FINDING PURPOSE

This story isn't new,

I wrote it 7 years ago, but it popped up on my newsfeed again this week, because someone out there was touched by it.

And even as I read it, it touched me and served as a reminder to me of my journey and how far I've come, you see the power of our stories?  

To my audience of one,,,,,,

I am not where I used to be,,,

Certainly not where am destined to be

But I'm understanding and embracing the journey

Towards all God has in store for me,,,,

Sunday service was awesome,,I sat in my chair, excited and anxious to share my testimony ,,,,

Yes because I believe when you going through ,you praise him anyway, so when he shows up

with a breakthrough and you know that your turnaround has started, you want to tell them ,

those on the journey too, and those who don't know,

he,s an awesome God ,and though he may linger ,he's on time,,,his time not mines

Saturday I ended a discourse with these two words ,Broken and Damaged, and they seem to have rebounded, as I headed up the staircase

As i seek a deeper walk with the lord, I'm learning to see purpose in every situation

So i began to analyze, trying to weigh the relevance those words may have had to my own wilderness experience and how I could help even one person who have allowed theses words to become their identity based on their emotional status, due to some tragedy or circumstances, self proclaim or the perspective of a cruel world.

Oxford dictionary interprets it rather interestingly,,,,, I paraphrase,,

Broken,,,,, The past tense of break, to become disjointed,disconnected, to be shattered, to come apart by a sudden violent movement, to become useless

Damaged,,,,To have harm , or pain or abuse inflicted, to lose value,,,

The man at the well in Johns Gospel chapter 9.,so wanted to be healed but he depended on his so called friends to take him to the water ,he didnt think he had it within to help himself , he had lost all confidence he wore the opinion off others like a crown

even when the healer stood before him, he was so desperate so broken, he didn't recognize his opportunity had come .

Eugene .H.Peterson wrote, in his book Earth and Altar,,",,Pity is the noblest of emotions, self pity the most ignoble,,,,it is an incapacity,a crippling emotional disease that severely distorts our perception of reality,,,,a narcotic that leaves the addicts wasted and derelict"

Beautiful flowers , standing vliantly in the breeze , its bright colors and well designed blooms,,,seem to wave gleefully to passersby,

can be struck down by the rush off happy feet, oblivious to its value,

Once the source of joy to admiring eyes,

Now lying trampled, broken ,useless , dead,,

The damaged ,stretch toward the sun with their last bit of strength,and natures rain water them and her hands gently caresses them , slowly they rise again standing tall,full off life , ,blooming, restored .

And there is that word Restored,,

Unlike plants ,we humans have soul we have life breathed into us by an awesome loving God,who has a purpose and a destiny planned for us all

And God has deposited in all off us that ,,,something,,,,that talent ,that idea ,that bussiness, that invention, that medical cure,that remains untapped unless we are forced to a place where if we choose not to give up ,we will dig within and unearth it.......

I remember the day as clear as if it was yesterday, I laid at the feet off my bed feotus position, the darkness seemed to be engulfing me ,I felt weary, broken ,I came to the end of myself ,fighting this injustice seemed useless unwinnable, like the woman at the well I spent my last but the hemoragh continued, I had tried all i could possibly do on my own, i had lost ,my spirit made one last lung at life, as I cried out snatching the hem off that garment with all I had,,, through the blinding tears ,my eyes caught ,,,three little words staring out at me from the classified ads off the newsprint my face had now became buried in ,,,,,for solace as I emptied myself,,,,""If no one can fix it,,,God can ''''

And I don't know who,s reading this but I'm telling you ,he can,,,

That day I got up ,stood up it was like a booster shot had been injected into my vein,s,, ,the Grey clouds parted and a peace settled

I have been standing on that promise for six years, now,,,

God doesn't operate in our timing nor does he work in the planned well structured way we expect,

Fixing it meant, fixing me,,

Nothing of real value on this earth is available on the surface, its buried deep ,hidden ,,, it has to be discovered, unearthed,molded shaped,taken through the fire ,refined.

Its been hard ,I have had to shed me, let go off possessions,people,and passions for purpose

I have had to listen,

I have had to be obedient

I have had to move when he said move,without a clue as to where I'm going,

I have to trust,

I have to exercise faith,mad undiluted faith.crazy faith

I had nothing to fall back on ,nothing ,no bank account, no business, no friends,just trust ,hope and faith in him

He has ordered my steps to places I would have never gone, doing things I would have never done

Have I reached, nooo I'm the least off them ,ever in need of his forgiveness ,mercy ,grace

But I stand on his promise ,that "his plans for me are not to harm me"

Have I seen him work , yes I have, his blessings are are just on time and beautiful

My expectations and definitions of his blessings are from a different mindset though,,

I have learnt that it isn't your circumstances that keep you captive ,when challenged ,its our

Attitude,,,,,,,

According to Phycologist Victor Frankl, The last of our human freedoms is to choose our attitude in any given circumstance,,,

Thomas Edison the inventor of the incandescent bulb , succeeded only after ten thousand tries, yet he didn't see it as that many failures,,,

Failure is opportunity waiting to be discovered,,,

So I endorse you don't give up,, with that one last breath lung forth, grab the hem off his garment ,,,

Don't die broken, damaged

Get up,,,he offers life Hope Peace ,,,,Restoration,...