"I guess I thought I would have it all figured out by now. I assumed I would know or at least feel like I was on track to the 'finish line' I subconsciously placed to arrive at around this point in my life. What is it that causes me to feel as though I’m falling behind? Who told me that by the time I am nineteen I should know who I’m going to marry, love what I’m studying in college, and have my life planned out with endless opportunities waiting for me to live the rest of my life comfortably with no problems? Has my desire to be a stay-at-home mom somehow crept in and trumped mine that is to fulfill God’s plan for my life? Or was this dream of motherhood ever mine to begin with? Should I strive for more than to mirror my own mother’s life? Should I want to travel around the world as a missionary? Do I want to? 

What is my purpose?

God told you and me in Jeremiah 1, 'before I formed you in the womb I knew you. And before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations!’ 

And we say, 'but Lord, I do not know how to speak, I am only a child,'

'Do not say that. Where and to whom I send you, you shall, and will go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you.'

Before He formed me, he had a job for me. He said, 'I need a girl for this. I’ll make Maddie.' Before He made you, He said, 'I need someone for this, I am going to make _____.'

Do not say that you are small. Do not tell yourself that your life is a cycle. Do not believe that you have no purpose. Don’t believe your purpose is even small. Your purpose matters to God. 

God tells us in Isaiah 55, 'for as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing which I sent it.'

His purpose for me will always be accomplished. His purpose will do what God intends for it to do. It’s not a matter of what my purpose is, it is a matter of trusting that He will keep His promise and show me my purpose in His time. 

Our purpose is not one 'finish line', Hallmark movie moment, it is the day-to-day obedience to take the next step in the direction in which He calls us to.  

The life God has for you, you will live. Don’t worry, beloved, about messing it up or missing it. 

You are not that powerful. But, 'God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing. He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds don’t burst with the weight. He covers the face of the moon, shrouding it with his clouds. He created the horizon when he separated the waters: he set the boundary between day and night. The foundations of heaven tremble; they shudder at his rebuke. By his power the sea grew calm. By his skill, he crushed the great sea monster. His Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and his power pierced the gliding serpent. These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power. Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power?' Job 26:7-14. He is the most powerful." - Maddie P.