Discovering Your God-Given Purpose

Use Rick Warren's SHAPE framework to understand how God equipped you for specific good works before you were born.

Did you know it took fifty years after the tin can was invented before someone thought to make a tin can opener? For fifty whole years, the manufacturer's guidance for opening a tin was to use a hammer and chisel. Madness.

When the tin opener was finally created, it was made for the purpose of opening tin cans. Sounds obvious. But when you're creating something, you need to know its purpose first.

Now look at Ephesians 2:10: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

We were made for works he'd already planned. It's a subtle shift in thinking, but I hope it encourages you.

Choosing vs Discovering Purpose

There are two ways to approach purpose. You can choose it or you can discover it.

Choosing your purpose looks like this. I'll look at my gifts and passions, what I want to achieve, the kind of lifestyle I want to live, how much money I want to make, what others think I should do, and invent a purpose based on that. It depends on you defining yourself and then choosing your own purpose. This is how most people decide what their purpose is and what they’re going to do with their lives.

But discovering your purpose is different. It involves looking at who God has made you to be, the gifts he’s given you, the things you’re passionate about, the way you’re wired, and then discovering the purpose he's had for you all along. It depends on discovering God's design for you.

Choosing your purpose depends on you defining yourself, discovering your purpose involves you considering the way God has defined you and figuring out the purpose he has had for you all along.

When we know Jesus, we shift from creating our purpose to discovering it. God didn't make you first and then assign works. He knew the works and wrapped up in you everything needed for those good works.

That’s encouraging!

You're Not Late or Ill-Equipped

Because we have been designed by God for good works planned in advance, because He is the one who knows us and designed us on purpose and for a purpose that means a few things.

It means someone else hasn’t done the things you’re meant to do. Because they’re yours to do. Your purpose can’t pass you by, you aren’t too late to step into it - but you do have to step into it.

It means there isn’t a person better placed to do it than you. How many times do we think that the person we admire in church would be better suited for that type of serving, or another person would do it better than we would. There’s a responsibility we have to do the good works. I’m all for delegation when needed - but you can’t delegate the good works God has for you, they’re yours to do.

If God has ordained it for you, he hasn't created another person who can do it like you can.

And that includes the whole spectrum of good works - from the big things, to the tiniest things hardly any one will see.

No one can love your friends like you can. No one can show your kids the joy of following Jesus like you can. No one can show kindness to your neighbours like you can. No one can lead in your workplace the way you can. No one can think of solutions the way you do. No one has the compassion needed for that situation like you do.

It Doesn't Have to Be Big to Be Good

Let me remind you, your purpose doesn't have to be big for it to be good.

Self-help gurus and influencers - you know the kind who get up at 3.30 to start their morning routine, they workout and then meditate for an hour and focus on “manifesting”. They would have you think that your life isn’t a great one unless you accomplish something gigantic and millions of people know about it.

Absolutely not.

The size of the vision related to your purpose doesn’t matter, what matters is that it’s God-given.

And how do you know that? You’ll need God and others to achieve it. The Holy Spirit actively works against our isolation, and so we can expect for our purpose to involve us depending on God and working with others.

Discovering Your SHAPE

So how do you discover what God made you for? Pastor Rick Warren gave us this framework called SHAPE.

S is for spiritual gifts.

Here’s what Paul tells us about them in 1 Corinthians 12.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

So consider the gifts God has given you. Remember, they’re gifts, they aren’t earned. And the Holy Spirit decides who to give them to. The gifts He’s given you will relate to the purpose he has for you. And remember, God actively works against isolation, so no one person has all the gifts.

H is for heart.

Your heart refers to the place of your desires, hopes, dreams. Your heart is the reason why you are drawn to some things but not others, why you’ll spend ages doing one thing and won’t waste a minute on something else. They’re all clues pointing to our purpose, so we shouldn’t overlook what we love.

You’ll know if you're serving from your heart, you’ll feel motivated and not easily discouraged. Time will seem to go faster and you’ll be saying wow has that been an hour already? Pay attention to those moments.

A is for abilities.

Our natural talents and the ones we feel led to work on. They all come from God. All abilities can be used for his glory, not just churchy ones.

That means your hairdressing abilities, the way you make a great powerpoint deck for a client, the way you organise everyone’s calendars, the art you create, all abilities count and can be used to glorify God. What you're able to do is usually what God wants you to do.

Or let’s put it another way, if you can’t paint then your purpose isn’t to paint. God gives us abilities that line up with our purpose, so pay attention to what you’re good at.

P is for personality.

How has God wired you? Introverted or extroverted? Sensitive or strategic? Do you love to plan or be spontaneous? Serving in line with our character is much more effective than serving out of character.

And finally…

E is for experiences.

Which basically means what’s your story? Your whole story. God wastes nothing. Our family background, education, formative events, even our painful experiences. All of it. And so often, it’s the tough things we walk through that God uses as part of our purpose. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”

Be Encouraged

And that’s the SHAPE framework. Considering these questions will help us to discover the purpose God has had for us from the very beginning.

Next week we’ll look at what we do with the answers to these questions but my encouragement for you this week, if you’re not sure on your purpose or feel like you’ve drifted, is that God knows your heart.

If you set out to live in line with who He has created you to be, He will guide you to the right opportunities, and reveal to you the good works He has planned. But for that to happen, we have to set out on that walk. Experiment.

If you think your purpose might lie in counselling for example, don’t make your first step getting a degree in counselling. Research it, talk to other counsellors, ask trusted people what they see in you, pray about it, and then set out to do a small version of it. Maybe that might look like taking a basic free course in listening skills and volunteering your time to a local volunteer helpline. Keep shape in mind and see how the experience goes and then decide whether to pursue it further.

You were made on purpose, for a purpose. And that purpose matters.

Question

Why not choose one of the SHAPE categories and ask God these two questions

1. God, what do you want me to know about this area of my shape?

2. And what do you want me to do with what you show me?

Prayer

I’d love to pray for you.

Lord, thank you that you have created us for good works, that we're fully equipped in all the ways we need to be to serve you and serve others. Thank you that you've created us for lives full of meaning and purpose. As we discover more about how you've made us, would you show us what we need to know and what we need to do. Help us take steps that benefit our community as we look to love others and glorify you. In your precious name Jesus, amen.