Jeremiah wasn’t a stranger to emotional slumps. His audience ridiculed him and rejected his message. At one point, after a beating and a day in the stocks, the prophet regretted being born (Jer 20:14,18). But, even in that tailspin, there were two things he couldn’t deny: he was born for days of purpose, and his heart burned with a message (Jer 20:9).
The encounter with God that thrust the priest into a prophetic office included a remarkable truth. Before Jeremiah was around, God had planned a life-journey for him. He was born into that story; born for a purpose (Jer 1:5). That same truth applies to us all. 
The Lord’s thoughts about us are older than we are.1 In perfect knowledge, love, and wisdom, he mapped a ‘journey of significance’ for us. Our stories might seem ordinary and share many common features, but each is unique in the way it draws attention to him.
In our story, Christ is the magnificent main character in our days of purpose. Our words and actions, thoughts and plans, work and rest, all centre around him.
It’s not a fairytale, but a real-life narrative with wins and failures, laughter and regrets.
The journey the Lord saw for each of us is a purposeful, missional story, with a triumphant ending and an amazing sequel!
The Lord’s authorship of our story doesn’t make our journey inevitable. Here I am…I desire to do your will, my God (Ps 40:7, 8). Desire and choice go into living the narrative the Lord drafted for us. The alternative – living in the margins, trying to compose our own storyline – doesn’t work out well.
The glory of God is the broad thread running through the narrative. Whatever and wherever our role or work (prepared for us in advance, Eph 2:10), we live our days of purpose best by wanting his will more than our own way.
It’s good for us to review this powerful truth regularly. The wonder of being born for days of purpose can get buried under life’s busyness, disappointments, or competing ambitions. We can lose the awareness of living our current chapter to please the One who drafted it, and the awe of being alive today because he wrote US into his purpose!
The best way to keep this truth fresh is to have regular conversations with the Lord about it.
- Read Jer 1:5 a few times: The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
- Celebrate (thank, praise, express your gladness to the Lord) that he:
- Created you for a purpose (Before I formed you in the womb I knew you)
- Consecrated you to be his (before you were born I set you apart)
- Commissioned you to serve (I appointed you as a prophet to the nations)
- Pray for someone (as an overflow of your own celebration), who you believe needs a fresh encounter with this truth. Ask for the Holy Spirit to revive wonder and gratitude for the valuable gift of days of purpose.
1Ps 139:14-16, Eph 1:4, Gal 1:15
