with yourself 
3. Family & Friends: your relationship with significant others in your life
4. The World: your relationship with your wider community
5. Work: your relationship with your career or main occupation
   
6. Wealth: your relationship with your resources 
7. The Church: your relationship with the Church 

For the next 14 days, we will be going through these 7 key domains in detail, 2 days for each. Whatever vision God shares with you about these areas, take it seriously and don’t see it as negotiable. You never know how the fulfilment of God’s vision for you leads to the redemption of an individual, a family, a nation or even the whole world. Acts 9:1-18 shows how vision given to Saul and Ananias led to Saul’s conversion, him becoming Paul and eventually becoming one of Jesus’ greatest disciples. Only God knows what He has in store for you.

In Summary

You have a  unique purpose in life in addition to knowing God and making God known to others. We need to know God’s vision to know our purpose. When we know our purpose, we can then create a plan to successfully reach God’s vision. Our plans for our lives will lead us to God’s vision if we persistently pursue Him and His vision. But no matter what we do, God’s purpose will prevail. Our choice is whether we co-labour with Him, or work against Him. 

Questions to ask yourself

1. What was the last thing God said to you? Was it an instruction, an encouragement, a prophecy?
2. Is there a song, sermon topic or Scripture that keeps coming up around you or that you feel drawn to?
3. What are your gifts and talents? What are you very good at, if not exceptional?
4. Do you experience unusual influence or favour? If yes, where?
5. What are you passionate about? What drives and motivates you?
6. What overarching theme have you identified for your life?
7. What might your ancestry tell you about your purpose? 

A Prayer to get you started

Heavenly Father, thank you that you have made me fearfully and wonderfully. You were deliberate in creating me just as I am – origins, personality and passions included. Help me to restore whatever wounds I may have suffered throughout my life or my own sin have distorted about who you really made me to be. Please speak to me as I revisit my origins, my identity, my natural gifts, my passions etc in search of what your purpose for me is. As I prepare to bring my plans before you, I invite you to change, correct or cancel them according to your will. Open my eyes to see what your plans for my life are, and help me to walk in them. 

In Jesus’ Name I pray,

Amen.

Further Reading

Psalm 139 is a reminder of how much care God took in making you
Romans 12:1-8 is scripture on spiritual gifts
1 Corinthians 12 is also scripture on spiritual gifts

Up Next

Tomorrow we review You and God: Vision Planning. 

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