What is Your Purpose in Life?

Photo by Cheryl Williams

I believe we all struggle at times
with finding a purpose in our lives.  I do believe that our main purpose for being on this earth is to share God's love with everyone we meet, regardless of race, sex, financial or social status, sexual orientation...regardless of whatever struggles a person is going through in their lives.  After all, we all struggle with something.  Pointing fingers at anyone else is almost comical to me because I am so full of my own struggles. Why point fingers at a drug addict when I have an addiction myself?  Rather than turning to alcohol or drugs in my loneliness and pain, I tend to turn to a bag of chips.  Is my addiction less "sinful" than someone else's addiction?  No.  Is my addiction less sinful than that of someone who chooses to have an affair or gamble or shop excessively?  No.  Because we are both using something or someone other than God to fill the emptiness inside.

Our purpose is simple.  Love one another.  Be a servant to one another.  In other words, be like Jesus.  This is not easy, to be sure.  After all, Jesus was perfect.  But we must remember that his perfection enabled Him to love us regardless of what we are.  Just think about it.  He is the only one who truly knows who we are.  We cannot hide from him.  No facade we may present to the world can fool the Lord.  He knows every dirty secret, every hateful thought, every selfish desire....and STILL chooses us to be His own.  What love and grace!  What mercy He bestows on us each and every day.  As we draw near and get to know the Lord, He draws nearer to us.

We may not understand everything there is to know about God...and that's okay.  We may not understand why someone we love dies or why a beloved child gets a terminal illness or why we lose our job. But we must trust in God's plan and know that everything works together for good if we love and trust in Him.  We don't always see the big picture, but God does.  He protects us in ways that we cannot even imagine...in ways that we may never see. 

Right now this world is hurting.  This world needs more people whose purpose is to be like Jesus...to love one another and serve one another.  Can you imagine a world like that?  It begins with each and every one of us as we draw nearer to our Heavenly Father.

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."   Romans 5:8

"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."    1 John 4:16

I Am Not a Strong Woman

I have a lot of people tell me what a strong woman I am.  After all, I've been through a lot and I'm still standing.  I was sexually molested repeatedly for the majority of my teenage years.  I lost my little baby Maryanna Hope Williams when I was 8 months pregnant, having to go through labor and delivery knowing she had already died inside of me.  One of my children was the victim of a horrible crime as a young teen.  I lived with a husband I loved very much but who was bi-polar and refused medication for 30 years.  During this time, my life was like being on one very long roller coaster. His disease eventually killed him when it caused him to lose all hope. I did find love again and healing from those old wounds. However,  recently, my love and best friend passed away after a long and hard fought battle with cancer. A  couple of weeks after this, I found out that my sweet 33 year old daughter has inoperable cancer of the brain stem. 

Am I a strong woman?  No.  Any strength that I have comes solely from God working and living within me.  He has been with me through every heartbreak, every fear, every battle I have fought.  He has dried every tear and wrapped his arms around me in such a way that only a Heavenly Father could. Each day He is with me, sending me little signs that he is watching out for me.  I know that wherever I go, He is always walking ahead of me.  I am never alone.  Even during the times I feel alone, He is there.  The peace He gives truly is the "peace that passes all understanding".

I often wonder how people who do not know the Lord get through the horrible trials that life tends to sling one's way.  I honestly cannot even imagine how I would cope without God.  I have weak moments where I cry and break down, but He is always there to dry those tears and pick me back up again.  And He always opens my eyes to try and make something beautiful or positive out of the muck that is thrown my way.

No....I am not strong.  God is the strong one...and He lives inside my heart.  He is available to everyone who wants to know Him.  He is a very available God.

God is in Control

In the midst of all that life has to offer (both good and bad), it is important for us to remember that God is in control.  This realization can lead us to ask questions such as "why is God allowing this to happen?" or "how can a good God allow such evil in the world?" 

I am certainly not pretending to know all of the answers and these are questions I have asked myself from time to time, especially during the particularly difficult times.  Often I have looked up to Heaven and said, "Ok, God...come on now!  Give me a break!"

Then I remember....this is the same God who spoke this world into being.  He knit each and every one of us together in our mother's womb.  He gave his only son to come to this earth in human flesh as a living sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.  God LOVES us, and he loves us unconditionally.  He has a perfect plan for each and every one of us.  We may not always understand that plan.  We may question the plan.  But at some point we will see the culmination of that plan....if not on this earth, then in Heaven.

When I look back over my life so far, there have been many times when I have cried out to God in anguish...questioning.  During these times I could never see how anything positive could ever come from what was happening.  But each and every time, God turned pain into promise, turned tears into joy, turned my weakness into strength.

I was the victim of ongoing sexual abuse from the age of 11 to 18.  At times I wanted to die.  Instead I began to read Psalms, and in those words I found comfort.  During this time, I just knew that I was going to use my suffering to help others going through a similar experience one day.  I believe God planted this in my heart, mind, and soul as a means of coping and turning my pain into promise.  As an adult, I was able to do this in working with abused and neglected children as well as homeless pregnant girls.  Had I never experienced such trauma, I don't believe I would have had the understanding to truly be empathetic with these children and their situations.

There have been other instances where I have tried to fix certain situations in my life and failed miserably time after time.  Eventually, I would just "let go and let God"...telling Him he would have to fix it.  And He did...every single time.

Do you trust God with all of the circumstances of your life?  If not, perhaps it is time to try.  He is faithful and His love is without end.

Staying Positive in Negative Times

                        Staying Positive in Negative Times

Staying positive in positive times is easy.  Staying positive in negative times is an entirely different matter, but it can be done.  My key to positivity is God.

Recently I lost my best friend and partner to cancer.  Immediately after, before there was even a memorial service for him, I found out that my dear sweet daughter of 34 years old was diagnosed with a malignant tumor on her brain stem.  The tumor is inoperable due to the delicate area it is located.  The prognosis is poor because the tumor cannot be eliminated.  It is woven amidst important nerves that affect everything from speech to eyesight to movement.  She will receive radiation and chemo to shrink it as much as possible but it will come back.  It ALWAYS come back......so say the doctors.....

BUT

I know that my God is more powerful than any malignant tumor.  With one breath he can completely eliminate it.  When she was a child, he healed her ears right before an operation after we prayed all night.  When she went in for her post op exam, the doctor was amazed.  Her ears were fine with no sign of having had a problem.  He called in miraculous...with no scientific explanation.

Another time He saved her from being hit by a car.  She chased a ball into the street right in front of a car.  I heard the tires squeal, and saw the woman jump out of the car, saying, "If that man had not pulled her out of the way, I would have certainly hit her."  I asked "what man?"  There was nobody else there.  This all happened in a split second.  No human being would have had time to pull my daughter out of the way of the car and leave without being seen.  I have no doubt it was an angel that saved my daughter.

I believe God will save her again this time.  In our weakness, God's strength is revealed.

Do I get down and sad about all that is going on?  Certainly, for I am only human.  But I know that God is always there with me, holding me close.  We are all of his children and his plans for us are good, and His plans are always the best...even if we do not always recognize it at the moment.

So whatever you may be going through in your lives, hold fast to God, the maker of the universe.  He is more powerful than any problem you have going on.  This realization will help you remain positive in negative times.