"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away." ~Pablo Picasso
🖌 Ever feel like you aren't living up to something-either a person, a memory, a position, being a mom/daughter/mother-in-law/grandma? Or you find yourself playing the comparison game?
I have to be careful or I find myself doing that as I reflect back on my teaching career, or being a grandma, or reading about someone accomplishing something great for the Kingdom of God. It was hard enough before, but social media and the internet have taken it to a whole different level.
🖌 Because talking about purpose is more than a short one-time blog, I wanted to keep discussing it. Judging by his quote, Pablo Picasso seemed to have a confident grasp of who he was and what his purpose was. His 1932 painting at the top of this blog is called "Girl Before a Mirror", which seems to represent how convoluted of a perception we can have of ourselves.
Picasso's full name is Pablo Diego Jose` Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la SantÃsima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruiz y Picasso? No wonder he became such an accomplished artist - he had to learn all that from a young age! And most of these names were saints- that would be a bit difficult to live up to.
Fortunately I was born in the 60s, where it seems most of us girls had one middle name and it was either Lynn, Ann, or Marie. You were lucky if yours was something different! And as a middle child in the sixties-what a time to be alive- no one really expected anything extraordinary from me. Thanks, (I think?) because now mediocrity is my middle name?
Maybe that's why I have always wanted to be intentional about the things I do- when I became aware of how God defined me, it changed everything.
As I talk to other women like myself who have lived a few more life experiences (ahem-aka years), we see a commonality among our culture's sweet young women and what they are up against. And I don't think this is restricted to age - women of all ages face comparison, which, rightly said, is the thief of joy.
If we could wave a magic paintbrush over you, we would want you to know this about your life painting, regardless of what season you are in:
🖌 Your Heavenly Father has precious thoughts about you. You are His child.
"How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!" Psalms 139:17
"See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know Him." 1 John 3:1
🖌 You are chosen for this time and place.
"You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we
will live, and we are not given a minute longer." Job 14:5
🖌 God can do anything.
"I know that You can do anything, and no one can stop You." Job 42:2
🖌 When we commit our actions to Him, we will succeed.
"Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. The Lord has made everything for His own purposes, even the wicked for a day of disaster." Prov 16:3-4
🖌 God is for us and gives us the power.
"The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever." Psalm 138:8
"May He give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of the Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with Him." 2 Thess 1:11-12
When your self-talk says what you're doing doesn't matter, that in the world's eyes you don't make enough money/difference/impact, when you feel less than, small, insignificant - put on your shield from God and fight back the fiery arrows of the devil.
You were made specifically and perfectly for such a time as this, designated by the Creator of the Heavens and Earth, who makes no mistakes. Ask Him to guide you. He died for your sins. He has placed you where you are for His purposes. He has equipped and endowed you with incredible gifts and passions, unique to you, to use for His purposes. No one can take those from you. Ask Him for discipline in how to use them.
Who knows? Maybe your middle name is really Esther!
✙ Heavenly Father, the One who created all, we humbly come before You asking forgiveness for letting the world get in our heads. Your ways are higher than ours, Your thoughts are higher than ours, and we ask You to help us live through Your eyes. Give our hearts courage to live Your word out loud . Reveal Your purpose for us, and help us to obey each step, even if we aren't sure of the outcome, because we know it's for our best. We trust You. Amen.
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