Think for a moment about what prevents you from achieving your God-given purpose. You are on the path but something’s holding you back. When this one piece of the puzzle is solved, you can get back on the right track. That’s your missing piece.
Maybe you laugh at the thought of picking just one.
Perhaps your mind goes immediately to the ‘if-only’ bandwagon.
If only my health was better, I’d be on fire for God.
If only my job wasn’t so demanding.
If only my spouse would let me spread my wings.
If only…sigh.
But let me ask you this? Is it possible these are simply smoke screens? Are these really the things that are holding you back from fulfilling your purpose?
A Man on a Mission
I love the story of the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-22. It’s a story that’s been told many times, though not in a very favourable light for the main character.
But I’m a big believer in learning from others’ successes and failures. And believe me, this guy had both.
You see, this rich young man had a goal in mind. And it was a lofty and noble one. His goal: inherit eternal life. This was a man on a mission.
He was so committed to this goal that he left no stone unturned. To be sure he was on the right track, he boldly approached Jesus and asked…
“Teacher, what must I do?”
Jesus set out a number of milestones for him to meet.
Check, check, check. Impressive!
But wait a second.
Something’s missing.
In spite of all his many accomplishments, there was a missing piece.
There was something holding him back. Something that if dealt with, would put him on the path to successfully achieving his goal. Thankfully, Jesus loved him enough to point it out.
“One thing you lack.”
Sadly, as far as we can tell the story ends when the man walks away dejected.
On the surface, it might seem that Jesus was asking him to give up his riches. The rich young ruler’s ‘if-only’ might have been, “if only, I wasn’t so rich”. Right?
But his money wasn’t the real issue, was it?
His missing piece went even deeper. Jesus was essentially asking if his wealth was more important than his mission. Turns out that it was.
We need to dig deeper too.
Is it really your job, husband or kids that are holding you back? Or is it something different? Something deeper?
When you find the one thing that you’re willing to put above our mission, that my friend, is your missing piece. It’s the one thing that’s stopping you from achieving your God-given purpose.
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Take it A Step Further
But what did the rich young ruler do well that we can learn from? Three things come to mind.
- He had a clear goal
- He pursued his mission
- He checked on his progress
We need to do all three but we also need to take it a step further. Because it’s possible to be on a mission and still miss the mark.
Just like the rich young ruler, we need to go to the Teacher. We need to humbly, yet boldly ask the uncomfortable question.
“What is the one thing I lack”?
As with the rich young ruler, God is willing to point you to the missing piece.
Pray and ask God to show you what’s missing.
Ask friends to tell you what they see.
Seek the advice of a spiritual counselor or mentor.
But, whatever you do, don’t just stop there.
Once you know what’s missing, then you ought to do something about it. James 4:17
Don’t be like the rich young man and walk away sad. Pick your head up and determine in your heart to continue on your path to purpose. Deal with the stumbling block once and for all.
And be encouraged.
Remember that God works all things out for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to His purpose. He will walk beside you and empower you to overcome the roadblock.
What about you?
Are you checking in with your Master to see how you’re doing?
Have you found your missing piece?
If so, how are you moving forward in joy to achieve your purpose?
I pray you will find encouragement in the words of these women who are walking in purpose and seeking to live for God, just like you.
This is Part 2 of the #LifePurposeFull series. Follow the rest of the #LifePurposeFull series here:
Introduction: In Pursuit of Your One Thing
Part 1: 3 Truths to Embrace on Your Path to Purpose
Part 3: When You Fear You’re Missing Out on Your Purpose
Part 4: How to Make Your One Thing, the Main Thing
And to see what purpose looks like in the lives of real women, pull up a chair and grab a note book. These eight women blessed my socks off with what they shared in this post:
Powerful Purpose Thoughts to Ignite Life to the Full
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I pray that you will be motivated and encouraged on your path to purpose!
Wishing you blessings,
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And if you’re looking for more encouraging and inspiring content, check out these amazing sites where I link up my weekly posts.
Your website is absolutely beautiful and your love for what you’re doing really comes through. Thanks for such a thoughtful post; I’m taking it all on board!
