Birthday Post: The Trail of Treasures

“There is no greater discovery than seeing God as the author of your destiny.”
Ravi Zacharias

Growing up, I didn’t really think that there was much that was ‘special’ about me. I mean, I didn’t think I was hopelessly useless, but then, I wasn’t convinced that the world would be that much different without me in it, you know? Then with time, the concept of ‘life’s purpose’ began to gnaw at me, first indistinctly but with time, it became more like Paul’s “thorn in my flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). It became abundantly clear that I was sent here for a reason – we all are, no exceptions! What that purpose was, now that was a whole other matter. All I knew was that I didn’t show up here accidentally; I guess there was something special about me after all. But what is it really?

Several years down the road, as I turn 27 this week, I still haven’t learnt exactly what that purpose is. Why? Because I’m still growing out of the mindset that a purpose is a destination rather than a journey. I always thought that if I could do that one thing, then like David, I could say that I had served the purpose of God in my generation and could now fall asleep (Acts 13:36). But could the complexity of life and all that we undergo really boil down to that one act? That one encounter? That one event? I would like to think not. While we may have ‘the big thing’ we are designed to do (John the Baptist as the forerunner of Jesus, Billy Graham as a great evangelist, even Michael Jordan as the infamous basketball player), it’s all about a process, a journey. The culmination of all these events is how God specifically uses us to reflect His glory in a, sometimes, dark world.

Granted, we don’t usually know what we are called to do but when our hearts are open to listen to God’s guiding, we will find that He will give you one step, then the next, and the next. My mother taught me how when David says that you are a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105), the lamp could only show a bit of the path at a time but the further he moved forward, the more he could see. Our role is to take the daily bread of the simple instructions, the inclinations, the gnaws that turn to thorns, and as you move forward, the big picture of your purpose begins to form.

Right now, I much more unapologetically embrace my uniqueness. I am much more curious to get to know myself and the special treasures that God has placed in me, knowing that as I follow the trail of treasures along the walk of life, I will ultimately complete my mission, my purpose, in this life. And it may not be about the pot at the end of the rainbow as much as it will be about the journey that brought me to that place. So, I no longer make a big fuss about the intimidating nature of purpose as people often want to make it sound; I now choose to stop and smell the roses. Will I sometimes veer off the path? I think so. But my God who redeems my time and turns what the enemy intended for evil for my good has my back. I’m now anxiously looking forward to my life’s adventure because God has proven Himself quite the scriptwriter. As one of my favorite speakers of all time, the late Ravi Zacharias, said “There is no greater discovery than seeing God as the author of your destiny.”