What's your purpose? What's your life assignment? I have been reading the book of Jeremiah from the Good Book and finally finished the 52 chapters. It is one of the heaviest, and most drenching books I’ve read in a long time. The book drains your energy and sets you off in a somber mood, but it also made me appreciate the role everyone plays in this world.
Jeremiah was appointed to prophesy by God when he was quite young; he even hesitated and complained when he was instructed at first. Do you know what God told him? To go ahead and do as he is told. What caught my attention most, is that he was told – “do not be terrified by them, but if you do, I will terrify you before them”. When you follow the book, it’s full of doomsday prophecies, and terrifying messages and the use of the word Horror is seen in many chapters. No wonder he was told not to be terrified by them. Of course, the prophesies were followed by a choice to be made by those being given the message.
Jeremiah lost all his friends, who wouldn’t? Each time he spoke, it was a negative message of doom and terror. Poor guy, he was just an unwilling messenger, or was he?
Everyone has a purpose in life, some people like Joel Osteen, always speak happy messages of encouragement and positivity, messages of hope. However, we also know those people who only speak doom. What’s your purpose? Are you a Jeremiah or a Joel Osteen? It’s difficult to identify yourself with Jeremiah. Still, perhaps that’s your reason for being, to be a Jeremiah, and help those around you (or far from you) get to see their wrongs, be it in society or in their personal lives, with the aim of helping them to change their ways, and change their society.
We’ve seen an insurgence of LGBTQ and their push for recognition. This again is not a strange thing as it has happened in the past, they just didn’t have the internet and worldwide channels to push their agendas. Do you support or will you take a stand with those near you, those you can influence? What else is disturbing you, costing you endless discussions?
I’m in a group of women, where there have been endless discussions on free pads for girls, and a push to make them more affordable, and de-stigmatization of the monthly periods. This was after a political activist pulled a stunt in parliament to make a point. We have a long way to go since the mindset that we ourselves, even as enlightened women have, is sometimes skewed and we struggle to normalize the stigma around them. Where do you stand, and what can you change? Do you need to start with yourself, or with those around you, or shall you stand by the roadside and watch the debate? About your daughters, nieces, mothers, and wives?
I was glad to finish reading the book of Jeremiah but really felt his anguish. His purpose in this life was quite complex, and some people in this modern world might have similar tasks. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Wangari Maathai, to name but a few. Will you take your stand, or will you wait "to be terrified in their presence"? I trust that much as Jeremiah was initially an unwilling messenger, he must have eventually enjoyed some aspects of his work. He traveled across cities and borders, went before kings, directly and indirectly, was jailed, found favor, and got released. He was placed in a cistern and left for dead but was rescued in a dramatic way. Of course, these are extremes and most of us will not make it to be included in the good book for our deeds, but your purpose should be strong enough to give you strength to do what needs to be done despite what happens. I’m grateful that similar persecution is not there in this modern world, though it might appear in different forms (cyber-bullying for instance).
In the good book, everyone that was given an assignment to do, did not know everything about the assignment, they just needed to accept it, and start with the first instructions as given. That’s how you develop and grow into your purpose, you’ll not have everything you think you need before you can start, you might be ‘too young’, too inexperienced, a ‘nobody’, without enough titles, lacking exposure, etc, but your purpose does not need all that, it just needs you to be you. Use the rod in your hand as Moses did. He did not need a magic wand, but the rod he used to herd cattle with, is the one that did every miracle after his assignment.
So what’s your assignment?
