What Were You Born To Do?

Yesterday in church a couple gave a powerful testimony that moved me to tears. The wife had been stricken with a severe heart condition that rewound her life and abilities back to infancy. She couldn’t walk, talk, or do any of the basic things for herself that we often take for granted. Her husband did everything in his power to take care of her. During that time she asked him, “Does it bother you to have to take care of me so much?” He answered, “No, this is what I was born to do.”

In life we often settle for less than we are capable of and less than we deserve. When it comes to what we are capable of, we find comfort in what we are good at instead of pushing further and finding out what we are great at. It may be a skill or talent, but then it may be something as simple as caring for a loved one as was the case with the story above. So I ask you, “What were you born to do?” You may not know now, you may not find out until later in life like the husband did with his wife’s illness, but in the meantime are you pushing past the good, exploring what you are great at and operating in that with excellence?

Now, let’s take a look at what you deserve. We are so quick to play the role that looks like this: “If anyone must suffer, if anyone must come last, if anyone must go without….then let it be me.” A dear friend of mine used to go through life saying and living under that belief only to come to the realization that it was false humility. According to Wikipedia, "'false humility' consists of deprecating one's own sanctity, gifts, talents, and accomplishments for the sake of receiving praise or adulation from others."

Don’t you know that you deserve the best? No matter where you’ve been, no matter what you’ve been through, no matter what you’ve done, at the end of the day you deserve that mate that loves you unconditionally. You deserve that job, career, salary, or grant that you’ve always wanted. You deserve to be in the best of health mentally and physically. Know your worth! Just as you were born for a specific purpose, so was someone else born for a specific purpose for you.

So when it comes to relationships, don’t just settle for who loves you, no matter how they treat you…someone was born just to be the love of your life that you deserve if you wait patiently and faithfully. When it comes to your health, and you think there is no way out, know that there was a doctor that was born just to save your life, or a friend that was born just to pray and encourage you, keeping your spirits high until you heal. Your children may have been born to slow you down, give you someone to love and cherish, and then ultimately someone to take care of you when you can no longer care for yourself.

When people call on me for a word of encouragement, or thank me for a message that I wrote that spoke to their situation, I feel like I’m just doing my job, because I know…this is what I was born to do.

Whatever life has thrown your way or taken away, know that there is a specific purpose for which you were born and on the flip side there is someone, or more than one person that was born to help you or see you through.

What were you born to do? Who was born for you?