8 Scriptures on Purpose and Vision for Challenging Seasons
I wake up grumpy after a particularly difficult week of teaching my kindergartner while the one-year-old howls from the high chair. There’s no way around it: I’m struggling with life. I didn’t sign up for this. Pulling out my Bible, I begin digging for Scriptures on purpose and vision.
Maybe you need these words today, too.
Maybe the job that once felt like your calling now feels like drudgery, or maybe you’ve been trying to find God’s purpose for your life and falling short.
Wherever this day finds you, I invite you to join our family in a challenging season as we explore what God’s Word says about purpose and vision.
Scriptures on Purpose and Vision for Challenging Seasons
I know some moms decide to homeschool their kids, and I applaud these moms. They make the intentional choice to take on the enormous role of educating their little ones, and they feel called to this important work.
Unfortunately for my children, I did not decide to pursue homeschooling.
Quite the contrary, I prayed like crazy the school wouldn’t shut down during the pandemic because no part of me wanted to teach my kids from home.
As a result of my mindset, when the school did close its doors, I was not at all thrilled. It all felt like an interruption to my plans, an interruption to the way I wanted our year to unfold.
I wonder if you can relate.
We probably aren’t navigating a global pandemic as you read these words, but maybe some part of your calling feels challenging today. Let’s look at eight Scriptures on purpose and vision for these assignments, and then we’ll apply them to our lives.
Scriptures on Purpose and Vision
1. 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.”
This verse reminds us that God has good plans for our lives. Even when life is difficult, God has hopeful plans for our futures. If you feel defeated today, cling to the promise that God’s plans for your future and good and full of hope.
2. 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
No matter what our situations entail, God calls us to point others to his love. Because he has called us out of darkness and into light, we can share this same gift with others, even when life is difficult.
3. Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
This Proverbs reminds us that we can make plans, but God’s purposes cannot be thwarted. We can cling to these words when our plans fall apart. God has not abandoned us; instead, he is working out his plans for our lives.
4. Psalm 33:11
But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
I find comfort in this verse because it reminds me that as long as I seek God’s will, he fulfills his purpose in my life and the lives of my loved ones. Even when I make mistakes, God can redirect me back onto his path for my life.
5. Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
God created good works for us before we were born. What an amazing promise! At times, these works will not align with our hopes and plans; however, we can trust that when God calls us into his holy work, work we cannot opt out of, this work is his will for us.
6. Isaiah 46:10
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”
Again, God’s Word reminds us that he fulfills his purpose in our lives, even when our daily work is challenging and life is tough.
7. Colossians 1:16
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
This powerful verse reminds us that all things were created by God and for God. He is the Ruler over all authorities. Nothing reaches us without first passing through his protective wings.
8. Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Are you facing an assignment you didn’t choose for yourself? Cling to the promise that God will use this for your good and his glory.
Let’s now apply these Scriptures on purpose and vision to our lives.
Applying These Scriptures on Purpose and Vision to Our Lives:
I invite you to glimpse into my heart and life during the challenging season our family endured as you consider how you might apply these verses to your life as well.
Here’s what I wanted for the year when the school shut down: I wanted my two oldest children to spend seven hours a day socializing with their peers and learning from their teachers at the elementary school down the road.
I wanted to spend my days enjoying sweet baby Aiden, taking long stroller walks, connecting with other women, hosting book studies in our home, and expanding my writing.
I know there’s an older, wiser mom shaking her head as she reads my words. She’s telling me to enjoy my kids because they’ll only be this age for so long. She’s telling me to embrace this special season of extended time with them. She reminds me that having my kids with me all day is better than the hopes I had for my year.
On some level, I know she’s right. But on a very different level, I feel like she doesn’t get it. She doesn’t know how it feels to try to juggle homeschool lessons, the maintenance of a home, meal prep, caring for a one-year-old, other relationships, and a career all at once. Nothing about this new life of ours feels better than the way I wanted this year to unfold.
When You Didn’t Sign Up For How It’s Playing Out
Your situation is probably different. But there are still parts of your life you’d never sign up for on your own.
You didn’t sign up for a child with a disability, a child who needs your extra time and attention every single hour of your life.
You didn’t sign up for the medical condition that makes everything complicated.
I imagine you didn’t sign up for your husband to work long hours, travel for weeks on end, be deployed overseas, or walk out on you when the going got tough.
You had big and beautiful ideas for what your life would look like, but here you are. Your big, beautiful ideas are more like pipedreams from a past life, and the actual moments of your days are not at all what you thought they’d look like.
Maybe the most unexpected part of your journey is simply the monotony of your days.
The exhaustion.
The way it feels like you’re doing the same twenty tasks in a cycle that never, ever, ever ends. It feels like anything but a high and holy calling.
Truth You Need When You’re Resisting the Assignment in Front of You
Perhaps it feels like God has placed you in the middle of an assignment you didn’t choose.
Friend, if this is you, let me offer you the same truth I discovered as I leaned into the arms of the Father during our challenging year.
The truth is this: When God places an irrefutable assignment on your lap – something only you can do, something you have to do – the assignment in front of you is your high and holy calling.
Perhaps you had a plan that promised much more fulfillment. Maybe your plan even felt more kingdom-centered than the assignment God has set before you.
You probably made your plans with good intentions. You even prayed and fasted and asked God if he was in it. Maybe you asked for a sign, and God seemed to confirm your plans.
Now that this new assignment looms in front of you, you’re confused and frustrated.
Let’s pause together right here.
There is a time to grieve. There is a time to admit to our disappointment, to stare it down and name it. To be sad about it.
But after we’ve felt our feelings and had an honest moment with God, it’s time to ask him to help us see the assignment differently.
It’s time to ask him to help us see the assignment as a high and holy calling from the hand of God.
How to Flourish When You’re Struggling With Life
Do you want to flourish in this assignment you didn’t choose?
Open your hands to the work God has set before you. Refuse to grumble. Receive this work as your high and holy calling, and do it with all your heart. Fulfill the assignment with the same passion you would use if you were chasing the dream you wish you were pursuing instead.
You just might find that the work God wants to do within you during this season is just as important as the work he is doing through you.
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Calling all moms and daughters!
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