What better example than Jesus' life to explain about having a life's purpose? No other example I can think of, can you?
From the moment he was born--wait, hold up?BEFORE he was born, His purpose was already established. And so was yours.
Jesus was born to the exact parents He needed to be born to, in order for him to fulfill his life's purpose, and so were you.
Mary was a virgin. Just so happened, she was about to be married. Coincidence? I think not.
Nowadays, things are a lot different than they were back then. And some people, or should I say, society as a whole, no longer frowns on woman who have children out of wedlock. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that women didn't get pregnant before they were married back-in-the-day, but most of the time it resulted in a gunshot wedding.
Mary didn't have to have one of those because she was already planning her wedding when she became pregnant. There are no such things as coincidences.
Mary was also a direct descendent of Abraham. Coincidence? I think not.
Now, when Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant, like any other man, he got mad and started not to marry her. I can see it now. Picture this: Mary calls Joseph (or wait, no phones yet), Mary goes to see Joseph and tells him she has something really important she has to tell him. She's a little nervous because she can't imagine what he is going to say. She finally gets up the nerve and says, "Uhm, Joe, uhm, (fake smile) guess what? I'm pregnant." (Can you imagine that?)
Not too many people, or at least not the brothers I know, would have ever believed that story. OK, I'm laughing right now because I just got a visual of my husband. If I had said something like that to him, he would have first, gave me that look. Then he would have said, 'wait, how is that possible? I've never even touched you.' Then, if I would have started explaining that I was pregnant by God?
But an angel spoke to Joseph and explained the situation, so Joseph was cool with it real fast and never questioned it again. Joseph was the right earthly father for Jesus.
When Jesus was 12 years old, around the age when most of us first start to experience our first taste of independence-he found himself mentors-people who could teach him what he needed to know about the word of God.
This is exactly what we need to do to develop our craft, our skill, and our purpose. Find yourself a mentor. Someone who is doing exactly what it is that you want to do and ask them questions; offer to help out so that you may learn. You aren't born knowing everything, but there are others out there that know what you need to know. Go where they are. Ask them questions. Find out what they know. Research--until the student becomes the teacher, the same way Jesus did.
There really isn't any information available to us about what was going on in Jesus' life between the ages of 12 and 30. I'd venture to say that he was just like all of us. He was finding himself.
Oh, I'm not suggesting that he didn't know His purpose but it wasn't until the age of 30 that he started living His life's purpose completely. I think this is important. I personally believe that before you reach the age of 30, you haven't fully matured. I know it was that way for me. During your teen years you are just learning a little about yourself. During your twenties, you are finally learning about what it means to be completely independent of your parents-you are now on your own. By the time you are 30, you are generally through with the hanging out, having no direction in life and are ready to start taking life seriously. This is usually around the time when you start to think, "Why am I here? What is the meaning of life? What is my purpose?"
There are exceptions and some people find themselves a lot earlier in life-I'm not one of them.
Once Jesus was certain of his purpose and armed with the knowledge he needed, he took the world by storm. For three years he spent all of his life living his purpose. He never worried about whether or not his purpose was the right purpose for him. Whenever he needed guidance, he prayed. He didn't worry about whether or not he was "big" enough to handle his life's purpose. He didn't worry about whether or not it was paying the right salary or whether he would make enough to eat or buy the clothes that he liked. As a matter of fact, he told his disciples not to worry about what they would eat or where they would sleep. He even told them not to worry about what they would have to say when the time came for them to talk. God would take care of all of that. He knew his purpose and knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that everything was going to work exactly the way it was designed to work.
Even down to his selection of his disciples. He knew exactly whom he was going to select to be a part of his team and why. He went along and developed a crew. He knew exactly whom he needed in his posse and they knew it too. Not one person said, 'oh, no I can't do that, Jesus. This sounds good and all that, but fishing is how I make a living, regardless if I enjoy it or not, my family has got to be fed. I don't know what's going to happen if I come and follow you. I got this thing going on already and your thing just doesn't seem all that stable to me. What will my friends and family think? How am I going to make a living?'
They didn't say any of these things. They realized their purpose and when the opportunity came around, they leaped at it and never looked back.
Are you ready to take that leap? Are you prepared to start living your life's purpose? All you need to do it is faith. So long as you believe with all your heart that God will provide, He will.
At anytime you can walk away from the dead end job that you know is causing you ulcers and stress. BUT, just like Jesus, you have to be prepared. You will have to learn all that you can about your craft, your skills and your passions. All it takes is some action. Instead of wanting to be like Mike (do people still say that?), design your life after Jesus. There's no better person to pattern your life after than him.
Find your purpose and start living your life with passion, excitement and faith. You can do it. I know you can because you were born a winner!
Dawn Fields is a motivational speaker, author and spiritual life coach. She teaches how to discover your life's purpose and incorporate it into a lucrative career. Visit the web site at http://www.dawnfields.com and be sure to sign up for Your Life's Purpose Interactive Internet Radio Show each Thursday at 9 p.m. EST. at http://www.dawnfields.com/radioshow.htm And sign up for Your Life's Purpose motivational and inspirational newsletter by sending a blank email to dawn@dawnfields.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.