Recognizing Your Purpose

1 Chronicles 11:1-2 “Then all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. 2 In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’”

Can you see something of the ways of the Lord here? Often, before a person’s gift or calling is recognized, he is already functioning in it. He has already begun to do what the Lord assigned to him even before others acknowledge it. We can get a pretty good understanding of what the Lord is assigning for us by looking at what we already are doing. A young believer once asked me how she would know when it was time for her to step into a leadership role in her church. I told her, “When you have begun to lead; that is, when others are looking to you to be discipled and counseled. If you are a leader, there will be followers.”

This is what is happening in this passage. David was already “leading Israel out and bringing Israel in” in military campaigns. And the people already had a heart (not just a command) to follow him. The Lord had already spoken to him and anointed him to be king over Israel.

But King Saul envied David and opposed the Lord‘s will by oppressing and suppressing him. For a time, it seemed to work, but the Lord used it all to refine David, and it did not stop God from fulfilling His will for him. I’m sure David wondered about the Lord‘s will for him as he hid in caves and ran for his life. Surely he questioned what he thought he had heard from God. Surely he wondered why there was such a delay. We know from the Scriptures that he wasn’t sure if he would make it out alive:

1 Samuel 27:1 Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.”

Have you had similar circumstances in your life? I wondered for years if God would ever fulfill what He had promised for my life. There was such opposition, such vicious opposition. There were delays and sabotages and intrigues, all crafted by the enemy to derail what God wanted to produce through my life. People I respected spoke against the purposes of God for my life. Doors that seemed to be opening were suddenly slammed shut. Then there was the incessant stream of discouragement and condemnation that flowed from the enemy daily. But all the while, God’s hand refined and protected me. I’m not finished yet; there is very much more work yet to be done. But I have lived long enough to see personally that God is faithful to what He promises.

I have seen also that what God called me to do was what I was already doing to some extent. It was what I did naturally. It involved the natural abilities and inclinations that God prepared for me before I was born. Even as I was doing these things, I wondered and worried about the call of God for me, but as time passed, and I watched Him sweep away every opposing influence, I could see clearly that my eventual role in service to God involved the development and consecration of those things that I had already been doing over the years.

As David was fleeing from Saul, he prayed this prayer which we find in Psalm 57:1-2: “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.”

The Amplified Bible translates verse two this way: “I will cry to God Most High, Who accomplishes all things on my behalf [for He completes my purpose in His plan]”. (AMP)

Return to trusting the Lord concerning His purpose for you. Be faithful where you are, and keep moving in what you know to do. He hasn’t forgotten. You haven’t squandered your usefulness. What He purposes no man can overthrow. Isaiah 14:27 For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Prayer

Father, I have wondered and worried about Your purposes for my life. I have wondered if I am inventing a calling in my own mind. Sometimes I believe it, but then I wonder whether it will ever come to pass. I choose, with faithful Abraham, to believe You, Lord. He “staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. He was fully persuaded that, what You had promised, You were able to perform (Romans 4:20-21, KJV). I trust You, Lord. I rest in Your faithfulness. I am not the one that brings Your purposes to pass; You are. Thank You, Lord. Amen.