Becoming Well With Liz Tafadzwa

Purpose is a concept that many people both in the Body of Christ and unbelievers talk about all the time. Every generation complains about how it is quite overrated and complicated and something that you shouldn’t obsess over and just live one step at a time. In our failed attempts to understand what it is, how to discover it, and also function in it we simply resort to rather interesting interpretations of it from any other source apart from the one person who planted it in every created thing- God

Myles Munroe suggested that there are 5 basic questions that every human being asks themselves:

1. Who am I? (Identity)
2. Where am i from? ( Permanent Residence/ Sense of Belonging)
3. Why am i here (Purpose)
4. What can i do? (Potential/Gifts/Significance)
5. Where am i going ( Destiny)

I tested these questions on myself for a very long time while simultaneously observing the questions that humans at the most basic level are asking. I even went further to evaluate for almost a year thinking deeply if in my past i had ever wrestled with these questions. It turns out he was actually right, not just in me but millions of other people. That man was simply ahead of his time. Our insecurities reveal that we haven’t settled the identity question. Lack of fulfillment exposes to us that purpose is still unknown. Lack of vision shows us that we are not yet aware of our destiny. Denial of where you come from informs us that we are not yet clear on where we came from and to whom we belong to and the absence of value alerts us that we haven’t discovered what our gift is.

I get asked the question of how can i discover my purpose by people often. I suppose it is partly because i have a burden to help other people discover their purpose and i am also one of those people who discovered their purpose at a very young age( 22). I was in primary school when i read my first book on purpose by Dr. Mugaviri, a Zimbabwean-published author, and motivational speaker among many other things and since then i have read multiple books on this subject. I am not sure where that desire to know my purpose came from but i began asking philosophical questions at a very very tender age because I was already wondering why am i on this planet. I totally understand the fuss behind it and rejoice because it shows me that you are getting in touch with yourself. God designed every human heart to be completely fulfilled only on two conditions: (1)when you are in a relationship with him and (2) when you function in his purpose for your life. Anything outside these two conditions will never truly fulfill you. Money is incredibly important and nice too. In fact, he wants you to be wealthy but when you access it without being in a relationship with him and also outside his purpose for your life the emptiness will not be eliminated by money, possessions, popularity, sex, or any other pleasurable things. I will not even prove this because we have plenty of examples today of insanely popular and “rich” people who took their lives when they achieved everything they ever dreamt of and still lacked peace and fulfillment and the realization that they had climbed the ladder, but climbed the wrong one became too painful that taking their own life felt like the most sensible thing to do. While i don’t condone suicide, I will not shame victims of suicide because it is easy for me to say what i would do because i don’t have context, so instead of judging i choose to extract a lesson from them so i can be wiser. There is always a lesson to be learned in everything, everywhere, and in everyone, if we remain a student of life even in the most tragic events.

“There is always a lesson to be learned in everything, everywhere, and in everyone, if we remain a student of life even in the most tragic events”

Don’t let any person, old, wealthy, young, married, intellectual, the unexposed, etc ever convince you that you don’t need to discover, function, and pursue it. You are born naturally with that quest to discover it because much of who you are and your experiences will never make sense until you discover it. I’m troubled by people who walk through life unbothered about why they are on this planet. Resist the notion that many people say “don’t get too deep.” Either discover it and rise to become what you were created to do and become or ignore that quest and stay deep in a troubling suspense. It’s incredibly tormenting to live your life without being clear on your purpose even if you don’t openly admit it. One of the many students of life i study veraciously said all the problems we have in our world are not because of evil but lack of purpose. When people don’t know their purpose they abuse their gifts, time, experiences, opportunities, and life. People who murder, steal, rape, terrorize, oppress people, engage in human trafficking, and attack people are not necessarily evil people, they simply lack purpose.

Jesus lived for 33 years yet the impact of his life is still being felt thousands of years later. There is no other person apart from Jesus who lived a laser-focused purpose-driven life. He was about his life assignment right from the beginning till the end of his life. Everything he did, said, who he chose for his public ministry, where he went, and what he did was all informed by his assignment. This is why he was so influential AND effective. Focus not a jack of trades is what breeds success. As Rick Warren would also say “selection is the name of the game.” If you don’t master the skill of selecting what’s needed vs. what’s wanted you will struggle to achieve the dream God placed in your heart.   In fact, the last 3 years of Jesus’s life made him so well known not just all over but through generations post his death and resurrection. He had to hide frequently throughout his 3-year public ministry because he was so effective in his purpose and people kept following him and wanting more of what he could do and give even in times when he was tired. Shameless plug: If you love and are kin to the people God called you to help and are effective in solving their problems you would have to keep them outside. People are attracted to solutions, not problems(Td Jakes).  That’s the power of purpose. If you yield to it, influence and effectiveness are inevitable.

