Midlife crises, marital breakdown and radical realignments all point, amongst other things, to a yearning for that elusive something just beyond our reach. We want to matter. We want to leave our mark. We want an inner sense of doing something worthwhile, but as we evaluate the humdrum of our 9-5 existence we are left with a sense that something is missing. What’s the bigger picture? What’s the grander purpose?
God called one of His prophets to service with these words: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). Here was a man who was told why he was on the earth and what he was here to accomplish. As a result, the great prophet Jeremiah had no trouble seeing his grand purpose. But what about mine? What is our great calling?
Our purpose is to bring pleasure to God. According to Revelation 4:11, “Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Did you get that? God created all things, including you and me, for His own pleasure. Is that not an awesome thought? The infinite God created mankind to bring delight to His heart. This is man’s ultimate and eternal purpose. This is why we are here – to be the subject of divine attention and the object of divine affection.
The psalmist writes in absolute wonder at this truth: “What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:4) Surely this elevates our lives above the mundane into the magnificent, out of the depressing into the delightful. To leave a relationship with God out of the equation of life is to miss the whole purpose of human existence, and climb the slippery ladder of earthly success only to discover that it has been leaning against the wrong wall.
