9-10-09 Purpose and Side Effects

Purpose and Side Effects

Labor is a much easier thing to deal with knowing that the purpose of it is to bring forth a child. It is much, much easier to bear when that child is passionately wanted and desired. Those hard and fast contractions don’t seem quite as painful when we hold that living, breathing, bundle of love in our arms. Can you imagine being a woman in the depths of childbirth not knowing that there is a child coming? Being unaware of the purpose of the pain? Having no idea of the end result? I believe most of us would just ask to die, or maybe that’s just me! Purpose makes things bearable. Purpose gives us something to hope for, to hold out for.

So what is our purpose in this life? Why did God create us and give us free will, allowing us to screw up, get into messes, feel pain and grief, experience disease and hunger? His eternal purpose, and yes, it is that we would fill the gap of worship around the throne, but even more simply put, that we would know His love and love Him back!

Wait a minute… The purpose of our pain, grief, disease, hunger is to know God’s love? How does that make sense? Remember that free will? Have you ever given a group of children free will to do whatever they want? What normally happens? Usually, not good things. They eat everything that’s bad for them, they make a mess beyond any you’ve ever seen, they hurt each other, they destroy the things around them… mass chaos is what happens! I don’t think we, as mankind, are much different. So why did God give us free will, causing us to fall into such chaos? Remember His purpose? LOVE. Love is not love without the choice. So in everything we go through and face, we can remember that we have the opportunity to CHOOSE God: to choose His love and to choose to love Him. All the rotten things in this world are simply the side effects of our God-given free will. (That would make a pretty long medicinal commercial! “Side effects may include, but are not limited to, disease, famine, pain, war, death, depression, failure, hatred, impatience, brutality…”)

BUT, guess what? God has a purpose in our lives as well, and here it is: God is determined to persevere persistently with single-minded resolve to work ALL things together for the GOOD of ALL who love Him and are called according to His purpose!! (My own version of Romans 8:28.) So, all of those afore mentioned side effects can now be turned for our good! Because our God, who is greater than ALL things, who created the entire universe and every natural law within it, who loves us beyond measure, is turning that particular side effect into something for our good, our betterment, our growth. No matter if that side effect was caused by our own exercise of free will, an attempt of the enemy or someone else’s exercise of free will.

In everything that we face we can hold tight to the promise of God’s purpose overwhelming every bad, uncomfortable, painful experience. No matter what it may be, we can have faith that in some way, it will contribute to His ultimate and eternal purpose of drawing mankind to Him, so that He may love us and we may love Him, even if it is more about His eternal purpose for our children than it is about ourselves. Hold tight! I believe that one day, even if it is in eternity, you will see how God was at work within your circumstances, or “side effects.”

Staci Pace