Have you ever taken the opportunity to prayerfully ponder your purpose in life and consider whether you are purposeful in living it out? If you’re like me, it’s a frequent exercise, but I confess it’s not always for the right reasons. We can easily question our purpose by becoming lost in our feelings of inadequacy or being bent on putting our priorities (or idols) before God. My wife recently reminded me of Isaiah’s prophecy of a day when “…your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” In the verses that follow, Isaiah goes on to say that people will cast away their idols. We aren’t there yet. I reflected on how our priorities and idols are often distractions that keep us from hearing God’s call and living according to the purpose for which he created us.
A fascinating podcast recently described how repurposing drugs has led to successful treatments for cancer and other diseases. In addition to pharmaceuticals, tools and equipment have also been repurposed for different uses. “Repurpose” is defined as “to give a new purpose or use to.” We see in Scripture God’s repurposing of the lives of the Apostle Peter, Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene, and Paul – all were transformed and given a new purpose, becoming examples and messengers of God’s redeeming love and restoration.
One of WMPL’s long-serving workers in Pakistan, Jan Kersgaard, went to be with her Savior last year after battling ALS. In her book, Jan’s Story, she writes how she dreaded leaving her comfortable life in the US to go into the desert in another country and learn a new language. After waiting a year and a half for her visa, she received word from the Pakistan consulate that her application was denied. She breathed a sigh of relief and was happy to get on with her comfortable life, as she put it. However, three weeks later, she received a call from the WMPL director: “Good news!! Your visa has been granted, and the team wants you there by Christmas!” Jan describes the agony she went through with that news. She didn’t want to receive it and thought of ways to escape it. Jan then heard God’s voice speaking clearly to her “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me.” heart, “‘I have some wonderful things planned for you in Pakistan. Do you want to come?’ Yes, what else could I say? Yes! A weight lifted immediately. I began truly looking forward to going.” Jan accepted God’s invitation, cast away her own priorities, repurposed her life according to the Lord’s will, and ran the race God had for her.
I’m comforted by Psalm 138:8: “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” We can trust that Jesus has some exciting plans for us as he did for Jan. We are called according to his purpose and to walk in the calling we’ve received. In Ephesians 2:10 we read that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, and that we should walk in them.”
Repurposed living is not a one-time experience. As we start our day with God’s word and listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we can repurpose every mundane activity into a kingdom activity that glorifies the Lord and impacts the society around us. He’s inviting us to! The enemy will seek to destroy us, and we are told in the Word to expect to suffer for Christ, but through God’s strength we will overcome.
In the closing of Jan Kersgaard’s book and after her diagnosis with ALS, she reminded herself of a devotional she had read after an earlier illness,
…of Jesus in Gethsemane being willing to drink the cup the Father gave him. It was the hand of his loving Father intent on redeeming our lost human race. Baffled by such love we take our stand on Calvary and believe that any cup we drink is held to our lips by the Father of fathomless love and wisdom.
Janice Kersgaard. Jan’s Story. Self-Published, 2024. 135.
Those with little or no access to the Good News need to experience this redeeming love that transforms them and, in turn, become repurposed tools for the kingdom of God. Who is the Lord putting in your path today?