On Passion and Purpose

I believe that God births passions and ideas in our minds and writes desires on our hearts at early ages.  I mean, sure, some passions or directions in life aren't clarified until later on.    But sometimes I believe He really starts to sew seeds early on in our years that, sometimes, we don't fully understand until later on.  (Hang with me, I'm going somewhere with this.) 

I remember being a high school student in Columbia and going on mission trips to Roanoke, Virginia in the summers with my youth group.  We were going to the inner parts of Roanoke and helping them build facilities for a church there.  I remember learning how to dry-wall.  (Yep.  Hard to imagine.)  I remember it was so hot there and we slept on the floor of a church gymnasium.  I wondered what in the heck I was doing there.  Lord, why did you bring me here?  To dry-wall?  To build fences?  Maybe that was part of it.  But then they put a team of us together to go work in a food bank.  We were in charge of giving people food so that they might feed their families.  I would sit down with people who we were trying to serve and I would learn a little bit about their stories.  Most were heart-breaking.  We got the chance to tell these people about Jesus and then send them home with bags of food.  Simple enough.  At that point, I already had thoughts of becoming a counselor, but this experience awakened something new in me.  Something that i think sort of lay dormant until just the other day.  

I was talking with a new, dear friend just the other day and we were talking about mission trips.  I mentioned my experiences in Virginia.  Almost immediately, I had an "Ah-ha!" moment.  In my new job of just six weeks, I find myself in a similar place.  More than ten years later.  I work for an organization that feeds the needy in my city.  I had not put the two together.  We serve about 1500 people every day.  What a privilege.  I'm gaining greater knowledge of this truth daily.  

And I cannot help but think--God's purposes always prevail.  You see, He has purposes for our lives.  Even though I forgot for a moment that mine was to serve, it was and is His purpose for me.  He brings me back to my purpose when I look to Him.  Even ten years later.  Serving is all I want to do.  It's what I've always wanted to do.  I am a selfish person most of the time.  Trust me.  I'm quite introspective.  But I do know that my life is not about me.  The moment that i think it is about me, is the moment that i've missed it.  I've missed the whole point. The encouraging part is that God brings us back to our passions--to accomplish His purposes.  

That's just one example.  It's just the best thing, to see that I can mess up 1000 times, and His love isn't going to run out.  His purpose for me will prevail.  

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Psalm 138:8