A Face Book friend, who is several years older than I am, announced he has now been cancer free for seven years after being treated for stage four lung cancer. As he celebrated the good news with us, he couldn’t help but wonder why God has given him these extra years while so many others have not been that fortunate. It brought back my search for purpose after my wife of fifty years died.
I’ve read about “survivor guilt” when someone is the sole survivor of a plane crash, natural disaster or the only one left of their platoon during war. They struggle with the questions “Why me? Why am I still alive and others aren’t?” Those are questions only God can answer. As born again followers of Jesus Christ, my friend and I go to Him for the answer. Although our quest might seem most urgent to us, I think it is a question we all struggle with at some time in our life – a search for purpose. Mark Twain once said, “The two greatest days in a person’s life are the day they are born and the day they find out why.”
I told my friend that my favorite statement is, “I am old and wise because God protected me when I was young and foolish.” I haven’t had cancer, like he has, but when I was 12 our family doctor misdiagnosed a disease that would have killed me if God had not provided a young doctor who knew what was wrong and how to treat it. There are five other times in my life that I know God has protected me from death or serious injury. No telling how many times He has saved me from dangers I wasn’t even aware of. All I know is that God isn’t finished yet with my friend or with me and if we look for ways to share God’s love with kind acts and a servant’s heart, He will continue to provide us with opportunities.
We want God to show us our purpose because we are goal oriented creatures. We want to know what our end objective is, and then we will work to reach it. I read a few years ago about a man who asked God, “What is the purpose of my life?” God replied, “What if I told you it is that hour you spent discussing life with that boy? What if I told you it.is paying for that young couple’s meal at the restaurant? What if I told you it is saving that dog in traffic or helping that old woman across the street? What if I told you it is holding the door open for that stranger with a smile and wishing them a good day? Everything you do with love has purpose.” You see, God knows His purpose and the end result, but He wants us to concentrate on the process. His process involves love and service. Those are the things that apply His purpose to our life and that is the only purpose that will matter in the end.