What Does This Do?

The other day I opened a drawer in the kitchen to get a pizza cutter and found everything but the pizza cutter.  Honestly, I saw a bunch of stuff that I was not sure had any purpose besides filling that drawer.  There were all sorts of different kinds of gadgets that were all suppose to do something.  So, in my usual quizzical manner, I began to pull them out one by one and ask my wife, what does this do?  Surprisingly, my wife had a clear and concise answer for what every tool did.   Each and every tool I showed my wife, she knew the purpose and reason for having the tool.  I was amazed to hear all the different specialty tools that we had in our kitchen.

Do you think we were made for a purpose, in the same way all the tools in our kitchen were made with a specific job in mind?  Many go to college seeking the answer or confirmation to this question.  For some they spend their whole lives seeking this answer, wondering if they will ever find it.  What is the “it” that people are seeking after?  In the movie Chariots of Fire, Olympic runner Eric Liddell says this, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure. I believe what we search for is the thing that makes us feel God’s pleasure.

Many of us look at ourselves and see the same thing I saw in that kitchen drawer, a mess that has no apparent meaning.  God’s sees us in a very different kind of way.  It says it this way in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  God molded each of us especially for a task, a purpose that he already has prepared for us to do.  Perhaps you are wondering what that is today, or you are struggling to believe that you could be God’s workmanship.

You may find that kids are drawn to you.  You could walk into a room of crying children, and in a few minutes calm them down.  Have you taken time to work with kids, to use those skills for God?  God may have given you the gift of hospitality, to create a warm welcoming environment, where everyone is family.  Do you open your home to others; do you serve at church, or any other place that you can put that gift to use?  As I looked at our kitchen drawers I saw nothing of meaning.  But my wife saw a number of tools that each had a specialty, a unique purpose it was designed to complete.  As God’s people, made in the image of Him, we too have a specific purpose, something that we were made to do.  Instead of worrying about finding “it”, perhaps we should see the gifts already present in us and use them now to serve God’s purposes.

Pastor Bill

Discussion Questions

  1. Why do we struggle to believe we have a purpose?  Why do some struggle to find their purpose?
  2. Finish this sentence, I feel God’s pleasure when I _______.
  3. If we are God’s handiwork, does it change how you live, or what you do?
  4. Try memorizing Ephesians 2:10 this week.  I would love to hear how God uses that in your life if you try this.