This is what happens when you feel hungry. Your body tells you through different types of messages in it's attempt to communicate to you. I would bet that none of us ever think we are hungry. We only feel hungry.
I propose that hunger is like our purpose. Like hunger, purpose is a feeling. When we are not walking in our purpose our body starts to tingle with anxiety, a head ache might set in, and you might even feel weak. However, walking within our purpose is quite the opposite. For me, when I know I am doing what God created me to do, I feel similar to how I feel after a good steak. It's an indescribable sensation through out my body.
I challenge myself to stop thinking and feeling for my purpose. Listen to the gut instinct, and almost every time, I sit in retrospect and say, "dang, it was right!"
I think we're all fasting. (well most of us) Quench your palette! Feed your hunger for life! As you sit and read this, take a moment and listen to your gut! What is it telling you to do? If you're dreaming of becoming a nurse, feed your desire. If you've got headaches from working or you feel weak when you get home, take inventory! Find out what you're doing throughout the day that drains you. You see, our purposes should be life giving.
Now, one might say, "D.J., I love what I do, but I can still get tired at the end of the day." Well, I would say, I love steak, but if I eat too much I feel tired and worthless. Define how much is too much! Too much of a good thing is never good. Step away from your purpose and walk outside. Have lunch with a friend. Read the news. Search Flicker. Take a sabbatical.
Now stop... Remember I am a very idealistic person. All of this sounds great, but it's hard. It takes time to discern what it is your gut is feeling. Just like a chef experiments to perfect the taste of his finest item, so to must we try new things to find our purpose. Never settle for less. Keep learning about you, about others, about the world. There are no formulas.
That's it. That's all I got today.
This post was inspired by thoughts from Seth Godin, Rob Bell and Andy Rutledge. I look to them for advice and inspiration. They are much better people than I. Their links are provided on the right hand side of my blog.
Entry edited by Brandon Brown.
This post was inspired by thoughts from Seth Godin, Rob Bell and Andy Rutledge. I look to them for advice and inspiration. They are much better people than I. Their links are provided on the right hand side of my blog.
Entry edited by Brandon Brown.
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1 comment:
Post by an anonymous friend.
Speaking of novels, I read the latest entry in your blog that you posted in every possible place on facebook so that it showed up in newsfeed like 50 times :P ... and, I think they are good thoughts, but at the end of it, none of it felt real. Everything makes sense, but it's one of those things I read and think "wow, that's good" but I never actually do anything about it because there wasn't anything from you that made it personal or real in a way. You did say about challenging yourself, but there's something about it that really frustrates me. It's written eloquently, but even after a day-ish of thinking about it and rereading, there's something about it. I guess I feel like it's overly idealistic.
But, the thing is, we are familiar with the hunger feeling. We feel it and we feed ourselves. But our calling or purpose ... we definitely know AND feel when we aren't fulfilling our purpose in life. But we don't know what to do about it. Maybe it's like tasting different things on the menu ... but it's so much more than that. I think you more than feel your purpose - you just KNOW it when you find it if you're listening to God. It's like hungering is just the first part. Maybe we know we're hungry for our purpose bc we obviously haven't found anything. We know we're wandering - empty and wearing weak from what seems like a hungry and useless soul. But, even in the midst of that, we can nourish our spirits with fellowship, love, friends, etc, and of course Jesus bc he reaches the deepest parts. And, I think that once you meet your heart's hunger and need for love, fellowship, communication, etc, only then can you really find your purpose. What good is something to feed your stomach if it's not properly prepared? It can make you sick. So, what good is fulfilling what you think to be your purpose if you heart isn't in good shape? I think that's where a lot of us get stuck, at least I do anyways. And I struggle with some of the same things and a feeling that my need for love, fellowship, friendship, communication, sharing what's on my heart, just aren't being met at all. So when we are left in such a state, nothing seems right or real or good.
I wish I had this summed up into nice, clean-cut points. The overall idea of this is that yes, we all hunger and it IS a feeling. But our purpose is more than a hunger and a feeling. Our purpose is a hunger and a feeling, but it's something much greater, that must be found with a fulfilled (not sure of the right word for there) heart that is ready to take on the purpose and able to feel it and know it. So many times we see things we feel like we'd want to do ... I'm soooo over ambitious most of the time, but I am bc other stuff is missing and I'm trying to fill up my heart. Once the needs are met, then we can discern between what we feel would be a good thing to do to be purposeful and what God really wants us to do for His purpose.
Does any of that make sense?
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