by Dina Gonsar

Purpose helps us create plans and inspire motivation. It helps us form goals and map out life plans. There is a comfort and certainty in believing we know the “purpose.” We want to know the overall goal for our lives and spend our time achieving it. However, lately I am seeing that striving for the bigger picture may be exactly what God is calling me to stop doing. He wants me to see the purpose in each piece of my journey—to start paying attention and resting in each step in my walk with him.

 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6–7 (NKJV)

 How many times have I read this verse and tried to let it sink in? I probably come across this verse every other day in an effort to remind myself that worrying yields no result. Yet, every day in the back of my mind, I worry about time passing, missing the mark, and not working hard or fast enough—all of the lies Satan crafts into this wonderful hamster wheel that I spin on. I find myself blinded by the bright light of success as the world defines it and so very tired from the consistent stretching that comes with striving. Any progress I have made or mountains I have climbed in Jesus’ name fade into the distance; they become an elusive memory as I constantly and obsessively try to forge ahead. I find myself discrediting what I think is mundane daily life and taking everything around me for granted as I do not see it as helping me fulfill my “greater” purpose.

That is when I hear Him call my name. In the stillness, He entreats me to take each step and meditate on it. He asks me to wait on Him for the next step and calls me to learn everything I can from the difficult season, from that disappointing moment. I pause to soak in the feeling of joy from a victory—whether it is a career goal realized, the laughter of your child, or a prayer answered. Because every piece of the puzzle is as important as the first and last pieces. I believe you find your greater purpose when you are paying attention to what God has for you in the everyday—in the daily life that you feel is mundane. For it is there that He’s shaping, molding, and preparing you for the bigger picture. As you respond to His prompt to smile at a stranger in the grocery store. When you comfort your half-asleep child when they wake up in the middle of the night. When you say yes to teaching Sunday school, even when you already feel maxed out. 

 

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 (KJV)

 

He truly does use all things. Even the things we do not think are necessary or are “worth it.” Let Him breathe new life into your everyday. Look forward to each step, each piece along the way. Then stand back with Him and marvel at how His plans and His ways are truly greater.

Dina Gonsar is the writer and creator behind the popular DishItGirl.com. Dina has shared her recipes and love for family dinner across numerous media outlets both local and national. She is an award-winning home cook that has a heart for encouraging her community both in and out of the kitchen. Dina has a heart for encouraging those right where they are at, especially when it involves the kitchen table. When she isn’t dishing it up on television you can find her in the kitchen with her daughter Siena and her husband Brian in New Jersey. You can learn more about Dina by visiting: www.dishitgirl.com