The other night, my wife and I were discussing the topic of having purpose. We talked about how achievement and success in life come oftentimes as a result of purpose, especially for true Christians, rather than by accident or luck. In reading popular literature about how to achieve success, a common theme involves having a very clear, definitive purpose that directs decisions and motivates action. That purpose, whatever it might be for an individual, helps to focus attention and overcome obstacles that stand in between him or her and the desired results.

On the face of it, this sounds well and good. I’m sure that having a clearly defined purpose actually works to help people achieve their goals. But sometimes, defining a personal purpose can be elusive. Such a simple question as “what is your purpose?” can stop many people, including me, dead in their tracks. The question is easy to ask, but the answer demands completeness that is not so simple to provide.

Without intending to diminish the achievements of anyone who has found meaning in their own life through a clearly defined, singular purpose, I have personally found goals measured in worldly achievements to be hollow. I believe that Solomon probably felt the same. In Ecclesiastes, he wrote about all of the amazing feats that he managed to accomplish in his life. He built great houses, vineyards, gardens, orchards, and water pools. He accumulated many servants, herds of animals, silver, gold, and treasures from many lands. By all measures, he achieved great success (compare Ecclesiastes 2:1-10). Yet, he knew that those achievements lacked meaning when considering his life in worldly terms, observing, “Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.   For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil” (Ecclesiastes 2:20-21). Even with a purpose that led him to great worldly success, Solomon found a lack of meaning.

For me, purpose in life is multi-dimensional. This is why it is incomplete to proclaim that one single thing defines my purpose with detailed clarity and enough precision to make it deeply personal. In a contrasting example, some athletes may find their purpose in being the best possible ball player they can be. That one thing is enough to drive them to their success. But for me, and I dare say, for all true Christians, we want much more than what the world can offer us.

Solomon concludes at the end of his meditation on life’s meaning, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). In this simple statement, he gives us the standard Christian purpose in life. To obey God is the one thing that we all need as our guide to direct our actions so that we can successfully seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (compare Matthew 6:33). This purpose applies to all Christians. But all by itself, it is not highly personalized. The fact is, God made us as individuals, with skills, ideas, personalities, and unique proclivities that layer on top of the standard Christian purpose. To be complete, our purpose starts with God and continues with an expression of ourselves, consistent with our commitment to Him.

We all have unique qualities that make us who we are. These are gifts from God, which we are supposed to use! We do not want to be the kind of wicked servant who chooses to not use what God gives us (compare Matthew 25:24-30). The ultimate purpose in our life comes from God, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (compare 2 Timothy 1:9). To truly define our purpose then, we must begin by understanding God’s purpose for us. We can clearly see that it consists of bringing us, as unique individuals, into His Family. Knowing this, we can be confident in having a multitudinous purpose that begins with God, fulfills our individuality, and leads to glorious results.

I recently woke up during a weekday in a pretty grumpy mood. I knew that I had a grueling day at work that was about to begin, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. Even my morning cup of coffee didn’t do much to lift my mood! But I proceeded to face the day, as was my duty.

As I sat down at my desk to begin my workday, I took a moment of pause before getting started. This is a regular habit that I have built into my day. I normally take about a minute before I officially start work to simply write down something that I’m grateful for. Some days, it can be more difficult than others to find something to write, and this particular day was one of them. I began to write, “I am grateful that…”, and stopped there. It took a few moments to contemplate, considering the difficult day that I had ahead of me. But then I continued, “… this stuff in life doesn’t really matter.” Almost immediately, the weight of the day was lifted.

Of course, such a statement as “nothing in this world really matters anyway” is a nihilistic expression that needs to be qualified, rather than taken as an absolute truth. The fact is that there is a lot in this life that does matter. We need to be good stewards of the blessings that God provides us with. We take care of our health, maintain our relationships with others, and dedicate ourselves to the work that we put our hands to do, even when we might not look forward to it (compare Ecclesiastes 9:10). To say that “nothing matters” is not categorically true, but there is an element of truth when put into the right context.

To begin with, the stuff in this life does matter because this is where God presents opportunities for us to grow. We learn to overcome the world by putting our spiritual understanding into practice in the context of our current circumstances. We are training now to live a godly life, walking in the Spirit. And the only way we can do that is by taking advantage of the stuff in life that we have to deal with, both good and bad. The lives that we live are a physical means to a spiritual end.

Knowing that we seek a spiritual change to live an eternal life in the Family of God, we do not work towards an end goal that is physical in nature. In this way, truly, nothing that this physical life has to offer really matters. This is the perspective that God instructs us to have. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17). Placing our value in worldly outcomes only leads us away from God.

