Plan Archives - Tomme Stevenson

July 16, 2024July 13, 2024

The Essential Steps to Achieve Purpose and Meaning

There are three essential steps to achievement. No one can achieve anything without these three steps. We must achieve them in this order. Either most of us don’t believe in this list, or they don’t believe they can achieve it. You must embrace these three elements to become the person God made you.

“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it.” Muhammad Ali’s “The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life’s Journey.”

It is incredible how many people I meet at every stage of life still don’t feel fulfilled. They struggle to find meaning and purpose. Some are very successful; some are not. They started down a path and couldn’t or wouldn’t change directions. They somehow believe they are on the right path; the actual destination is around the next bend.

Romans 9:21, "Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?"

I Conceive

“Without God, life has no purpose; without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.” Rick Warren

The first step is accepting that you are unique and perfectly made for what God has planned for you. This step allows you to perceive yourself as invincible to failure. Things will not always go as you have in mind and prefer, but they will always lead you to where God has planned for you to go. The challenge is to find the right path. Trying to be like someone else because they have something you want is not the same as living as you are designed.

Proverbs 19:21, "Many plans are in a man's heart, But the counsel of the Lord will stand."

Most of us are under the influence of social media, well-meaning parents and friends, or cultural norms that push us toward artificial purpose and meaning. We get there to discover it wasn’t a destination but a milepost. God will use every experience, relationship, opportunity, and roadblock to hone your ultimate path. Many of the setbacks and disappointments are nudges from God to get you moving in the right direction.

2 Timothy 1:9, "Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity."

The first step to lifelong achievement is to recognize who God made you to be. Your vocation, skills, and aptitudes are tools to achieve that purpose.

I Believe

Probably the most challenging part of becoming a Godly person, living within God’s plan, is commitment. We all want that safety net. Our society has created alternatives to failure, so we don’t have to commit fully. One of the most important decisions you can make in life, who you will marry, allows for no-fault divorce. There is a back door to almost any decision.

Job 42:2, "I know that You can do all things and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted."

Our brain has the reticular activating system designed to move us from discomfort to comfort by recognizing patterns around us that mimic our expectations. We do not like uncertainty; we gravitate to what we know. There is risk in committing to being a Godly person. The world will not support your decision. It wants you to conform to expectations. You must believe God created you for a specific purpose, which will not fail regardless of public opinion.

You can not achieve your full potential without an iron-clad commitment to that path.

I Achieve

“God has a purpose behind every problem. He uses circumstances to develop our character. In fact, he depends more on circumstances to make us like Jesus than he depends on our reading the Bible.” Rick Warren

Finally, you must do it. God can not steer a stationary ship. Movement is required. My experience dictates that God is not a straight-line kind of guy. He doesn’t find the quickest path from A to B. Just as Paul went to Rome via Asia Minor, Greece, Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, and then Jerusalem didn’t have a well laid out straight path, neither will we. But each stop along the way has meaning.

God does not waste effort. It is up to us to search out the meaning and use it as we move forward.

Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Living with Christ is a person’s highest and most satisfying achievement. It is not the trophies accumulated along the way; it is the destination. It is not measured as people would measure it. We can not see the eternal impact of our efforts, but God can. First, you must understand that God loves you and has an incredible plan for your life, then you must believe it to the point of commitment, and finally, you must do. No other process will bring the joy that only God can bring.

 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

January 30, 2024January 28, 2024

Understanding and Pursuing God’s Plan

One of our most important challenges is how to pursue God’s plan for our lives. It is not easy to understand its origin and journey. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine from Honduras. We talked about her children and the life decisions they are facing. Her children are young adults. The challenge is figuring out their path in life. They each have passion but do not feel their passions are their purpose.

A point of reference: In Genesis 13, Abram gave Lot the choice of any land. Lot chose the well-watered, fertile land, but with it came Sodom. Abram took the less attractive but with God’s blessing. When we make choices, don’t look at the most attractive; seek guidance from the Lord.

Understanding our Purpose

Understanding purpose is an exciting subject. One can follow a dream that is not part of God’s plan created for them and find success from a worldly standard. I know that from experience. When driving myself along a worldly path, I achieved reasonable success regarding money, power, and position, but I was never content. I was using all the skills and resources provided by God, but not for their intended purpose. This pursuit left a hole in my life that no level of success could fill. This hole drove me to higher levels of worldly success as I attempted to reach satisfaction. With all my success, I did not have meaning and purpose; I had a vocation that I had become good at. A small caveat: just because you are good at something does not mean it is your God-given purpose in life. It might mean that you have done it so long that you have learned to do it proficiently.

Colossians 1:16, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

In the book Discovering Our Spiritual Identity by Trevor Hudson, he discusses the concept of being created for God and God’s pleasure. I’ve always viewed the concept of God’s pleasure as the macro-level cloud that all Christians should strive to achieve. The concept is that we have lived a life that pleases God, or we haven’t. Hudson’s concept is that we are created uniquely, within that greater concept, for a specific pleasure God has foreseen. The idea is that when he created us, he instilled in us a purpose that pointed directly toward something that pleased Him. Each of us is part of a tapestry that displays an image pleasing to God, but we each have our specific element within the overall picture.

