Purpose

My nine-year-old son loves playing on his Nintendo switch – he in particular loves Minecraft and MarioKart and any game in which he can create and develop his own worlds. He has taken to mentioning that if he fails, he can just respawn and try again. This has started to become his reality of life too – if he messes up, he just says “It’s ok Mummy, I can respawn and try again.” Now whilst this idea is slightly unreal in our reality, it holds great merit for how to live life.

I am aware that as I write this blog, many young people across our country will have been receiving GCSE and A-Level grades. For some this will have been a time of great achievement, they will have received the grades they hoped for, or even above what they hoped for, but there will be others who didn’t. For some they may have been dreading the time when the results were published for all to see. We hold such stock in academic grades that those who struggle academically may be feeling a sense of worthlessness and wonder what this means for their future ahead.

I did reasonably well in my exams at school, but I remember feeling “what on earth do I do now? What do I want to do for a living?.” I had no idea and spent years wondering between jobs not really knowing what my purpose was in life. I struggled, because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and it has taken me years to get to a point where I have finally found the thing, I believe God made me for.

I love the passage in Ephesians 1 v 11-12 (The Message Version) which says,

 It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

I love how even when we feel like we have no real purpose in life, or in earthly terms, what we should be doing with our lives, God knows, he has always known – he knew before we were even born. This gives me hope that if we continue to lean into him, he will show us the way he wishes us to go.

Let’s pray…

  • For peace for all those young people who didn’t receive the grades they hoped for
  • To celebrate with those who did
  • For those who are confused about their purpose in life and have fears for their future

Written by Naomi Ackland, Office Coordinator for Swindon Youth for Christ