Touré Roberts - Purpose Awakening: Discover the Epic Idea that Motivated Your Birth

C hances are if you picked up this book based on the title and are reading these words, youre likely someone who has already begun to question what the purpose of your life is. Youve probably read books, been to seminars, and even had someone stand in front of youall smilesmaking purpose-finding seem so easy. But even after youve tried those things, youre more than likely still in the same place at the end of the day, saying, When is it really going to happen for me? Youre serious about doing whatever it takes to find your purpose, but up to this point you havent discovered the meaning of your life.

If this is you, Id like for you to consider something. What if the reason you havent found your purpose has to do with the way youve gone about looking for it? Maybe youve been taught, like so many others, that in order to discover your purpose in life, you have to take into account: (1) what you currently like, (2) what you are currently motivated by, or (3) what you presently feel. Perhaps youve been led to believe that somehow there were clues to discovering your purpose in each of these.

What if I told you that your purpose may not have anything to do with those things or what you are currently inclined to do? What if I told you that finding your purpose is really about discovering the thought that was in Gods mind before you were born? A thought so amazing, it was His sole inspiration for bringing you forth. When you discover this thought, you will have found your purpose.

Before I formed you in your mothers womb, I knew you. (see Jeremiah 1:5)

When it comes to discovering your purpose, its important that you understand from the onset that the plan of you predated the birth of you. You began as a brilliant thought in the mind of God. This thought was so profound that it alone motivated Him to bring you into this world. When He thought about you, who you would become, and what you would do, He smiled within Himself and said, Now thats good!

Everything in life has a before. It all has to start somewhere. This is even evident in all areas of science. If you think about it, to progress forward in science is really to look back with more precision. Science teaches us that in order to understand what presently is, we must attempt to look back and discover what was. As knowledge in science increases, we come to understand what took place in the before and why.

Just as the world has a before, so do you. We often get so preoccupied with the here and now that we fail to consider that our life has a before. Its in this realm of the before that we find the plan for our lifethe blueprint, and the schematic containing everything that is, was, and will ever be. As we lay hold of these plans, it enables us to skillfully navigate the here and now.

At the beginning of everything that is, was, and will ever be is God, the embodiment of flawless brilliance. The Creator, being motivated by a passion to extend His essence to an unformed world, does so with meticulous detail. He created the world we now see, and the pinnacle of that creation is you! God is the ultimate craftsman. He has shaped each of us with a precision that transcends anything that can be found. Nothing about you was created in vain or lacks significance. You have been designed with perfect intentionality.

David says it best in one of his Psalms:

You formed the whole of me, inward and out. I am awesomely and wonderfully created. Your creations are spectacular. You skillfully designed me. You saw the essence of me before I was formed. Before I existed, all of my days were written in Your book. (see Psalm 139:1316 NIV )

Not only did God fashion you, but He knows you more intimately than anyone else.

Although the two of you may have yet to be introduced, you are no stranger to God. The One who formed you is perfectly acquainted with all that you are, all that you were, and all that you will ever be.

God is intimately acquainted with the idea of you that predated you. After all, it was His idea to begin with. God has seen your beginning, He has seen your middle, and He has seen your end. He knows your life inside and out.

Its kind of like people who become huge fans of a celebrity. This type of fan knows all about the person they admire. They know where she shops, what she wears, what she driveseven down to what she likes for breakfast. They are into all the details of that celebritys life. They follow her childhood, they know about past relationships, schools she attended, and the list goes on. Sometimes these fans know more about the celebrity than even her closest confidantes. This level of knowledge and familiarity creates an intimacy, even though in this case the celebrity doesnt know the fans. Believe it or not, its the same thing between God and us. Even when we dont know God, He knows us. He is our biggest fan. He knows every strand of hair on our head, He knows our entire story, and He longs for the day that we awaken to His friendship.

Not only does God know you, but as the earlier passage points outHe has ordained you. To be ordained means to be divinely designed for something. When God ordains something, He is exercising His divine prerogative to bring about what He desires. Everything God ordains, Heaven backs up. That thing youve been ordained for is guaranteed to workif you do it. It is your unique shape that is distinct from any other shape on the planet. Theres a space in the universe that fits you perfectly. Its your divine DNA strand. It is your eternal fingerprint. This is going to work! God exclaims as He puts the final touch on your design. As a matter of fact, its the only thing that will work, anyplace, anytime, for all your days. This is the It Factor concerning you. This is the thing that sets you apart from everyone else. This is your calling card. This is your uniqueness. This is Heavens interpretation of you. And in your unique identity, there is provision and divine resources. All of creation is waiting for you to find your purpose and live it out. Discovering what you have been ordained for opens up the resources of the universe to you. If God ordained it, there is nothing that can stop it. It has to happen. It must work. It will work. And that is why you must find it.