Devotional: The Greater Purpose
In our time, like in the time of Judges, everyone does what is right in their own eyes. There are many unsettling things in our personal lives and in the world around us competing for our efforts and attention. But only the call of God is eternal, meaningful, and fruitful. In such times, God selectively chooses and uniquely calls people to fulfill His purpose. In 1 Samuel 1:1-11, God chose Hannah, a housewife, to change the course of a nation. But God’s greater purpose means enduring delay and experiencing a breaking. When our will is wholly surrendered to God, He brings blessing, breakthrough and deliverance in our lives and in the world around us.
Questions For Meditation
- The single greatest purpose worth living for is to devote yourself to the call of God. What lesser purposes – either personally or socially – have you prioritized over the call of God?
- Hannah was loved, but not fully blessed. How do you explain that? Why would God keep his love but withhold His blessing?
- Postponement and delays isn’t a sign of God’s absence, but His favor. Why does God make us wait? What does He teach and accomplish in the waiting?
- What does dying to yourself mean? What conveniences or comforts stand in the way? What grumblings or dissatisfactions stand in the way?
- What would your life look like if you endured the delay and died to yourself daily? Where do you get the power and ability to do that? What impact would it have in your work, school, family, and places you inhabit?
- What practical steps can you take to devote yourself to God’s will, yield to the Holy Spirit, and surrender wholly to God’s call each day?