There Is A Race Marked Out For You Don’t quit. Whatever it is for you today, you have the power and the strength to carry on, even if it doesn’t look like dance parties and celebrations. It might look like you showing up in your pajama pants or with tears in your eyes, but you can do it. You can keep going. You can keep showing up – to the blank page, to the piano, to your prayer closet, to your marriage, for your kids, at your job, you fill in the blank. It’s easy to think that the things we do don’t matter all that much, that our consistency doesn't make a difference, or that it’s okay to give up and sit down. The truth is that you’re here on purpose. You are not just one of many doing whatever feels right, you are the one that a specific race has been marked out for. Psalm 139 paints a beautiful picture of how God created you so specifically, so particularly, and had all your days marked down before even one of them came to be. You’re not just someone, you’re you – on purpose and for purpose! What you’re doing matters. We don’t often get to see how or what will come of it while we’re still in the middle, but Galatians 6:9 tells us that we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up. It doesn’t say maybe or that there is a good chance it’ll work out. It’s confirmed: it will come to pass. But take heart, friend. You’re not alone. Philippians 1:6 says that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion. This not only confirms, again, what’s to come but clarifies that He will carry it on. The power and the strength you have to endure comes from Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:2–3 instructs us to look to Jesus, fix our eyes on Him, and consider Him as we run this race. That is how we don’t grow weary. That is how we don’t give up. We turn, again, to the source of our faith. Consider the area where you feel weary or where you feel like giving up. What if you are uniquely designed and equipped to do exactly that thing, and you are able to do it in a way that no one else can? How might that change the way you approach it each day?

Have you ever felt stuck? Like you were meant to move forward, grab life by the horns, and crush your goals—but your circumstances close in on you and you just can’t get ahead? Maybe you’ve wondered, “God, is there a plan?” Maybe day after day, week after week, month after month, your dreams get deferred—and you decide to bury the dream because there is no clear answer and no clear timeline. If you’re trapped in a state of limbo, you’re in good company. In Scripture, we read about Joseph. He was a young guy, full of promise, blessed with skills, and intellect, and integrity. But he finds himself thrown into prison for no fault of his own. For more than a decade, Joseph, who had been deftly climbing the leadership ladder, was held prisoner for a crime he didn’t commit. More than ten years of not knowing when his time would come to be released from prison into all God had in store for him. But God had a unique plan and purpose for Joseph's life which He unfolded according to His timetable. At the perfect time, the pieces fell into place. Joseph left prison to become Pharaoh’s right-hand man. Today, as you face dead-end circumstances, know that God has not forgotten you. Maybe you don’t have the blueprint—but God does. He will fulfill His plan for your life. Your pit, your prison, your seemingly dead-end circumstances can become the training ground that readies you for what’s ahead. Let’s pray: Father God, Whether I’m in the pit or in the prison, I’m not alone. You are with me. In those valley situations, Your rod and Your staff comfort me. Father, my way is not hidden from you. You are El Roi—the God who sees. So, Lord, even though I don’t know when You’ll lead me out of this valley, I trust that You have the perfect timetable and that Your plan cannot be thwarted. Father, even when things feel like they are in limbo and answers feel up in the air, would you enable me to live with purpose and integrity, glorifying You exactly where You’ve placed me for now. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Living a Mission-Possible Life Scripture gives us one shared, big-picture purpose: to glorify God. That means that as believers, we honor and serve God with our lives, our natural gifts, our resources, our bodies, our worship, and our decisions. Now, glorifying God doesn’t necessarily mean you have to become a missionary or plant yourself on the other side of the world. Nor does it mean you have to sing worship songs during every waking hour (though if you feel a tug on your heart to do that, go for it!). But it does mean your big-picture purpose is to bring glory to God wherever you are. Within that greater purpose of glorifying God, you find your purpose in what you do every day. Simply put, purpose is about being mission-driven in your ordinary life. Living a mission-possible life means executing the good works God has already prepared for you to do. This is what Paul was talking about when he wrote, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). You can live a mission-possible life because of what Jesus did for you on the cross more than two thousand years ago. This kind of life is possible only because of the sacrifice He made and the power given to Him to trample over death. When you live mission possible, you live a life that counts because of what God has done and is doing through you. When you get tired or overwhelmed or uncertain, don’t forget the moment God changed your life. Don’t forget the moment He challenged you to join the fight. The moment He called you to show His love to the world as no one else can. If we truly believe in whose we are and know that people are hurting in a dark place, we must feel a sense of urgency to get to them and share with them faith, hope, and love. Does your life show a sense of urgency in what you believe? If not, what might look different if it did? What do Jesus’s death and resurrection have to do with your God-given mission today?

Everyone's life is driven by something, weather it be guilt, anger, fear, materialism or the need for approval. In this episode we discover how living on purpose can be the path to peace.