Pleasure and Purpose

"I believe God made me for a purpose…for China. But, He also made me fast and when I run I feel His pleasure!" - Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire

Today I was wearing the TWLOHA shirt my sister introduced me to and our waitress at Izzy's asked me about it. I told her about the story (you'll have to check the website) and her eyes welled up. As I talked, she started rubbing her arms and I could see she had goosebumps. Turns out her adopted daughter is a had the same problems and she has been struggling a great deal lately.

When I left the restaurant, I was the one with goosebumps. It was one of those times when I knew I was in the right place and the right time for the right purpose. But, I didn't do anything. God made me for a purpose, to help others. There is nothing I have experienced in life that brings me pleasure like letting God use me for that purpose.

Society tells us all the things that can bring us pleasure - sex, money, power, cheeseburgers, coca-cola. These things might make you happy for a minute, but not really happy, not really fulfilled. That only comes from finding your purpose and letting God do the rest.

Wasted Life

I have faced it...
A life wasted...
I'm never going back again

I think its every little boy’s dream to live a life that means something, a life that is more than just a statistic - a life that impacts other lives. I know that dream has always been mine. Is it possible that we have this dream because our purpose, the very reason for our creation, screams out from somewhere deep inside of us before we can even realize what that purpose is? Maybe we can’t even really know what that is - until after we have tasted what it cannot be. I’ve been there, I’ve tasted a wasted life that spit in the face of purpose and the whole time the screams got louder and louder. I faced it...

I escaped it...
A Life wasted...
I'm never going back again

Countless times I swiped by badge to let myself into my own three-walled prison cell, separated from the outside world but by ethernet and telephone, lifelines to a world that doesn’t include timecards or spreadsheets. Timecards - a written record of the hours spent wasting my life, my energy, my God-given gifts. Spreadsheets - countless cells filled with data that seems vitally important inside that world, but means nothing. Is this what life is about? Is it worth spending so much time (and realizing it will never be enough)? Is it worth what must be given up? Is it real? Does it make a difference? Is it a waste? Guidance counselors don’t think so. Professors don’t think so. Society doesn’t think so. My boss didn’t think so. I knew. I escaped it...

You’re always saying you’re too weak to be strong...
You’re harder on yourself than just about anyone...
Why swim the channel just to get this far...
Halfway there why would you turn around?
Darkness comes in waves... tell me,
why invite it to stay?

It was supposed to be easy. It was supposed to be fun. It is still work. It is still life. It's still hard. But not a waste. Not empty. Not hollow. Not pointless. Not alone. Not anymore.
 It's a hug and a handshake. It's a hospital room. It's a hammer. It's humanity. It's humane. It's honor. It's humbling. It's hope. It's love. It's truth. It's infinite.
All the paychecks in the world can’t buy the feeling of knowing that your life has meaning - of seeing it on people’s faces and in their eyes - of hearing it in their words and their voices - of feeling it in their embrace and in their hearts. Meaning is more than this world. Its more than right now. Meaning isn’t a waste. Meaning is giving something, the only thing, to those who have nothing - while expecting nothing in return and yet gaining everything.
I’m never going back again

Life Wasted - Words by Eddie, Music by Stone