Deep down inside everyone longs to know what their purpose in life is. Some of us might already know what our purpose is and others might still be searching. Wherever on the journey you are it is important to realize that self-care plays a role in your purpose. You might ask how that is possible. Well in 1 Kings 19, we see that self-care is needed in order for us to be able to fulfill our purpose.
Psalm 35:27 we read "Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of His servant!" Not only does the Lord give us purpose but He wants us to take care of ourselves so that we can do what He has called us to do.
So, how do we apply this?
1. Accept your limits
2. Eat, Sleep, Move
3. Process Emotions
4. Refill Your Bucket
5. Get Rest
6. Quieten Down
We will look at these over the next couple of days.
ACCEPT YOUR LIMITS
The world tells us that the more we do and the more we squeeze into a day so that we can reach our full potential. But the truth is that although we might become more or achieve more there is more to the story and that is that we are human. How often do we push ourselves harder and faster than what God intended for us too? When we do this we do great harm to our soul, body, and relationships as well as the capacity to serve God and the purposes He has for us.
Terran Williams describes it like this:
"1 Kings 17-18 describes the fast-paced, emotionally intensive exploits of Elijah who drags a boy's corpse upstairs and calls on God again and again through tears to bring him to life; then confronts and mocks an evil king and his 450 false prophets; then digs a trench, builds an altar, cuts up a bull and calls on God's fire; then mobilises the seizing and ceasing of the false prophets; then calls on God again and again to end the drought; then outruns a king in his chariot."
Just typing about all his accomplishments makes me tired. All of his exploits might seem very exciting and we know that God gives inexhaustible anointing. However, we don't realize that Elijah had exhaustible adrenaline. That is why he finally suddenly implodes both physically and emotionally thereby risking his ability to be useful to God or anyone else in the future.
Where is she going with this you may ask? The point is that because God's work is so enthralling and we may feel the help of God palpably we are at risk of believing that we are Wonder Woman or Superman. And of course, this is not sustainable. Therefore, it will be wise to realize that when we fulfill our purpose we need to face the fact that we are but dust and that we have inbuilt limitations. Furthermore, we must admit that there are only so many hours in a day. Other things to take note of are that we might be naturally anxious, have inadequate understanding, we might have less resilience or energy than someone else. There will be times when our capacity is lower than at other times. And it's okay.
Look at Jesus, He even lived within His limits even though He was tempted to transcend them. Yet He never gave in to the temptation. On the other hand, we are like Eve who when tempted by Satan gave into the temptation leading to the denying of our creatureliness and climbing onto the throne of divine invincibility.
To help us focus on our callings we need to know our limitations. Jesus doesn't compare us to anyone else so neither should we.
Psalm 103:14 - "the God who made us is also the God who calls us and He "knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust".
Inspiration is drawn from the Purpose series by CityHill Church
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