what is the meaning of life?

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

-Hebrews 11:3

“Believing in the unplanned coincidence of evolution is admitting that there is no real reason for you.” I watched a video recently on the app yesHEis (which you should get right now). The title of the video was “Created with Meaning” and the first line of this paragraph is a quote from the video. At some point in our life, we grapple with the question of whether we are made for reason – whether we have a purpose.

My mum always told me that I was created for a purpose and that each person had their own unique purpose (in addition to making disciples of men and preaching the gospel to everyone Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15). I struggled to see how God could create SO many people, all with a different, special purpose and not run out of purposes! (Neither does He run out of ideas of how people should look – wow.) I also struggled to see and understand what my purpose was. I wanted to know so badly but God wouldn’t tell me or show me. I eventually let go of the hope of knowing why existed until recently.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

-Proverbs 3:5-6

To know your purpose, you must know God first. We are instructed to trust in Him will all our heart. How can you trust someone you do not know? We must seek the heart of God so that He can show us the way – so that he can “direct [our] paths”. If we try to look for purpose before we know God, we will not find it, because the only person who can tell us why we exist is He who created us. Could the local grocer have told us why Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone and what the telephone did? No. Only the inventor himself can explain why the invention exists. In the same way, your parents, friends, neighbors or random people cannot explain to you what you should be doing while you are on this earth. We are constantly trying to find meaning in things that are useless. We try to make sense of something so complex – life – by turning to worldly things. We are wasting our time.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.

-Psalms 32:8

God says that He will show us the way. He does not say that He will just leave us to figure it out on our own. All we must do is turn to Him. I recently heard from God about what my purpose in life is. It was a great time! After years of searching in the wrong places, I finally decided that I would turn to God and let Him tell me where He wanted me to go and what He wanted me to do. To get this point of knowledge, I had to be willing to surrender my own desires. I had to surrender my supposed “life plan” and remember that my life is not my own. It takes a lot of courage to want to know your purpose. It requires you to fully trust in God and to take on the responsibility of fulfilling that purpose. Now that I know my purpose, I can feel that the enemy is attacking me more forcefully.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

-Jeremiah 29:11

I had to learn not to fear adversary. I had to learn to remember that God’s plan for me is not one of evil, but one of hope and peace. Even though I am constantly met with challenges, I know that fulfilling my purpose will lead to a glorious future. The meaning of life is different for every person but there is only one way to find out what it is. Without Jesus and your purpose, you are just existing – you are not living. I can’t tell you what the meaning of your life is, but I can tell you where to find the answer.

A quick prayer for purpose:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I humbly come before you to ask you to help us to surrender our desires to you. Those things that are holding us back from knowing our purpose, Lord, rid us of them. It’s so easy to search for meaning in things like TV and social media but I acknowledge that there is only one place where truth can be learned. People end their lives when they feel useless. Today, I pray against this spirit of feeling lost. I pray for a spirit of searching – a spirit that will lead those who have questions to you, Lord. For those who know what their purpose is, help them to fulfill it with you. Help them to turn to you when they are inevitably met with adversary. I pray that you would direct our steps and walk with us on the path you want us to take.

I pray all of this in the mighty name of Jesus,

Amen.

God truly loves you.

With love,

Mandile.