Regardless, we are bound to live in these physical bodies, in this physical world. This is our place now where we have to learn how to overcome. We cannot yet leave it behind. When Jesus Christ was preparing for His Sacrifice to take place, He prayed to God about us and our circumstances in this life. “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth” (John 17:18-19). Even though we are not to love the world, we have to be here now so that we can put the Truth of God into practice, and overcome the world through Christ. We are set apart for a spiritual purpose, learning obedience and the love for God’s Way of Life.

The only possible way that we can overcome the world, living and walking in the Spirit, is through the Spirit of God that lives within us. Jesus Christ had to leave the world so that the Holy Spirit would become available to us (compare John 16:5-7). Because of this amazing gift from God, we understand what it means to say that nothing in this life matters. With the mind of Christ, we look forward to a life that is so much better than what we can possibly imagine.

With Pentecost upon us, we have an annual reminder that the Holy Spirit is ours to use. It lives within us, giving us the discernment that we need to overcome sin in this world. When we face our circumstances in life, we can find encouragement in knowing that the glory that God has in store for us is what matters, making everything else worthless by comparison.

Having something to look forward to in life gives us the motivation that it takes to get up in the morning and make the most of the day. At times we might have more to look forward to than at other times. The things we enjoy can be as simple as having a good cup of coffee, a conversation with a friend, or the sense of accomplishment after completing a challenging task. They might be big things too, like a long-awaited vacation or the birth of a child. Big or small, appreciating the wholesome things can motivate us to find the joy in life that helps us to appreciate the short time with which God has blessed us.

I’m sure we can all think of something that we look forward to on a day-to-day basis. Though, the magnitude of problems that threaten to squelch our hope demand so much of our attention that it can be difficult to even bring those elements of hope to mind. It’s probably easier to think of things that fight to bring us down. Problems may begin with ourselves, affecting our health or otherwise. Outside ourselves, problems that affect us scale up at every level, ending with the pitiable state of the world at large. We, however, have a responsibility to fight against the dark forces of discouragement.

As helpful as it is to find a source of hopeful anticipation in the physical things in our lives, we know that these things are fleeting. God offers us blessings for obedience in our lives, intentionally giving us reason for joy while we live in these physical bodies. But the world that we live in is passing away. Placing our source of joy in what the world offers us will end in sore disappointment (compare 1 John 2:15-17). If we only place value in the things the world has to offer, we place our hope in a precarious place. The state of the world will only continue to worsen, eclipsing even the simplest sources of worldly joy.

The Bible tells us that there is a better way to live! Our job is to put the Word of God to work in our lives so that we are not found vulnerable to the world’s decay. We have to realize that the true source of joy that we have comes from God. When we have that state of mind, even the most difficult of circumstances give us something to hope for. Consider the perspective of the disciples when they were beaten and imprisoned (compare Acts 5:40-42, Acts 16:20-34). They knew that their worldly circumstances, as dire as they were, served a greater purpose in God’s plan for their lives. With the understanding that the worldly discouragement they experienced was temporary and meaningful, the disciples found something to appreciate – that they could serve God mightily.

We would do well to acknowledge how fortunate we are. The knowledge of the Truth about God’s plan can help us every single day to understand the circumstances of our lives. God is doing a work with us individually, to help us grow, to challenge us, and to do as much as possible with the resources He gives us. Knowing this adds much deeper meaning in the small things of our lives. Anticipating the weekend becomes even richer because we have the Sabbath that God gives us as a day of rest. The joy in seeing the smiles on the faces of our family and brethren becomes more precious because those moments demonstrate the effect of love that God commands. We can also find strength to get through the hard things we experience, knowing that in the big picture, those difficulties will pass and that they will help us to develop the character that pleases God. When we are able to see our life as God sees it, we have much to look forward to.

But even more, God promises us the greatest possible gift, which of course is eternal life as glorified members in His Family. That event lies beyond the boundary of our physical lives, so we cannot experience it until we become glorified (compare 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). However, it is going to be so awesome that nothing compares. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.   For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:18-21). This moment when we inherit the earth to share in righteous rulership under Jesus Christ and God the Father gives us a reason to enjoy the moments that lead up to that time. We know that every moment serves a virtuous purpose.

The world will try to convince us otherwise, but the FACT is that we have a tremendous amount of wonderful things to look forward to. When we have the right frame of mind, we can see God in our lives at every scale. From the micro-moments that put a smile on our face, to the culmination of God’s plan, when all pain and sorrow will be destroyed, we know that everything we experience serves His purpose for us. Now, that gives us something to look forward to!