Hi Elisha, I’m thrilled that you enjoyed the website and this post. Your sweet words put a smile on my face. And I’m glad I rescued your comment from the Spam folder — which explains why I took so long to reply. Hope to see you back soon. 🙂
Marva, I absolutely love this post. The Lord spoke to me through it and confirmed a passage He brought to mind for me today as to direction for my one thing – the passage in Romans 8 that you quoted. God is using you, friend. Thank you for being a willing vessel! Sharing everywhere!
Ruthie, thank you so much for your kind words and your constant encouragement. I feel so blessed that God would use my little words to speak to your heart.
You know, it was shortly after our conversation about needing to find my #onething that the idea for this series was born. So, I’m excited to see how God weaves our stories together.
I love your look here. It truly sparkles! I so agree that tools of measuring where we are and asking what we lack so we can move to the next step, is so important. I like how you made it about asking God to show you and then, through James, show to take that next step and go do something about it!
Lynn, thank you for those kind words about my page (blush) :-).
I’m happy that you took part in the conversation and I pray that you will feel God’s presence with you wherever you go. May His words, whisper…”this is the way, walk in it”. (Isaiah 30:21)
Wow! I am hearing you, Lord! I JUST made my list early last week and here you are saying ‘make a list’. Lord, forgive me for these missing pieces in my life! I surrender them!
Hi KG, I’m so glad that God is speaking to you in such powerful ways. Your heart to serve Him fully continues to inspire me. Sending you hugs for the weekend, my friend. 🙂
So Good, Marva! We really can be appropriately focused and moving toward our goals — and still miss the mark. Good words! (I love the ways you’ve added new sparkle to your website!)
Hi Dianne, it’s so good to see you here, my friend.
I pray that we both keep in step with the Spirit as we seek to accomplish God’s will (and not our own).
By the way, I owe thanks to our friends Lillian (Embracing the Lovely) and Alison (The Design Duo) for help with the new bells and whistles. 🙂 I’m glad you like it.
so great! Thanks so much for sharing!!
You’re so welcome, Kasia. Thanks for stopping by, commenting and sharing it as well.
What a great and a practical word today, Marva! Woohoo! Love this one!
Find your missing piece – what great advice!
Thank you for encouraging women to press in closer to Jesus~
Thank you, Melanie. All the glory goes to God. He’s the One who’s drawing us closer to His heart. I am simply moved by how much He loves us and longs for us to be on fire for Him.
Marva, You are SUCH a blessing! I love this series about finding your purpose. Thank you for mentioning my verse too! Every time I visit your blog I get lost in its beauty!
Valerie, the honour is mine to have had you share your purpose verse with us. Thank you so much for your encouragement (including those sweet words about my blog) and for being the awesome woman of God that you are! Sending you hugs!
Oh this is so good! We all can come up with excuses but Jesus actually knows the truth of what is holding us back! (It’s usually us… never Him!) Great post!
Thank you, Karrilee. You’re so right that we’re usually the ones holding ourselves back and sometimes we don’t even see it. Thankfully God is so patient with us.
I’m so glad that you shared that insight!
Have you read the book “The Missing Piece” by Shel Silverstein? Look it up if you haven’t! It’s a children’s book but the story is really beautiful. It reminds me of this.
Thanks for that tip, Leah, I’ll definitely look it up.
I’m so sorry it took so long to realise that your comment ended up in the Spam folder. Just want to make sure you know, you’re always welcome here!
Oh man, those “if-Only’s” really get us sometimes don’t they! I love this call to look deeper. So many times we deal with the surface issues and not the root issue! Love these encouraging words of yours!
http://www.littlelightonahill.com
Oh yes, Keri, those ‘if-only’s’ have gotten me many times. And they’re so sneaky, if we’re not careful we will believe them. Not any more!
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your sparkle with us. I’m so glad you enjoyed reading it.
Brilliant! “If only” really isn’t the missing piece to fulfilling purpose—there is a deeper underlying reason. So good! Thank you.
Agreed, Lori. It’s getting to that root issue that’s the trick. Glad we’re on the same page so that we won’t fall for those ‘if-only’s’ any more!
Thanks for visiting and taking the time to leave such an encouraging comment.