Digging Deeper – What is God’s Purpose in This?
And they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He had come out onto the land, He was met by a certain man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. 28 And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” For He had been commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard; and yet he would burst his fetters and be driven by the demon into the desert. 30 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. 31 And they were entreating Him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain, and the demons entreated Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. 33 And the demons came out from the man and entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned. 34 And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. 35 And the people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. 36 And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. 37 And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to depart from them for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat, and returned. 38 But the man from whom the demons and gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.’ And he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
Luke 8:26-39
WHAT IS GOD’S PURPOSE IN THIS?
A lot is made of Christians finding their purpose in life. What is my purpose? I just need God to tell me what my purpose is!
I think most of us confuse God’s purpose with our vocational choices.
But back in 1643 (check me, Ryan Hoffer), the Church of England, over a period of 9 years and 1,330 meetings, sought to clarify the church’s position on many doctrinal points, the chief doctrine being, what is our purpose?
It came down to a question in 1647: “What is the chief end of man?”
The answer: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!”
This was called the Westminster Shorter Confession (WSC), and it stemmed from the church pulling back from a predominantly liturgical stiffness in worship and, instead, moving the church in a more affectual direction. The WSC believed that biblical Christianity was only experienced if there was affection toward Christ in all that we did. The word “enjoy” comes from the Latin gaudium, which means “to take delight in.”
So there it is. Our purpose. To glorify God by taking delight in Him forever.
But how can this be when I am in the midst of a storm or have not been set free by the love of Christ?
Please do not hear what I am not saying. Delighting myself in Him is not the same as delighting myself in difficult circumstances.
But it does mean keeping my eyes on Jesus during those difficult circumstances, knowing that God is glorified when I do. The circumstance can be hard, but God can be glorified as I delight in His Son’s sacrifice through my tears.
Casting Crowns had a fantastic song that I took great comfort in while in the midst of my harshest trials, “I Will Praise You in This Storm.”
If you are in a storm and struggling to find Jesus in the midst of it, I leave you with those lyrics to encourage you the way they encouraged me back then, and still do today!
He loves you so much forever!
Quite simply, Dave Griffith loves getting to know Jesus better by studying His Word daily and is passionate about teaching his siblings in Christ how to study His Word as well. He is passionately in love and like with his helpmate, Jackie; and is most fulfilled when he is hanging with his 10 kids (3 of his, 2 of Jackie’s, 3 are married, 2 more spiritually adopted) and 9 grandkids. He is a small group leader and a men’s group leader. He is a serial entrepreneur owning or having owned numerous businesses. He also enjoys naps!