🌸What If You Are Already Living Your Purpose?

Scripture

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
— Ephesians 2:10

THE MOMENT

I have been thinking about purpose lately.

We hear so much about finding our purpose.

What was I created to do?
Am I using my gifts?
Am I making a difference?
Am I doing what God wants me to do with my life?

Those are good questions.

But I wonder if sometimes we make purpose sound like this one big thing hidden somewhere in the future—and if we pray hard enough, plan carefully enough, or finally get our lives together, God will reveal it.

A career.

A ministry.

A business.

A book.

A platform.

Something with a name attached to it.

But what if some of our purpose is much closer than that?

What if we are already living pieces of it?

Maybe purpose was the child you stayed up with last night.

Maybe it was the friend you called because something told you to check on her.

Maybe it was doing your job well when nobody was applauding.

Maybe it was caring for an aging parent when you would rather have been doing something else.

Maybe it was apologizing to your child.

Starting over.

Praying for somebody who will never know you prayed.

Using something you have learned through your own difficult season to make somebody else's road a little easier.

None of those things may ever appear in a biography.

But that does not make them insignificant.

PURPOSE DOES NOT ALWAYS COME WITH A TITLE

I think sometimes we confuse purpose with position.

We think we will finally be walking in our purpose when we get the job, launch the ministry, finish the degree, publish the book, start the organization, or reach some milestone we've been working toward.

And God certainly can use all of those things.

But Scripture says we are God’s workmanship, created for good works He prepared for us to walk in.

I love that Scripture describes it as a walk.

Not arrive.

Not achieve.

Not become famous for.

Walk.

That sounds much more like a life than a destination.

Maybe purpose is something God unfolds as we keep walking with Him.

Some seasons may be very visible.

Others may feel painfully ordinary.

And some seasons may leave us wondering, What in the world am I doing with my life?

But an ordinary season is not necessarily a purposeless one.

MAYBE THE QUESTION CHANGES

Instead of always asking:

“God, what is my purpose?”

Maybe sometimes we ask:

“God, what is my purpose here?”

Here—in this season.

Here—in this home.

Here—in this workplace.

Here—in this relationship.

Here—with these gifts.

Here—with what I have learned.

Here—with the person You have placed in front of me today.

Because I am beginning to believe that purpose is not only about what we accomplish.

It is also about who we become while God is using us.

The patience we develop.

The compassion we gain.

The wisdom we can now share because we've lived through something.

The courage it took to begin again.

The faith we learned when nothing made sense.

Even the detours can become useful in God's hands.

AND PURPOSE CAN CHANGE SHAPE

This matters too.

What God called you to do at 25 may not look exactly like what He is asking of you at 45, 55, or 75.

Motherhood changes.

Careers change.

Relationships change.

Our bodies change.

Our responsibilities change.

Doors close.

Other doors open.

And sometimes the thing that once gave our lives tremendous meaning ends.

That can leave us wondering:

Who am I now?

But perhaps the end of an assignment is not the end of our usefulness.

God is not finished with us simply because a season is finished.

There may still be something to learn.

Something to give.

Someone to encourage.

Someone to teach.

Something to create.

Something to repair.

Something to begin.

Or perhaps, for a while, something to simply be present for.

A MOMENT TO THINK ABOUT

Maybe you don't need to figure out the rest of your life today.

Maybe you don't need a five-year plan for your purpose.

Look at what is already in your hands.

Your experiences.

Your gifts.

Your relationships.

Your story.

Even the parts you would never have chosen.

Then ask:

“Lord, how can You use what I have, where I am, in this season?”

The answer may eventually lead somewhere you never imagined.

But today?

It may simply lead you to the person standing right in front of you.

MOMENT PRAYER

Lord,

Sometimes I spend so much time wondering what I am supposed to do with my life that I miss what You are doing in my life right now.

Help me recognize purpose even when it looks ordinary.

Show me how to use what You have placed in my hands—my gifts, experiences, lessons, relationships, and even the difficult parts of my story.

When one season ends, help me trust You with what comes next.

And when I cannot see the whole plan, give me enough faith to be faithful in the part You have given me today.

Use my life in ways that matter, even when no one else sees them.

Amen.

Your MOMENT

Where might you already be living out your purpose without calling it “purpose”?

THIS WEEK'S MOMENT CHALLENGE

Don't try to figure out your entire calling this week.

Instead, each morning ask:

“God, what have You given me to do today—and who have You given me an opportunity to serve?”

Then pay attention.

The answer may not look impressive.

Do it anyway.

Because perhaps purpose isn't something we're supposed to spend our whole lives chasing.

Maybe it is something we discover while faithfully living the life God has placed in front of us.

Pause. Pray. Notice. Walk.

❤️ Every MOMENT Matters.

— Monica Lynne Wilkins
MOMENT Moms™
MOMENTMoms.org

🌿When I Thought I Was Falling Behind

This Week's Scripture

"The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand."
Psalm 37:23-24 (NLT)

A few days ago, I heard John Maxwell speak at the SURGE Conference about learning to get a return on failure.

His message stayed with me, but not because it was about leadership.

It stayed with me because it made me think about my own life.

There have been seasons when I quietly wondered if I had fallen behind.

Not because I wasn't trying.

Because things simply weren't happening the way I had prayed they would.

There were opportunities I thought were meant for me that never came.

Plans that changed.

Doors that closed.

Prayers that seemed to linger without an answer.

For a long time, I looked at those moments as interruptions.

Now I see them differently.

They weren't interruptions.

They were invitations.

Invitations to trust God when I couldn't see where He was leading.

Invitations to grow in ways I never would have chosen for myself.

Invitations to discover that my identity was never tied to a job title, a promotion, or even my own timeline.

One of the reasons I created THE MOMENT is because I needed that reminder myself.

To stop.

To breathe.

To notice where God was already working before I rushed ahead trying to fix everything.

I've learned that some of God's greatest work happens while we're waiting for the next door to open.

Sometimes He isn't changing our circumstances.

He's changing us.

Looking back, I wouldn't choose every difficult season again.

But I also wouldn't trade who I've become because of them.

Perhaps that's what it means to fail forward.

Not that we enjoy disappointment.

Not that failure suddenly feels good.

But that we allow God to use every experience to move us closer to the person He created us to be.

💛 Today's MOMENT

Is there a season in your life that you've labeled a failure?

Take a fresh look.

Ask God to show you not only what you've lost, but also what you've gained.

You may discover that while one door was closing, God was quietly preparing another.

🙏 MOMENT Prayer

Father,

Thank You for never letting our setbacks be the end of our story. When life doesn't unfold the way we expected, help us remember that You are still directing our steps. Give us eyes to see Your hand in every season, courage to trust You when the path feels uncertain, and faith to believe that You are using every experience to shape us into who You've called us to be.

Teach us to pause long enough to recognize that You never waste a moment.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

🌿 Live the MOMENT This Week

Write down one disappointment you've carried for a while.

Then answer this question:

"How has God used this experience to help me become the woman I am today?"

You may be surprised by your own answer.

Pause. Pray. Reflect. Live It.

Because every moment—even the difficult ones—matters.

Monica Wilkins