“Focus not being a jack of all trades is what breeds success”

Maybe Jesus feels far-fetched to you but think of Paul, Joseph, David, Moses, Peter, Thomas, and Abraham. I will not even include women here because it’s just an illustration. We wouldn’t know any of these people had they not yielded to their purpose. Peter may have become a wealthy man as he was a fisherman by trade, but wouldn’t have been an influential and effective preacher and leader had he not followed Jesus. We would not have two-thirds of the Bible if Paul rejected his call. Proverbs& Ecclesiastes would be missing in the Bible if King Solomon hid his gift of wisdom and a discerning mind. We would have been robbed of so many practical kingdom and life principles. The Egyptians would have remained in captivity if Moses chose instant and temporary comfort by living in the palace instead of giving that up to live his truth & unleash his leadership gift to set his people free. If Myles Munroe believed the lie that his teacher told him, the world would have been robbed of an extremely valuable gift. We wouldn’t know any of these people if they continued doing what they wanted to do or were told by people instead of what God created them to do.

The shortest answer i tend to give to this question of what is purpose is simply you(your gifts, passions, experiences, personalities) being a solution to a problem in the world and that also includes the church. If I’m speaking to an unbeliever I stop here & if it’s a believer I continue and say to bring glory back to God. How do i fulfill it? Through service. All service means is helping. Servant and helper are synonyms. But here is the gist, how can I discern if something is a problem in a created thing if I’m not connected to the creator? As an analogy, I can’t know if the fridge is not working properly if I don’t know how it works and to know how it actually works I have to read the manual or ask the manufacturer how it works. Can I go a little further? How can I know if I’m built to solve that problem if I don’t know what’s inside of me? I also used to say exclusively humanity’s problems because most of us were created to solve a human problem, but I’ve discovered that some people were born to solve a problem in animals, and nature. God has work there too, but even that call will often always circle back to the benefit of humanity.

“Purpose is a solution to a problem in the world”

So why am I passionate & will always talk, and teach on purpose? As Myles Munroe would say, “purpose is such a complex and hidden mystery that humanity will always be after it.” It’s a mystery until you discover it. In other words, it’s revealed to you when you (1) have a relationship with God & (2) are ready to know what it is. Only when you discover your God-given purpose will everything in your life start to make sense. The war within will eventually end. Hidden resentment against God will diminish over time because you will now live in agreement not opposition with God. What do I mean? How many of us are secretly angry at God for the family he put us in, the body features we hate, the pain he allowed or the experience he never allowed us to have that we desired to have? The day you discover your purpose, you will eventually understand why you had to be born into the family you were born into even if it was traumatic, why you had the upbringing you had, why you have the personality, experiences& gifts you have. Why that person had to reject, betray, or backstab you even if it left a lifelong scar. You wouldn’t have the wisdom you have now if didn’t get the scar from that prolonged suffering. You wouldn’t go to God if that need was met. You wouldn’t learn how to appreciate people if that person you ill-treated and took advantage of didn’t leave you. You wouldn’t have the compassion you have for children if you didn’t go through the abuse you endured yourself as a child. You wouldn’t give God glory if he allowed you to get that contract that you so desperately wanted, but would wreck your core relationships. You wouldn’t be as relentless about bringing change in that industry when its dysfunction didn’t break you deeply.

Another reality is that most people are at war with themselves because they are fighting their inherent wiring. You climbed the career ladder & have the $$$ in the bank account but you feel empty, you go on multiple vacations per year but the pain is still there & it makes no sense to you, are in a relationship with a loving person but you can’t receive that love, have the businesses but still feel like you are chasing the wind, have gone to therapy but still unsure on why it ever happened. It happened because God wanted to birth something through you from that pain, that’s why therapy alone has not given you the peace you are looking for. This was never about you only from the beginning.  Scripture in Psalms 139  says I predestined you & watched you as you were being made and every day was written from start to finish & each moment from start to finish before you were born. That means God made you the way you are based on his assignment for you. You had to have the gift, personality, passion, experiences and spiritual gifts you have in order to fulfill his purpose for your life. He doesn’t expect you to do and become something he didn’t give you. That’s why when you spend your lifetime doing anything outside that assignment it will always feel forced, and unfulfilling & you are most likely not going to be effective. Your purpose informed your design. If you understand this, the idea of building a life that God designed for you will become more appealing than the life you want.

