It has been said that people are looking for three things: love, safety, and purpose. Those three things can be found in our God. He has been described as love itself, the cleft of the rock we find shelter in, and in Him, our purpose in life is found. This is stated, though subtly, in Romans 11, where verses 33 through 36 follow a passage that many find confusing regarding the wisdom of God and why He allows disobedience.  

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 

“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 

“Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

From God, we receive life – and all things.  We receive from the source of love the perfect Agape that sent His son.  As it says in 1st John 4:8, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” If our God is love, and we receive all things from Him, we know we are receiving love. Because of that love for humanity, He sent His son – a gift not to be scoffed at. When the son’s work on this earth was done, His love still stepped in, and He sent His Spirit so we would not be alone. While life is an evident blessing, we are rarely purposeful in showing our gratitude for, outside of times such as birth or at the end of a loved one’s illness, yet it is something we use in every moment – waking or sleeping, working or lazy. It is a gift bestowed on us all, free of cost, yet how often do we pause to remember and thank the one who gives it to us? If we do remember, do we remember the further blessing of salvation and life eternal – not so little as the life we have on this earth, but the life that carries His children beyond the grave and into His home.

Through God, we receive safety. His sustenance will not fail us, while the sustenance man offers does time after time. This is easily seen in the language we are familiar with in the Psalms, such as Psalm 18:2-3 “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 

I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” Though perhaps most commonly remembered in the Psalms, we know God’s protection surrounds His children as it has since the beginning, when it was evident in the physical garden, to the salvation we receive in Christ, present even to those in the first century. Their faith in his providential care led them to the lions’ dens with faith because they knew the life they had been given was more than the physical, more than of this earth, but a lasting life that carries beyond the grave. 

We find our purpose in life within our service to God – His purpose is greater than any we will find otherwise on this earth. In Ecclesiastes 12:13 it says, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” This, the summation of what Solomon learned in all his wisdom, is our purpose. When we are headed in the right direction, not thinking only of ourselves but being on track, our lives look like service. We sing the song time and again, “Lord, make me a servant. Lord, make me like you – for you are a servant. Make me one, too.” Singing or not, how often have we truly meant those words? Do we take the opportunities for service that are placed in front of us? If not, what are we doing when we sing those words other than putting on a façade of faithful living? Do we mean the words we say? Are we willing to go the distance that meaning those words requires? 

From God, the Source of life, we are granted Love. Through God, we receive Safety and Sustenance. To God, we give service, finding within it our Purpose. These blessings are not small, but they are often so easily overlooked. How can we do better at keeping these from being overlooked in our daily lives?

By: Hannah Lowe

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Re'Elle Crowell

Re'Elle Crowell is a member of the Garriott Road Church of Christ in Enid, OK. Currently she is attending college for a degree in accounting. She has been writing for CYFC for several years. She is the sensei of the Shodin Ji Do Karate school in Enid, OK. Some of her hobbies are Bible study and journaling. Her goal is to continue learning and growing in the Lord while helping others do the same.

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