I may be aging myself, but I went to elementary school back in the day when they gave just one of two grades for each category on a report card—S (for satisfactory) or U (for unsatisfactory).

Funny thing was, my report cards always said the same thing. Every time. It was like they took a photocopy of my kindergarten report card and just put a different teacher’s name on it each year.

There was an “S” on every category line…except for one: “class conduct.” And in the comment line for “class conduct,” each of my teachers would explain my unsatisfactory grade in the same way.

“Edgar visits too much.”

That’s the old-school way of saying, “Edgar talks too much in class with the other kids.”

I can remember my dad laughing every time he would see that comment.

“Yep, that’s Edgar,” he would say.

He was right. It really was me. I was born a talker, and I’ve been a talker ever since.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that there’s a right and wrong time to talk, but I’m so thankful my parents didn’t over-correct out of me the desire to communicate.

It’s a part of who I am.

It’s a part of how God created me...just ask anyone who knows me.

Designed for a purpose
I now understand that there’s a reason and purpose behind why I like to talk so much. God designed me that way to match the ministry purpose He has for my life.

God has called me to preach and to help others know the joy of living out His purpose for their lives.

And guess what? Nearly everything I do in my ministry service involves speaking and listening (which is another part of communication I enjoy).

Turns out, it was in me to be a talker from the very beginning.

Question is, what’s in you?

You, too, were designed to live your life “on purpose.” God has given you a ministry purpose, and He’s uniquely designed you with that purpose in mind.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

God prepared your good works in advance. He determined them and He designed you for them! That’s the essence of your ministry purpose. It’s living out—in the fullest way—what you were created in Christ Jesus to do. It’s living in obedience to God’s will as it’s expressed in your life.

The power of vision
As our sense of ministry purpose emerges, we often begin to gain a visual representation for what its fulfillment will look like. We call it vision.

Vision is a future picture of what will happen as the result of our living out our ministry purpose. It’s not so much something we see with our eyes. It’s more something we see with our hearts and imaginations.

Vision makes our sense of purpose more concrete, and it stirs passion within us. I think it also does at least three other things for us: it sustains us, it constrains us, and it compels us.

1. It sustains us.
Every one of us will go through trials and testing as we seek to fulfill God’s ministry purpose in our lives. Our vision will sustain us through these trials. It will help us hold on and be diligent until the end—because we clearly see the end goal for which we labor and persevere. We can see that, even though it’s difficult, it’s worth it.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that a vision sustained Jesus, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2, emphasis added).

2. It constrains us.
Proverbs tells us: “Where there is no revelation [translated as “vision” in some translations] the people cast off constraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law” (Proverbs 29:18). 

It’s also true that with vision we tend to invite constraint. And we tend to embrace the discipline that comes from the law.

We see the value of constraint and spiritual discipline because we know they’re the means through which we achieve the end vision.

3. It compels us.
Vision stirs passion and deep conviction within us, which compel us forward toward the goal.“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Vision keeps us moving ever forward toward the completion of our ministry purpose.

Discovering your purpose
It’s one thing to believe God has called you to live your life “on purpose.” It’s another thing to know what that purpose is. So, how do you discover it?

It’s a lot like those “connect the dots” drawings we used to do when we were kids. At first glance, all the dots just seemed to be randomly printed on the page—with no clear pattern. It was only when we began to connect them together with lines that their relationship to one another made more sense and a clearer picture emerged.

It’s the same way with our sense of purpose. Over time, we begin to connect together
life pieces that didn’t seem to have any relationship before. As we experience more of life and ministry and vocational service, we begin to see their relationships with each other in new ways, and God shows us a more focused picture of our ministry purpose and vision.

It takes time. It takes patience. And it takes a prayerful sensitivity to connect the dots. But disovering your ministry purpose—and living it out—is central to your eternal contribution to God’s Kingdom.

Click here to schedule Edgar to speak at your event.

• Back to Magazine Archives
  Click here to view archives of past and present Laborer's Journal articles