3 Ways To Live An Impactful Life pt. 2

If you knew you had “X” number of days to live, what would you differently? How can we maximize today, knowing that tomorrow is not promised us? In the last post, we discussed how to live a more impactful life by focusing on people. This post is the 2nd post in this 3 part series.

There is nothing more disappointing and frustrating than giving my daughters instructions, have them acknowledge the instructions and later come to find out, they failed to carry out the instructions. I can only imagine how God is sometimes frustrated with me when I knowingly go left after He instructs me to do otherwise. And yet, many of us do this with with the things God has put in our hearts to do.

What are doing about your purpose? Do you know why God placed you here? What is your ministry? What gifts has God given you to use for his glory? I’ve got to believe that my purpose is greater than my career, or even myself.

Purpose is the very thing that allows God to be seen in my life. It is the thing that no one else can do that .It is the thing that I need God’s power to accomplish, the thing that if done will not only bless people, it will leave me more fulfilled, and bring joy to God’s heart, all at once! Does it have to be something that will bring you on a world stage? Not at all. For you, it may be within your family, community, or a larger audience. For me, it may involve strangers, or my church.

Purpose looks different for each of us, but to discover purpose we have to be willing to do 2 things:

Stop running from what God is calling you to

Many of times, we spend our lives running from God because we are afraid that we are not able to do what God is calling us to do. Sometimes we run because we just plain don’t want to do what God is calling us to do because it doesn’t fit our own vision for ourselves. We make excuse over excuse as to why we cannot answer the call, but in order to live an impactful life, we have to be willing to stop running.

Imagine someone being on the run constantly. That would not only be tiring and draining, it would also be a life lived in anxiety and constant fear. But if we stop to listen, we may hear God calling us to break away from certain people so that He move us higher. He may be asking us to lead and not just follow. We may hear God calling us to let go of our old ways so that He can transform us so that we can accomplish His purpose. Will we run until we no longer have time or energy? What will it take for us to stop running?

Let God’s Word fertilize, water and tend our hearts

A few summers ago, I planted seeds in the back yard. And that was it. I planted it and really did nothing else with it. And in the late summer when I went to take a look, the tomatoes were in poor shape and the okras were overgrown and hard. What happened? Without tending and pruning and caring for the seeds, they just grew wild. And yes, they grew without me doing much, but how much more could I have gotten from those plants had I tended to them and looked after them all summer.? The same is true of our purpose. We may bear some fruit, but how much more fruit will we bear, how much more impact can we have if we allow God’s word to lead us, direct us, prune us, pull out the weeds in our lives?

The good news is that God has given you everything you need to fulfill your purpose. All your quirks, personality traits, passions, experiences are all connected to your God given purpose. You may need to grow it or water it, but you already have the seeds planted in you. The seeds can’t grow unless you water them with the living, breathing word of God.

Heavenly Father, allow me to stop running and be still before you. I don’t want to live a life on the run, but instead, I want to live an intentional purposeful life, starting right now.

In this 3 Part Series , we discuss 3 ways to live as if there was no tomorrow: