What is the Point?: Discovering Life's Deeper Meaning and Purpose by Misty Edwards
Authors: Misty Edwards
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even more sustaining and addicting; it is when God Himself reveals God to our hearts. When we feel love for Him and from Him, if even for a moment, we feel the heat of His heart touch ours. This holy kiss is enough to set us on a ravenous treasure hunt the rest of our lives. We will do anything to just experience that touch once more. In this holy exchange we are touching our primary life purpose, which is to be with God. All humans were created for this divine exchange.
A BIDE IN L OVE
We must abide in His love. This is not a one-time deal, like once you get it, you move on. To abide in love means a perpetual returning to love. I have seen many people who started out on fire for Jesus, radical in their obedience and eager to give Him their all, but in a short period of time they faded out because they lost their current heart connection with the Person of the Holy Spirit.
People burn out not because they work too hard but because they work with the wrong motivation. When you work to get Jesus’s attention or you are trying to earn something from Him, you will burn out. If you work to gain affirmation from people, you will burn out. We must continually return to the fountain of love and drink deeply if we are going to survive the turmoil of life, both the boredom and the busyness.
Many Christians who start their journey with the Lord full of great zeal end up feeling empty and disillusioned. They continually think there is something missing in their lives and wish they could fill the void. Throughout history a lot of very successful men and women in both the secular and religious arenas have reached the top of their success ladder only to go to bed at night in painful emptiness because they were not satisfied. They were longing for a genuine connection with someone or something that will fill that reservoir within, but no one and nothing can.
This is true, even in the lives of those who serve the Lord. On and on we go from one thing to another, trying to answer the longings of our hearts. Only the “superior pleasures of the gospel” can ever answer the longings of the heart, and only coming into contact with the living God will satisfy us. This is by design. This emptiness is meant to draw us to Him, because our primary life purpose is in Him.
I often hear ministers say that they are “burned out” or “disillusioned.” They seem weary, empty, and sad, as though they are not spiritually alive. I am familiar with this feeling. I remember the first time I led worship in a large arena. It was a ten-thousand-member young adult conference. After I led the arena in worship, I walked off the stage and thought, “Really? This is it? This is the pinnacle of my life of ministry? This is what it feels like to do the will of God and to be used by Him?”
My ministry was at a peak. I was serving the Lord and people, but I felt depressed—not because I do not value impacting people, but I thought it would be more exhilarating and more satisfying than it was. The truth is, it is servanthood. No matter the size of the congregation or area of life you serve, there will be no satisfaction in that alone. The satisfaction comes by knowing Jesus’s eyes are on you and connecting with His Spirit who is in you. This is the power of life, not the impact. Impact is good, but it is not good enough. Intimacy with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit on a regular basis and through the bread of the Scripture, is the sustaining power of our lives, not impacting people.
We will impact people, we will serve and labor in Jesus’s vineyard, and we will work together with others to see the great harvest of souls brought to Jesus. These things are very good and essential. However, when we think that the sphere of our influence and the measure of our impact are where we are satisfied, we quickly learn how empty they are. This is by design, because He never wanted us to just use us as a workforce. He wants us. He wants to be with us, to be in
A BIDE IN L OVE
We must abide in His love. This is not a one-time deal, like once you get it, you move on. To abide in love means a perpetual returning to love. I have seen many people who started out on fire for Jesus, radical in their obedience and eager to give Him their all, but in a short period of time they faded out because they lost their current heart connection with the Person of the Holy Spirit.
People burn out not because they work too hard but because they work with the wrong motivation. When you work to get Jesus’s attention or you are trying to earn something from Him, you will burn out. If you work to gain affirmation from people, you will burn out. We must continually return to the fountain of love and drink deeply if we are going to survive the turmoil of life, both the boredom and the busyness.
Many Christians who start their journey with the Lord full of great zeal end up feeling empty and disillusioned. They continually think there is something missing in their lives and wish they could fill the void. Throughout history a lot of very successful men and women in both the secular and religious arenas have reached the top of their success ladder only to go to bed at night in painful emptiness because they were not satisfied. They were longing for a genuine connection with someone or something that will fill that reservoir within, but no one and nothing can.
This is true, even in the lives of those who serve the Lord. On and on we go from one thing to another, trying to answer the longings of our hearts. Only the “superior pleasures of the gospel” can ever answer the longings of the heart, and only coming into contact with the living God will satisfy us. This is by design. This emptiness is meant to draw us to Him, because our primary life purpose is in Him.
I often hear ministers say that they are “burned out” or “disillusioned.” They seem weary, empty, and sad, as though they are not spiritually alive. I am familiar with this feeling. I remember the first time I led worship in a large arena. It was a ten-thousand-member young adult conference. After I led the arena in worship, I walked off the stage and thought, “Really? This is it? This is the pinnacle of my life of ministry? This is what it feels like to do the will of God and to be used by Him?”
My ministry was at a peak. I was serving the Lord and people, but I felt depressed—not because I do not value impacting people, but I thought it would be more exhilarating and more satisfying than it was. The truth is, it is servanthood. No matter the size of the congregation or area of life you serve, there will be no satisfaction in that alone. The satisfaction comes by knowing Jesus’s eyes are on you and connecting with His Spirit who is in you. This is the power of life, not the impact. Impact is good, but it is not good enough. Intimacy with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit on a regular basis and through the bread of the Scripture, is the sustaining power of our lives, not impacting people.
We will impact people, we will serve and labor in Jesus’s vineyard, and we will work together with others to see the great harvest of souls brought to Jesus. These things are very good and essential. However, when we think that the sphere of our influence and the measure of our impact are where we are satisfied, we quickly learn how empty they are. This is by design, because He never wanted us to just use us as a workforce. He wants us. He wants to be with us, to be in
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