Do you remember when you were little, and visions and dreams would travel through your imagination about the things you would become when you were older? Do you remember the feeling of wanting to fly as a kid so you thought maybe you’d become a pilot? Do you remember your creativity craving colours, designs, pictures, painting, and so you eventually began dreaming about becoming an artist or an interior designer? Do you remember loving recess because you could play any sport and find reasons to laugh and smile, so you dreamt about becoming a professional athlete? Do you remember singing your favourite theme songs to your favourite shows, singing along to your favourite songs in the car and maybe dreamt about becoming a musician or singer?

I do too. I miss dreaming. I miss wishing on a star for all the different things I wanted to become. I miss letting my imagination combine with my fantasies and creating a list of a thousand ideas of all the things I could one day be.

At what age were we awakened to the reality that we were meant to “Find our purpose”? What happened on the day after we stopped wishing we could fly between clouds, wishing we would end up being tall enough to be accepted into the NBA, wishing someone understood our art to be considered “good enough” for success? What happened that same day before we came to realize this life does not promise to grant us our greatest wishes? What registered in our brains when we finally realized we had to work absurdly long and hard hours to provide our own food, housing and human needs for ourselves?

Why do so many people go home on their commutes miserable? Why do students around their early twenties still not feel like they made the “right decision” in what they decided to go to college for?

I have been pondering endlessly the possibility that I may have been born for “something greater.” Not greater than other people, but greater than what I can see myself capable of. A few years of settling comfortably with my insecurities has caused me to stop dreaming, to stop wishing because I thought it would just ruin my heart if I watched my dreams shatter before me again and again due to rejection. Because I did not know how to believe in myself to the point I doubted the importance of my existence, I began to fervently search for a purpose.

My purpose.

They say that one of the greatest men that lived on this earth did not even begin to fulfill his purpose until he was 30, and truthfully only lasted a few years after that. This is the fascinating secret behind this story: this man and only 2 other people in his lifetime knew what his purpose was. Spoiler alert: He was going to die for people. He was going to throw in the towel because he knew that if he sacrificed his own life, then a very, very large group of people could live their lives to their fullest potential and fulfill their purposes on this earth…

Talk about pressure.

This man, named Jesus, was born already knowing what his purpose would be because his mother and father were told that the son Mary would give birth to was “to be named Jesus (which means ‘the Lord saves’) because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

For those of you that are familiar with the bible, you know that the 4 gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, don’t give much explanation of what happens between Jesus’ birth and his baptism, many years later. With the exception of the book of Luke 2:22-52.

Jesus is found as a young boy practicing only 1 of many things he would do for the short span of his lifetime: teaching. Around the same timeline, Jesus’ parents get told that ‘this child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.’ (Luke 2:34-35) What kind of a purpose is that? For those of you who have kids, if you got told that your kid would cause some sort of chaos and would be rejected and despised, how would you react? Personally, I do not have kids, but if I was part of an interaction such as this, patience for that person who said this about my child would be the last thing on my mind. That’s probably why I wasn’t picked to give birth to the kid that would eventually save the world.

Jesus’ parents could’ve lost their patience, been frightened or lived in confusion. But they chose to live in peace. Jesus’ mother was even blessed: “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:45) They trusted the words they received because they believe in a Spirit that was greater than them.

I find myself wondering if Jesus had dreams and wishes like I used to have when I was little… But Jesus turns 30 and all of a sudden is perfectly walking out what he was created for. You can read the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to find out the specifics of what he did and believe what you will, but I see the difficulty of the life he lived too, not just all the beauty in the miracles he performed.

NOTE THIS:

Before Jesus performed his first miracle, before he caused any big scene at all, he first went through the following:

1. Baptism
2. Torturous bullying from his enemy: Is he who everyone says he is? Is he a man that sticks to what he says he believes in? Taunting, testing, temptation, rejection. Anything his enemy could do to get him away from fulfilling his purpose.
3. Approval from the only person it actually matters to get it from. His Heavenly Father: Before Jesus performed a single miracle, his Father said to him, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22b)

Then, and only then, did Jesus start to actualize what he was created for. It says “Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.” (Luke 3:23) There are such amazing stories of what an amazing man Jesus was, but because his miracles stirred up so much disbelief in people, his life didn’t last long after he began his miracle-working purpose. For those of us who believe though, his life led to our salvation anyways, as was foretold before he was even born, or old enough to even start working his spiritual works.

What do we take away from this well-known story though? Nothing I have said is news so far. So what is the main and most important message?

1. Jesus did not move his hand ONCE to perform miracles until he received approval and acceptance from the only place it matters: God. As believers, we cannot move in spiritual ways in order to get approval from people. We must move in faith that GOD is who He says He is, that we are who He says we are, that He LOVES US, and that He is WELL PLEASED with us. Then, and only then can we begin to move! And when we move, it is not to receive approval and acceptance from the people around us, we move because we have already received approval from our Father.
2. EVERY person on this earth that has a beating heart has been created with a purpose that will change this world somehow. Have you not found your purpose yet? Are you still worried about dying before you figure out what it is you were created to do? It took Jesus 30 years before he even started working. Don’t rush. Don’t worry. It’s coming. There is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3)
3. WHAT DID HE DO IN THE MEAN TIME? If Jesus, his mom and John the Baptist knew what Jesus was going to live for, why didn’t he start right away? Luke 2:52 says how Jesus spent his years growing in wisdom and stature (spiritual stature, that is) and in favour with God. Take your time. It’s okay to learn and to grow first.
4. Jesus did not simply get handed the easy way to fulfilling his purpose. Of course, because this world does not promise us “easy”, He was starved for 40 days, stuck in the wilderness with his worst enemy, being taunted, tempted, tortured. Jesus overcame this hardship BEFORE ever beginning to fulfill his purpose in life of performing endless miracles and leaving people in awe and in love with goodness and grace.

Things are not promised to us to be easy. Instead, before starting to unravel the beauty of his purpose, Jesus proclaimed over himself with his own words what he knew he was created for. He gave it power by speaking it with his own words, even though he hadn’t seen 1 miracle happen yet. He believed, with faith, that God would deliver and stay true to His promises.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. -Jesus, Luke 4:18-19

I didn’t stop dreaming. I haven’t stopped making wishes on stars. They just turned into prayers, and finally, someone answered.

I challenge you to begin to ask Him the specifics of what you were created for. Be specific. Ask with expectation. Pray in faith. It’s never too late to start. You’re never too weak to start over. You haven’t messed up enough to lose the beauty of your purpose.

Things might be hard at first, they might be difficult during, and they may continue to be challenging. There is a hurtful world that is not on your side. You’re only here temporarily. This won’t last forever. Make the best of it while you can because this too, shall pass.