Live On Purpose

by Texas Stready

The other day, while standing in line at Publix, I was chatting with a lady about losing the fog light on my car. (Darn it! Still can’t figure what happened.) How we got on this subject is beyond me. The conversation was an accident of sorts, and losing the fog light was definitely not on purpose.

Life’s full of accidents. Things that don’t happen on purpose. I’m not just talking about situations that happen to us, I mean the huge disasters that occur when we don’t take time to look for God’s purpose in our circumstances.

Look Both Ways

The gentleman behind us overheard our conversation and informed me that he worked at a salvage yard. “I have hundreds of cars and I’m sure I’ll be able to find you something, if you’ll come see me.” Then he handed me his business card.

As I pushed the grocery cart towards my car I was slapped in the heart when I re-noticed the gaping whole in my front bumper. Yuck! Not a good look for any car. Then I thought to myself, “Thank goodness for that chance encounter. Maybe dude can help me.”

Around The Corner

Most of us overanalyze—especially when it comes to cause-and-effect. If you’re anything like me you could easily spend the next hour analyzing why your so analytical. This problem stems from being caught up in the effort rather then the effect.

Why things are happening around us is far more important than how they happen. No one’s reasoning is the same and this means our actions and reactions are understandably different. That’s why it’s so important that we stop thinking we know everything. I mean, it doesn’t require a professional life-coach to teach you to never dive head-first into such a shallow perspective.

Take A Chance

A few days later I headed down to the salvage yard to see what could be done about my car’s missing eye. I was blindly certain that losing that light served no purpose. As my new-found friend and I sat looking at the computer screen waiting for the parts man to return, we began to talk.

His niece just moved into his house because she has nowhere to live. She’s a meth-head who’s burned all her bridges. I could tell by many of his responses he has no idea what he’s getting into. But I do. So I told him where I attend church and gave him my business card.

By the time Sunday rolled in on me, I’d forgotten all about him. Until I noticed this waving motion from the corner of my eye. There he sat, a few rows back to the left of me. What do you know! The missing fog light was no freak accident.

Let It Happen

Admitting we have no idea what God’s up to, places us in the perfect position to witness the miraculous. We can’t just hang out expecting purpose to plop into our laps because discovering what I’m here for is a lifelong process. One that requires interruptions in the neatness of life.

As much as we act like we are, we’re not self-sufficient. We did not create ourselves and therefore cannot unveil our purpose without consulting our Creator.

Now Is The Time

Although we’ll never fully comprehend our existence, embracing where and how we find ourselves brings a sense of security and satisfaction that can’t be touched.

Taste, touch, see, and hear your life. It’s the only one you get, so notice everything. Even when it doesn’t add up or look ideal—right there in the midst of the mess—you have what it takes to live on purpose. Come on. I know you can do it. One extremely exciting, under-analyzed, step at a time.