Can you imagine a football match in which there is not a goal area in which the scoring has to be done? The players will just kick the ball in disorder. Some will kick it into the air, others to the right and others to the left. There will be total confusion!
The believer who has no clear goal for his life is like that. He is going nowhere in particular. He is like a ship at sea with no destination. A compass would be useless because there is no direction, no goal in view. Can you imagine a plane that has taken off from the ground at an airport but is flying to nowhere in particular? In what direction will it go? For how long will it fly? At what altitude? Where will it end? I think it will end in a crash and it may cause some other planes to get in- volved in an accident.
If you have no goal in life or if your goal is vague, you are like that plane. You will end up in a mess. Since your goal is nothing, you will accomplish it; that is, you will accomplish nothing.
The greatest disaster that can happen in any life is that it is invested in going nowhere! Without a clear and specific goal, a person is heading for “nowhere.” He will get there!
God called the apostle Paul to something definite. At his conversion he was told to go to Damascus where he would be told what he was to do. In Damascus, God told Ananias whom He was sending to Saul what Saul was to do. God said,
“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.” (Acts 9 : 15).
Later on God made things clearer to him, for He said to him,
“I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen and to those in which I will appear to you, deliv- ering you from the people and from the Gentiles – to whom I send you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among them – those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26 : 16-18).
Paul understood it clearly. God has a definite purpose, goal, call for your life. If that were not so, He would have taken you to heaven shortly after you believed. His purpose for you is not just that you should pass from death into life. That purpose was accomplished on the day you were saved. You were not taken to be with Jesus on that day because God saved you so that you should serve Him. He wants you to serve Him in a specific way. He has a task for you to perform for Him which only you can perform. You are on earth to discover that purpose and to accomplish it. Not to seek and do it, is to fail utterly. If you are vague and confused, you should know that God’s purpose for your life, that which He has set out for you to accomplish, is not vague. It is clear. It is definite. In fact, God meant that you should begin to seek and to do that one task to which He called you from the day you believed.
Saul of Tarsus understood this clearly so that at the very moment when the risen Lord appeared to him, he asked Him,
“What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22 : 10).
The Lord answered him,
“Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.” (Acts 22 : 10).
The same thing applies to you. You ought to have asked from the day that you were saved, “What shall I do, Lord ?” If you had asked, the Lord would have told you what you have been appointed to do, or He would have sent you to someone or some people who would have told you what you are appointed to do, or He would have told you what to do while waiting for Him to tell you what you have been ap- pointed to do.
Do not say that God appointed Saul of Tarsus because he was earmarked to be an apostle. That is true, but He does not only appoint apostles. The Bible says,
“And God has appointed in the church:
first apostles,
second prophets,
third teachers,
then workers of miracles,
then healers,
helpers,
administrators,
speakers in various kinds of tongues.” ( 1 Corinthians 12 : 28)
As you can see, God also appoints helpers, administrators, etc. These appointments are as important to God as the appointments of apostles and prophets.
God has appointed believers to all the posts that are needed to ensure that His overall programme is accomplished. He has appointed:
some to pray in a more extensive way,
- others to fast in a more extensive way,
- others to sing,
- others to write books,
- others to write tracts,
- others to give money in a more extensive way,
- others to encourage,
- etc.
All are His appointments.
All are important.
All are clear to Him.
All are specific appointments
to specific situations
- in specific places
- at specific times
- for specific durations
- for specific purposes.
God has all the details. You must receive the details from Him. He may give you in portions, but He will give them to you. He does not want you to be purposeless. He does not want you to waste time or to be confused. Neither does He want you to be going nowhere. He neither wants you in the wrong place nor does He want you to box the air or run in vain. He wants you to redeem time. The sooner you find out where you should be and what you should be doing, the better it will be for you!
The fact that God wants you to do a particular thing in a particular place is illustrated in what happened during the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day. The word of God puts it as follows.
“Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors; they consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel. And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. And the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts and its bars. And next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired. And next to them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles did not put their necks to the work of their Lord. …” (Nehemiah 3: 1-32).
Do you see the order? Do you see that each one had a specific task to do at a par- ticular place? Do you see that the extent of the task of each person is described? It is obvious that each took the position that was assigned to him and did the task that was assigned to him and only the task that was assigned to him.
That is what God wants to happen in your life. Will you let Him have His way? If He is to have His way, then you must let Him have His way in all things. You must ask Him what He would have you do. You must co-operate with Him until He shows you clearly all that you are to do and then you must obey Him in all things until you have finished your course.
Someone may ask, “How am I to know that to which God has called me so that I can make it the purpose of my life?” We shall not answer that question in our present study. We have answered it in another book entitled “Knowing the will of God.” Suffice it to say that those who sincerely want to know God’s will for their lives will know it. Then Jesus said,
“If any man’s will is to do his will, he shall know……” (John 7: 17).
The Psalmist said,
“He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his ways.” (Psalms 25: 9).
