“Living on purpose is the only way to really live. Everything else is just existing” – Rick Warren
God calls each one of us to take a specific mission.
When God call us for mission, the mission is always greater than us. It will take us out of our comfort zone. It will be risky. It will be scary.
- David's mission was to beat the giant warrior Goliath.
- God asked Noah to build a huge ark which can fit a pair of all the living creatures. Noah was old and he was given a very big mission, figuratively and literally.
- The angel told Mary that she would conceive & give birth to the Son of God. You cannot have a bigger mission than that!
In Philippians 3:13b he says - Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind. The first thing we need to do is to GET RID OF THE GARBAGE. Are there things in your life that are slowing you down? This may include un-forgiveness, addictions or sin. This “garbage” will slow you down and used up your energy. We need to lighten up our load if we want to take on our mission. King Saul gave David an armor which we can use when he fights Goliath.
1 Samuel 17:38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic, putting a bronze helmet on his head and arming him with a coat of mail. 39 David also fastened Saul’s sword over the tunic. He walked with difficulty, however, since he had never worn armor before. He said to Saul, “I cannot go in these, because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.
The last line says – “he took them off”. David found the armor too heavy so he decided not use it. Because of this, David won over Goliath. What are your armors that are slowing you down? You cannot go on mission with them
The second point from the verse is all about OPENING UP. The last phrase of Philippians 3:14 says “straining forward to what lies ahead”. A closed hand will never catch anything while an open hand can receive “what lies ahead”. This is why we need to OPEN UP when we take on a mission. We need to open our lives to others. We need to help those who need help. St. Francis said that is it not enough to worship Jesus, you have to imitate Him. We are called to be a Jesus to others. Are you opening up your time, talents and treasures to others?
No one can tell what lies ahead. So we also need to be open to change. If we want to fulfill our mission we should adapt to any change. Our plans may not fulfill our mission because God wants us to take on a different approach. When it comes to mission always be ready to open up your life and be open to changes.
The last part of Philippians 3:14 says “the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus”. When we go on mission we should have more of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist say that “He must increase; I must decrease (John 3:30)”. Anyone in mission should take on this stance – DECREASE YOURSELF. We cannot rely more on our abilities. We need to depend more on Jesus.
Gideon was up against a big army of 135,000 Mideanites. He had a measly team of 32,000 only. 135,000 versus 32,000 was already a big mis-match! But God asked Gideon to trim is down further until he only had 300. You cannot call 135,000 versus 300 a fair match. I don't even think that it is match. But despite that, Gideon won! The point of the story is simple. We have to rely more on God that our own capability.
Mission is not about us. It's all about God
