1 KINGS 19:9: And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word
of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
A woman named Maria stopped by Back to the Bible and asked for a tour. While she was waiting in
the lobby, she spoke with a member of our staff for a few minutes. She shared that she used to be a
power broker on Wall Street and mingled with Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan and folks like that.
But when she became a believer, she realized that there is more to living than just “making a living.”
Now she owns a fishing lodge in northern Minnesota. She spends her days canoeing, reading and
helping her visitors to relax. She wants to develop her lodge into a retreat center for pastors and other
Christians. She concluded, “This is the ministry God has called me to.”
On Mount Horeb, God confronted Elijah with his ministry as well. When God asked him, “What are
you doing here?” He knew the answer. He knew that Elijah had fled his responsibilities and left
behind his ministry. But He wanted Elijah to realize that too. God’s question was designed to cause
Elijah to think about his ultimate purpose in life.
All Christians need to ask themselves, “What am I doing here? Why am I alive? What does God have
for me to do?” There is no believer who does not have a God-given purpose for his life. In fact, God
designs each of us with a specific purpose in mind. Our goal should be to find that purpose and fulfill
it.
Why are you here? Is it to evangelize and edify young people through your church’s Sunday school
program? Is it to assist family and friends as they serve on a foreign mission field? Is it to minister to
those sick in the hospital or confined to a nursing home? Is it to visit the fatherless and widows, or the
prisoners? If you don’t know, ask God to show you. You can never be fulfilled as a Christian until you
know what God saved you to do and then do it.
GOD’S PURPOSE GIVES LIFE MEANING.