Cape Talk radio seems to be on every-ones lips these days.
It’s edgy, controversial and unafraid to encourage conversations that are extremely sensitive and even offensive.
It’s not my favorite station – I rather enjoy a more light-hearted entertainment – but sometimes, after my husband has used my car and left it on 567 AM, I find myself listening in and sometimes, even enjoying it.
For instance, the other day, there was a discussion about ‘Finding your purpose’. Of course my ears pricked up because I had just recently written a post on this very subject.
There were a few callers whose opinions I could really relate to, but then a young man came on the line who was quite blatantly atheist. I listened closely to his opinion and felt desperately sad for him.
He said that he had been on a pilgrimage and come to the conclusion that there was no God at all. There is also no need to have a purpose because this just gives us a false belief about this life which he believes is just meant to be lived for fun. A purpose puts us under pressure, he said. Rather cast off all the pressure of finding a purpose and just have fun.
His perspective may be true if he is living for self rather than for God. If he does not have God living in his heart, then any purpose he thinks up would be limited to himself – his thoughts, his passions, his abilities and his ‘wounds’.
But our purpose is something so much greater than ourselves.
Our purpose is something that we are created to do. We need to believe that we were created by God in order to believe that we have a God-given purpose. A purpose that comes from beyond ourselves and that is not limited to our human capabilities.
In this world, everyone chooses what they want to believe. Some choose to believe in God, some in other gods and some choose to believe in themselves. Still others choose to believe in nothing at all. But we all choose, and we all believe in something.
That is where faith comes in. Faith is choosing to believe in that which is not seen, but that which we hope for with all our heart.
Hebrews 11
To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.
We need to choose to believe that God is the creator of the universe and everything in it.
We need to choose to believe that God desires to have a personal relationship with us – all of us. It is us that choose to either enter into this relationship or who choose not to.
Unfortunately ‘man’ is so seldom our prompt or persuasion to pursue God because we are so full of imperfections and we tend to make bad choices all the time.
But bad choices are actually a great reflection of Gods character. They show us His grace and His mercy and His abundant forgiveness and abounding love.
Because once we have chosen to know Him, He just keeps loving us. Through our ups and downs, our near and far, our good and bad, His love for us remains the same.
Once we have chosen to believe in God and chosen to believe that he created us, it makes sense to look to God to find our purpose. Only the manufacturer knows what you are made for.
We are born into a very broken and messed up world. Our circumstances and experiences determine our character and our perception of the world, so how can we look inside our broken self to find our purpose.
We need to look to our creator. Our father who lives in the heavens, the spirit who lives within us and Jesus who walks beside us. It is this God that will reveal our purpose to us. He will not make it hard for us to find. He will take us on a beautiful journey that will lead us to discovering our God-given purpose. And when we are living in this purpose, we are living a life of fullness.
There is no downside to choosing God.
No downside to choosing to believe.
I have never heard of a person regretting their decision to believe in God. Because God fills us with His love and gives us a peace that surpasses all understanding.
Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
To put it very simply;
If you’re an atheist you’ll never find out if you were right, but you will find out if you were wrong.
If you believe in God you will never find out if you were wrong but you will definitely find out if you were right.