You are Here | Processed by Purpose in the Belly of the Deep

I discovered the futility in searching for a purpose that was never lost.

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I always thought we had to be processed to begin to fulfill purpose. Perhaps instead we are sanctified by our journey to purpose. In that sense it is a divine gift not nearly as much to others as to ourselves..

Seeking

At one time or another, every living soul will consider the idea of Purpose. It is this dimension of human function that appears fixed, but only in the way a burst of fireworks can be fixed: shot at the sky towards a definite point yet bursting out in many different directions, to varying degrees of volume around that point. Not to be confused with gifts, talents and desires, but in many ways advantaged by all these.

I like to think that if our gifts, talents, desires, mistakes, experiences and pain were summarized at the end of our lives, like a map rolled out to chart our way it would reveal Purpose as a defined set of paths we could have chosen at every crossroad.

There would be a sign that reads “You are here”, and at any point in our lives depending on a number of factors, we would either be within or without the realm of Purpose.

Wise ones among us have even drawn the conclusion based on the information available to mankind, that to remain in the dark regarding purpose is the root of unintentional abuse or misuse. But what does it look like to walk the paths of purpose - and how do we find it?

Follow the light

Obedience

“Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him"‭‭ - Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬-‭9‬

If I learned anything about Purpose in the last year and a half (and oh boy, did I) it is that I spent too much time trying to pin down the definition of my existence when all I had to do was obey. And, fast. Purpose is actually a culmination of expedient obedience of all the promptings of the Spirit, no matter how our limited mind views these prompts. Indeed they can appear small, crazy, uncomfortable or even scary but obedience is not a choice. It is like the difference between everything and nothing.

Consider Jonah - a saucy prophet who decided he would rather not deliver God’s message to Nineveh. After all, God might change His mind about destroying the country as soon as they repented, and maybe Nineveh could have used a brief reset similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah.

His disobedience seems a small matter quite heavily slapped down by jail time in the belly of a fish. But knowing now how Jonah’s experience typified the Christ in the belly of the earth, it’s incredible to think that what may seem like a simple instruction or delayed deliverance can carry much greater purpose in heaven’s books.

Light floods the belly of darkness

As a person who recently spent a long time searching for purpose while ignoring what seemed like a simple instruction, I can attest like Jonah that it is much easier to focus on being in obedience daily. And while I digested that lesson, I found out the hard way that the belly of the fish really stinks.

I'll share more on that really soon because its important. Your process is important, and the learnings within is the primary point.

Yet a lot of lessons are unfortunately best learned in that smelly place. A few months ago I received a good download on the fact that most of us have not suffered enough to succeed. Believers most especially often fall into the “rich daddy trap” as I like to call it.

I'll explain: It may be strange to Average Joe to think that the rich also cry. Yet reality confirms that especially over their children who they never allowed to be processed through suffering, the outcome is usually worth a good cry.

Most of us have not suffered enough to succeed.

You see, laws of this realm do not respect your belief system, they respond to protocol. And there is a protocol behind the fact that everything we know in our world today as a beacon of long-lived success - in business, technology, science and even Christianity - was birthed by perseverance in the face of adversity. It would appear that when things are handed to humans, by nature we tend to lose them.

I will never forget the day my good friend texted me “I can’t believe we actually have to work hard!” By “we” she meant believers - blood bought, beloved, predestined for glory before time, backed by the hosts of heaven. How could we have to labor? I laughed because her text was so abrupt but also because only months before this understanding had dawned on me. And I am the better for it.

When things are handed to humans, by nature we tend to lose them.

The blissful teachings of Christian life today often leave out the reality that hard work is necessary not as much to fulfill that for which we labor, but to sanctify our souls. So when obedience appears difficult, we reject the experience instead of seeing it through to the point where ease is released.

But, Labor is a unit of value and the universe operates on unchangeable principles, one of which is exchange. Value for value. Of Christ, scripture says that His surrender to suffering perfected Him, and so He became. Obedience will make demands not just of strength but of time and of faith, of perseverance and of sacrifice. It costs something to obey but it yields to us an experience beyond the limitations of culture, environment, trauma and the rest of it.

“and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be..” ‭‭I John‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬ ‭NKJV

Consecration

“But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection..” - ‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭27‬

If it isn’t already obvious that the path of purpose is only revealed to those willing to be processed by it, then consider this next stop: Consecration. Where obedience brings you, consecration will sustain you.

We often make consecration out to be this deeply spiritual thing that only a few can understand. But in reality, the demands of every goal, whether it’s a calling, assignment or desire, requires structures that promote the right conditions within which that goal can be achieved.

The fun part is that Consecration structures produce death. I joke, but it is quite beautiful to find yourself set apart from what is considered normal because your life has come under a government that may be explainable but its true meaning lies within you.

Where obedience brings you, consecration will sustain you.

We are all called to live above the grip of sin but consecration says that beyond sin, my participation in certain activities can weaken my performance when and where it counts. Like a professional athlete abstaining from activities that drain the life force needed to naturally be more driven, unrelenting and persistent in the games. Or John the Baptist subjecting himself to a strange diet of locusts and wild honey, expressing a rule over his body that probably heightened the strange compelling power he had.

Beauty in silence

Consecrations enhance the atmosphere for human-spirit partnership, a partnership that is not restricted to believers. Technology is influenced by such partnerships. Governments have been built on them.

Moreover, it is not always obvious what we need to create or correct to fulfill purpose. From the demands of a tender heart to the consecrations of a bridled tongue, we rely on divine leadings to define the boundaries of our lives, and not on our wisdom. In these leadings will lie grace and capacity, released as strength, to meet the demands to which we are called.

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭13‬-‭14

Metamorphosis - Growth

“What is dead will never die.” - a surprisingly wise fictional quote.

When obedience is complete the result is change.

I recently meditated on Jesus in His resurrected body, capable of eating and drinking (Acts 10:41) but never to die again. This exalted body is likely a type of what Man lost at the fall (Genesis 3:21) - what scriptures testify to when it says that in the end when we see Him we will be like Him.

This final metamorphosis is what our entire lives are actually working towards, the eternal purpose of every life being to be like Him - perfected in immortality.

In a sense, the transformation we experience in our earthly purpose is a reflection of this eternal concept. We are processed by our experiences, sanctified in our obedience and transformed by deep consecrations. We give ourselves to the causes we believe in to the point of death, and right there, something new gains life.

Change is constant

Purpose will always be hard to define. It was intended that way - to possess definition only validated in the aftermath of its fulfillment. So the focus then lies on the process and not on the outcome.

We are processed by our experiences, sanctified in our obedience and transformed by deep consecrations.

There is no choice in the matter; we will walk the maps of life where the paths that make up purpose have been defined. We can only hope that after every turn, the sign “You are here” finds us within the boundaries of our purpose.

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[PS] - After reading this post, my friend said "You just came back from your hiatus with no "hi guys, I've missed you" in the post". But I really missed you guys and I have missed this.

And there is so much in store for us from here.

Leave a comment if this blessed you in any way. I treasure hearing from you.

xo, Grace-Grace.