March 10, 2025

God Designed You With A Purpose

It’s March 10, my birthday. So, I thought I’d lighten things up a little and start with some birthday humor. 

1. Why do people snore more when they get older?
It’s nature’s way of letting their spouses know they’re still alive.

2. Why shouldn’t you invite a cow to a birthday party?
They bring pies, not cake.

3. What do George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Christopher Columbus all have in common?
They were all born on holidays.

4. I was born in 1954. Ceci, who is forever young, told me, “You’re not old—you’re mid-century modern.”

5. Don’t fret about birthdays; they’re good for your health. Studies have shown that people who have more birthdays actually live longer.

6. How do you know when you’re officially old? When it takes longer to rest than it did to get tired. 

7. What’s a sure sign you’re getting older? When you and your teeth don’t sleep together.

8. And lastly, I may be old this year, but … what was I saying?

It is obvious God didn’t fashion me to be a comedian. But He did fashion me, just as He did you. We were born with a purpose.

USA Today conducted a poll a few years ago. In this survey, they inquired of individuals what one question they would most like to ask God. I expected the most-asked question to be the eternal fate of a deceased loved one, or perhaps why suffering exists, maybe even where the individual being interviewed would spend eternity. Nope. First place went to: “What is the purpose of my existence?” Twice as many polled asked this question over any other.

I was shocked. People, as a whole, care more about purpose than where they’ll spend eternity. This has become the number one concern raised by college students in America to their counselors and professors. They want more than a career; they want to believe their life has a purpose. 

I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. I have long been aware of the innate craving every person has for a sense of worth, value, and purpose. Purpose and self-worth are obviously connected. A healthy self-image springs, in part, from the belief that our life has purpose. Perhaps Myles Monroe had it right when he said, “The greatest tragedy of life is not death but life that fails to fulfill its purpose.”(1)

The dictionary defines purpose as “an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions” and “the reason for which something is done or created; that for which something exists.” Expanding purpose to the concept of destiny brings our Creator into the picture. Destiny is the belief that God mandated our existence and then created us with design and intent—purpose. 

Psalm 139:13-18 affirms this:

“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.” (NASB)

Verse 16 tells us: “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” Ordained is from the Hebrew word yatsar, which also means “to create” and “to predestine.” A creator obviously has a preplanned purpose for his creation. This passage emphatically states that God had determined a purpose or destiny for us–and recorded it in a book–before we were even born. 

The New Testament word for purpose is from the Greek word prothesis (Ephesians 1:11; Second Timothy 1:9). The prefix pro means “pre” or “beforehand,” and a thesis is a report or essay explaining a theory, study, or design. Again, God wrote a purpose for us in advance of our existence. This is precisely what Psalm 139:16 so eloquently states. 

If this were not reassuring enough, not only did God design a plan, creating a what and a why for us, He also chose our when and where. Acts 17:26 says He “determined [our] appointed times, and the boundaries of [our] habitation.” You can rest assured that your existence is not accidental, not even your time and nationality! He knew when your mark on history would be needed. You were born with a divine purpose, and so was I.

Pray with me:

Father, thank You for the assurance that we were created with purpose. Not one person’s existence took You by surprise. I pray that those reading this and/or listening to me today will find and fulfill all You wrote about them. Please bring healing to those who have been bruised through rejection or betrayal, causing them to doubt this; bring to them a confidence that You created them with a purpose and destiny.

We pray today for our nation. You also created nations with purpose, predestining them to holy causes. Cleanse, heal, and restore America to her purpose. We know this can only happen through a mighty revival. We also know this revival has begun and that our greatest days are ahead. Thank You.

Our decree: 

We decree that our Creator does nothing by chance, and like David, we will fulfill God‘s purpose for our lives (Acts 13:36).

Portions of today’s post are from my book Dream, published by Baker Books.

Click on the link below to watch the full video.

1. Myes Monroe, Releasing Your Potential (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 1992), p. 10.