I've read when the Civil War Started General Ulysses S. Grant was a washed up barely employed West Point Graduate, who was forced out of military service.
Done in by western outposts with an inability to hold his liquor
Grant would later
prove to be a tactical genius, a man of courage under fire and a steadfast
leader. Called “the butcher” during his leadership of the Union Armed forces.
Grant became known as a brilliant military leader during the Civil War.
I once heard a pastor tell
the story about watching his two young boys play with the Biblical action figures they got for Christmas. The boys had the action figures fighting each other, the dad
asked why Moses was fighting with Jesus. The two boys had no purpose for the
action figures, so they created a purpose, a vision if you will,
the action figures weren’t just to look at, they need some action to be action figures,
right?
David led King Saul’s
army in Israel. Excelling at his position, the woman in Jerusalem would sing “Saul
has killed his thousands and David his ten thousands.” Later in life David
would spy on Bathsheba resulting in the death of her husband Uriah. David
stayed home from the battle season that year. His purpose was set aside and he
wandered from the vision of leadership.
Rebel without a cause
was movie released in 1955 staring James Dean. The movie was
a groundbreaking attempt to portray the moral decay of American youth.
Teenagers wandering because they had no vision taught to them.
History has
proven men with no vision will wander trying to fill the need of purpose
instilled by God. If not directed by the Lord this wandering usually leads to a
continual self-reliant search for fulfillment or self-destruction.
Proverbs 29:18 is often misunderstood and misquoted …This is
how we usually hear it: “For a lack of vision the people perish.” More accurately
represented is: “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint;
but blessed is he who keeps the law.” NIV or “When people do not accept divine
guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.” NLT
It seems to be the
choice of each person to accept what the Lord is reveling to us or to reject it.
There appears to be a paradox at hand within the Christian
community. We all need purpose, but the only real way to gain that purpose, tailored
to each individual, is to surrender everything to the one who created us for
that purpose that fits us so well. It’s natural to want to control our
own destiny, not submitting to God’s purpose for us. The problem is what we
think we need or want usually draws us away from the very relationship we so
desperately need. The Lord is the only one who knows where we will be best fulfilled
with what offers us purpose and vision.
Paul put it this way in Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I
am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” KJV
We will continue to
fight our self-imposed Goliath until one day we get tired or realize we have only
been swinging our fists at shadows gaining no ground and no victory because
we are fighting the wrong fight. Self-discovered purpose is not necessarily the one
designed for who we are, if it draws us away from our relationship with Jesus, it doesn't fit.
The beauty of God is...he is patient and long suffering. His promises are always true and are never
taken back. He says "I will never leave you and I will never forsake you." He also
says. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray
and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from Heaven
and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV.
Our land our homes
our families our communities.
The world is in desperate
need of men of valor. Men who will take up the cause of being sons of God, finding
their rightful places assigned by their Father carrying out his purposes.
The world is in desperate need of men to become…
Men of Purpose and
Men of Faith.