The life you want may be to be a housewife but God created you to be an advocate for parents with children with special needs because down the line God will give you & your husband one, but you don’t know it yet & that reality will immediately change the direction of your life & reveal your purpose. You want to be a make-up artist, but he created you to bring Jesus to the fashion industry in a unique and groundbreaking way changing the fashion trends completely, but he can’t give you that life-changing idea because you are stuck in making it happen in makeup sis. You want to be an engineer, but he wants to give you land in a beautiful part of Africa to build an organization that hosts quarterly camps for men in Africa to detoxify their souls, an organization that will literally change Africa and will raise a new generation of healthy African black men+ bring wealth to you through that land without losing your family, but you are stuck in titles, Sir. You want to be a lawyer, but God gifted you with a dancing gift and gave you a vision to start a dance school that will mirror Christ in your approach, classes, and marketing and will attract wealth for you. You may want to be “boss babe”, but he created you to tell stories of overlooked elderly women& provide tangible support to them. You may want to be a school teacher, but he created you to be a life coach for recovering drug addict women. You may want to be a speaker but he created you to counsel people who struggle with eating disorders& help them find freedom. You may want to be a singer, but God created you to be a physician/doctor who specializes in kids with cancer. You may want to work in the fashion industry, but God deposited books in you that will provide a solution to single mothers struggling with postpartum depression & loneliness. The truth is we all are free to choose what we want to do & become, but we didn’t make ourselves and God will never endorse something he didn’t create you to do and become. Endorsement is what you REALLY want because it comes with provision, grace for sustenance, creativity,& problem solving, protection, influence, favor, clarity, peace, fulfillment, impact& most importantly glory.

Your uniqueness will never be recognized until you function in your purpose. We can’t recognize that you are a writer because you are hidden in finance. We can’t recognize that you are a kingdom financer with an entrepreneurial gift because you are buried in psychology and it’s even draining you because you are not built for that. We can’t recognize that you are a chef because you are hiding in the science lab. We can’t recognize that you are an interior designer because you are trapped in accounting. We can’t recognize that you are a gifted special needs teacher who will craft a nationally ranking curriculum because you are stuck in being a “boss babe” or “businessman”. We can’t recognize that you are a CA because you are trying to make it happen in the beauty industry. Culture has sold the biggest lie that unfortunately many Christians have also adopted and our thinking has just become alike as non-believers. This lie is that ” you can become whatever you want to be” or ” do what makes you happy” You may want to be a singer and it genuinely makes you happy but beloved if the good Lord did not give you the vocal chords and the natural proclivity towards music you will never be as effective and truly fulfilled as you could be even if you put in years into it. Respect yourself enough to accept what God didn’t give you that gift and grace so you can make room for what he did give you. I actually cringe when i watch ads on YouTube of vocal coaches saying “Do you know how to sing? If your answer is no, don’t worry because we can all sing, you just need a little coaching and you will be on your way to being the next star” It’s so corny but it reminds me of the ads i used to hear on Zimbabwean radio stations. It may explain why we have people who have neglected their gifts to go for what they want to do and spent a decade training for something that only left them exhausted and a burden to those around them because your desire to become the “next star” has made you the next “stress.” I am not trying to be rude, but want to free someone with truth. What you are built for is already inside you and just needs to be refined.

“Your uniqueness will never be recognize until you function in your purpose”

Proverbs 18:16 says your GIFT, not your passion will make room for you. The parable of the talents was also not talking about passions but gifts. I know this may mess up a lot of people’s thinking but i want to help you not fall into delusion and be mad at God for what he didn’t promise you. According to God, your gift/s are more important than your passion. However, i am not saying your purpose is solely in your gift. Rick Warren in created an acronym that i feel simplifies but covers of the unique parts of who you are and encompasses a different way to discover your God-given purpose. S.H.A.P.E. Your spiritual gifts, heart(God-given passions), abilities(natural gifts), personality, and experiences. If you spend time to understand your shape you will start to discover what God made you to do. It took me almost two years to finish writing down my shape and i realized all parts are interconnected and actually pointed to the vision God had given me. It’s worth your time to explore your shape. It’s not rocket science and whoever lied to you that God wants to hide his purpose for you lied to you. He wants you to know it, but he can only reveal it to you when you ask him, are serious about wanting to know it, open that Bible and remain patient and persistent until he reveals it to you. Some of us asked him once and he didn’t answer that same day or week and we gave up because we are “busy” people. God may delay a little to see how badly you want to know it because one thing i can assure is that once you know what your purpose is, it captures your heart and mind so much that everything else no longer seems appealing. All you want to do is pursue it. I will have a separate blog post and walk you through how to work through your S.H.A.P.E because everyone’s S.H.A.P.E. is different.