Sustainability

Several concerns always arise when we try to understand God’s plan for ourselves. The first is, can it sustain us? If our passion is writing, painting, public speaking, music, or whatever, can we make a living at it? What kind of kingdom impact could we have if it does not sustain us? In a modern world, this is always a valid question. What good is a passion if it can not support the person with the passion? The passion dies out.

A couple of things come to mind when I hear this; the first is that Paul was a tent maker. Paul sustained his ministry by making tents. Regardless of our life purpose, we may sometimes have to make tents.

Acts 18:3-5, “They made tents for a living. Paul did the same kind of work, so he stayed with them, and they worked together.”

Tent-making is about sustaining ourselves to pursue our God-directed passion and purpose. We may make tents all our lives or during a transition period, but we all have tent-making seasons.

The second is that when we pursue God’s will, He will give us resources. When I look for a mechanic to work on my car, I look for someone passionate about cars. I want someone who will look after my property as if it were his own. He will fix my car correctly, not because I ask, but because it is his passion.

When you chase God’s plan for your life, people will gravitate to you because of your passion. That is not to say you will achieve success as the world defines success, but that you will have an impact that dwarfs worldly success.

Philippians 4:19, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

God does not send you down a path unprepared. He wants you to succeed, and He would not have given you purpose if that purpose was to fail.

Trials

John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Even as Christ was part of the triune God and understood His mission, he still found it challenging. Christ was part of the Godhead that knew at creation that His sacrifice was required to save man, yet He prayed that it would pass from Him; Christ was part man.

Mark 14:36, “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Do not think that chasing God’s passion for your life will be painless; it will not. There will be times of doubt, anxiety, and depression. We live in a fallen world. The last thing Satan wants is for you to be part of God’s pleasure.

1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

The only reassurance I can give you from a worldly perspective is my own experience. During my worldly success, I never felt I was making a difference in my life, my family’s, or the world. I was not living; I was existing. I was treading water, waiting for the end. Now, I have meaning and purpose. I do not worry about my success; I worry about obedience. I am not transformed out of this world; I must still deal with worldly issues. But I am secure in that I have a legacy, yet unseen by me, but still existing through eternity.

Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

July 13, 2021July 12, 2021

How do I Compare?

This one thing I know; God has created you as a unique person with a unique purpose. God makes it perfectly clear why you and I exist. We are created to glorify Him in all that we do. He doesn’t give us vague parables, lofty words, or hidden text. He states it outright.

Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them”

Ephesians 1:4, “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love”

Galatians 1:15, “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,”

God created each of us to do the will of God for a specific purpose. We are each formed uniquely to serve a unique purpose that God created no one else to achieve. Every cell, nuance, and fiber of our being is specific. We might know people more intelligent than us, prettier, more outspoken, more discipline, more together, but they are not asked do what God has asked us to accomplish.

We are set apart to be holy and blameless and consecrated for His purpose. There is nothing God forgot to give us.

MEASURING PURPOSE

I was part of a panel of speakers that talked about purpose. As I listened to the other speakers, I was humbled and a little jealous of who God made them and what they had accomplished. Their lives were full of purpose, directed by God, to achieve great things. They had compassion, grace, and wisdom. I was last to speak; their testimony left me feeling shallow and lacking. But then there was this thought:

Ephesians 1:11, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,”

For all of their greatness, for all of the things they have and will accomplish for Christ, they are not asked do what God has asked that I should do. I am not sitting in the second chair. I am not an extra on the movie set of life. I am not here to fill space until Christ returns. I am here to glorify God in a way that is unique to me.

I don’t want to go down a rabbit trail here, so I will say it once and move on. There is a complex interaction created by God that grants free will while still embracing predestination. The word commonly attributed to this seemingly impossible contradiction is Antinomy. To understand how God manages this contradictive construct is to know the mind of God. I don’t, so I accept that I don’t. There are a number of opinions on this issue and I am not the one to sort them out.

Proverbs 19:21, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”

God has predestined you and me to achieve great things, knowing our weaknesses and compensating accordingly. God is all knowing, he knows the decision we will make, of our own free will, before we do. Even if we chose not to be obedient, He knew and planned accordingly. Don’t let this distract you from your mission.

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

COMPARING WITH OTHERS

2 Corinthians 10:12, “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.”

When you look at the world around you, you can’t help but start to compare yourself with what you see and hear. You can’t help but let worldly standards erode the Godly standard under which He created you. You see the accomplishments of others and wonder how you will stack up. You are unique; they are unique—each of us with a specific purpose. We cannot compare ourselves to others and come away unblemished. There will always be someone better at something. Everything we accomplish will be superseded by those who follow.

Galatians 6:4, “But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.”

STAY STEADFAST

Each of us must understand that we are created precisely the way God intended; to serve Him, not man. With the fall in Garden of Eden we inherited a sin nature. When you feel inadequate, know that it is not your potential you should reevaluate but your direction. If you feel inferior to others, see that they have their purpose, and you have yours. You cannot be them; they cannot be you. You are not asked to reach the people that God has put before them, and they are not asked to reach the ones God has for you.

If everyone had the same path, we would all have the same attributes. But that is not how God works. He wants us to be individuals; God wants us to be different. God wants us to do our part, not be part of someone else’s. God has a great future planned for you, filled with hope and prosperity.

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”