God’s Purpose

Daily Reflection / Produced by The High Calling

But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth.

Exodus 9:16

When it comes to figuring out God’s purposes, I frequently remember what he said through the prophet Isaiah: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts. . . . And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine” (Isa. 55:8).

But, every now and then, God chooses to make his purposes known to us. In Exodus 9, for example, the Lord explained to Pharaoh why he hadn’t simply wiped him off the face of the earth. “But I have spared you for a purpose,” the Lord said, “to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth” (v. 16). The original language speaks of the Lord’s “name” as being spread throughout the earth. So God’s purpose in the Exodus was not only to set his people free, but also to reveal his identity to the world as a powerful, saving God.

In many ways, this is also God’s purpose for our lives. According to Ephesians, we live for the praise of God’s glory (1:12). Or in the classic phrasing of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, our chief “end” is to “glorify God and enjoy him forever.” God wants to show the world his power and glory through us. Through our words and actions, through our work and worship, we are mirrors that reflect the light of God into the world. Talk about a high calling!

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you understand God’s purpose(s) for your life? In what ways does your life reflect the glory of God?

PRAYER: Sovereign Lord, even as you once chose to reveal yourself through your interaction with Pharaoh, so you have chosen to do through me. What an honor and privilege to be a reflection of your glory in this world!

Help me, dear Lord, to live with this vision in mind. May your purpose in me be fulfilled as I live each day for the praise of your glory. Whether I’m at work or at church, with my family or my neighbors, may I reflect your light into the world, so that people might see you through me. Make yourself known through me, dear Lord, in all I do! To you be all the glory! Amen.

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By Mark D. Roberts. Published by The High Calling, June 2, 2009. Image by Cindee Snider Re. Used with Permission.

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© 2009 by The High Calling and the Theology of Work Project, Inc.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.