What you really want is fulfillment, not happiness when it comes to your life’s work and who you become. Happiness is both temporary and fluctuates so when it becomes the sole goal of your life you are on your way to living a very self-absorbed and sporadic life and no influence can truthfully come out of that. Purpose produces joy which is stronger than happiness and lasts longer. More likely than not you will also become a less loving person long term because it’s you at the center of what you do instead of the people who you were called to help. If you are the center of your vision, loved one that idea or vision most likely did not come from God. He is not in the business of giving out self-serving ideas. As Rick Warren would say we make up so many self-serving ideas ourselves and then just put God on top so we don’t get people questioning our motives. In addition, God also designed our hearts to also feel fully alive when we live for and do something that is bigger than ourselves. Something that stretches us.

I’m amazed by how high schools and colleges/universities don’t help students at least think about purpose let alone guide them on how they can discover it. But again, how can we expect people who may not know their purpose know how to lead the way in helping students discover theirs? The conversation is always about what kind of career you want to get into. Students are prepared to be employable or start promising businesses, but not how to become effective in their purpose. The most tragic thing as well is that most students choose career paths predominantly based on economic potential. That’s the normal and expected way of thinking. This is even more common in people who come from impoverished backgrounds or money was a cause of conflict in their home. When you truly discover your purpose money is not something that you will necessarily worry about or base life-altering decisions on( your life’s work, who you marry, where you live, your team). Now here me clearly, money is important and is needed to survive but the very nature of purpose is a solution( recall how i have said this many times i already). I hope you are starting to understand that purpose is a solution to a creation problem. When you discover what problem you were born to solve and you master it, refine your S.H.A.P.E & improve yourself to be effective in solving that problem wealth will be inevitable long term. This is because you know what you carry is needed in the world. The world also pays people really well who solve problems effectively and provide value. Not how necessarily how many degrees you have or the type of degree you have but the value you provide to humanity. This does not seem appealing to many people because we are inclined to instant gratification as humans. We would rather stay on the path of safety, but purpose by its nature is not perceived as safe short-term because it breaks all limits you have made in your head and asks you to step out of ordinary thinking because the way the world thinks is not the same as the way God thinks. May i suggest to you that if you want to both discover your purpose and pursue it you have to be willing to embrace the growing pains of short-term discomfort. It won’t last forever but initially, it will be scary because there are so many unknowns because your path is unconventional and there is no other person you can necessarily reference from. You can reference from an accountant, engineer, lawyer, banker, teacher, etc because there are many people who have gone down that path(and there is nothing wrong with any of these paths) but there may not be as many people to reference from in the dance industry, or book industry in your country yet God created you to go down that uncharted territory. It’s not that you don’t want to fulfill his purpose for your life, but you may be genuinely scared and i understand where you are coming from.  Later on, i will do a series on purpose and i will hit on all the barriers to purpose and you will be more equipped.

Myles Munroe always says there are 3 types of people in the world. Poor people who pursue money, rich people who pursue things, and wealthy people who pursue ideas. The moment money is the sole focus in someone you may want to start loving them from a distance, not because you think you are better than them but because their thinking will assault your wealth creation ideas and realization of your purpose. I actually realized a month ago that most people who are obsessed with money (which spoiler alert most people) are actually not living in their purpose too. They in fact see their purpose as a barrier to having money and that right there beloved is a space you never want to be in. It is clear ignorance & long-term satan will simply prey on that. Money is not a bad thing and we must talk about it, but God designed for us to access it without too much struggle when we obey his money principles and fulfill his purpose for our lives. Either you serve money or it serves you and the only way to have money serve you is to follow your God-given purpose. You get to make that choice. When money is also the main motivator it also reveals that you haven’t discovered what problem you were created to solve. When you find your problem(purpose), you have also found your channel to wealth creation, influence, fulfillment and peace. It’s as simple as that. In my personal experience, I’ve discovered that people who are clear about their purpose rarely pursue money. In fact, it’s something that they rarely base their decisions on. They are obsessed with acquiring knowledge for their problem, continue to relentlessly improve themselves, and do their work in order to creatively and strategically solve their problem in humanity. That’s where the value creation is at which then attracts wealth long term. Gosh, i hope you got what i have just said.

“When you find your problem(purpose), you have also found your channel to wealth creation, influence, fulfillment and peace”

We will have a whole series on purpose, but for today that’s it from me BW Community. Let’s interact in the comment section and don’t forget to share this blog post with someone else who may benefit from it. I have done my part in sharing what God has taught me on purpose for many years and it’s your turn to share it with someone else.

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