May He grant you according to your heart's desire

May He grant you according to your heart's desire, and fulfill all your purpose.
-- Psalm 20:4 (NKJV)

My daughter thinks I'm a little loony tunes – which, in some cases, may be true. But I'm not loony tunes for the reasons she thinks.

Every few days or so, there appears a new post-it note on the bathroom mirror or on the hallway wall or on my closet door. Each of them have on them some thought I've run across that speaks to me in some way. Posting them in these different places is not only to remind me to stay encouraged/strong/intentional/attentive, but I also hope she'll read them and something will resonate in her heart and mind, too.

Most of the time she just looks at me like I must be going through something.

But this morning, she asked about the Psalm 20:4 verse that's written on a glaring green sticky in the bathroom. After asking me for the umpteenth time why I stuck it on the bathroom mirror ("so I can see it when I look at myself" was my answer… ), she asked what it meant – with that "what-you-goin'-through?" look. While brushing her hair, I told her that there are many things in life I want; things, that if I had them, my heart would sing. I told her that if the things I wanted were aligned with God's desires for my life, that I would have them. For her edification I added that if the things that I wanted were out of God's sphere – His grace/approval/command, then they had no business being anything I should want.

Of course she grilled me, asking me about things like exercising regularly (my desire to keep my temple fit and in good repair); love (my desire to have and maintain a healthy and long-lasting covenant relationship); work (my desire to perform meaningful work); and, one of my very favorite desires, a good cup of coffee. I passed her quiz, especially about that coffee…

Later in the day, I thought about my explanation of the Psalm 20:4 verse and I realized that while I explained the first part (May He grant you according to your heart's desire), I forgot to explain the "b" part (and fulfill all your purpose).

The "b" part. How could I forget to explain the "b" part?

Because I seem to have forgotten that part myself.

"… your purpose."

Seems like a few years ago – maybe 10 of them – I had that understanding of my purpose thing down pat. Someone had given me Rick Warren's book, "Purpose Driven Life" and I read some of it, flipped through to the most interesting parts, and jotted ideas and thoughts in the margins. I formed what I believed was a solid explanation of my purpose. I knew what I wanted from life, what I wanted to give life, and exactly how I would do it. Okay, maybe that's not all true, but, I had some idea… I think.

Now? Now… Oh, now, I can say I have since given away that Rick Warren book, primarily because of the controversies that surround him, but also because it wasn't necessary for me to consult a book about my purpose. At least not that book. I just needed to ask myself some thoughtful questions and think really hard about who I am and how I show that while I read THE book – the Bible.

(That may have been in Rick Warren's book, but, honestly, I never got past the first few chapters.)

When I asked/ask myself, in relation to who God said I am, "what is it I would want people to say about me at my funeral?" and "if money and failure were of no consequence, what would I do?,"my answers led/lead me to do just what I'm doing now – encouraging and inspiring (at least that's what I pray I'm doing). Once I look past my job and daily responsibilities – which do have elements of "encouraging and inspiring" attached to them, thank you Jesus, or I really wouldn't be able to get out of the bed – I am able to really get at why God put me here in the first place and set goals to actualize that purpose or life mission.

A lot of times we get bogged down in the everyday stuff and forget to look at the big picture. Proverbs 16:4 (MSG) says that "God made everything with a place and purpose; even the wicked are included—but for judgment." Certainly our purpose on earth is not to mournfully wake each morning, get ready for work, work, come home, feed the family, watch a little television, then go to bed and start again with the same routine the next day. If that's all we were made for, what would be the point? Everything here on earth has a purpose for being.

The big picture is that we are here to fulfill God's purposes, and, of course, the only way to fulfill those purposes is to get to know God. When you come to know God – which we're all in the process of doing because we'll never fully know El-Olam (Everlasting God) – your life/life-work becomes revealed to you and the purposes for which you are here become clearer, though constantly becoming refined. And, then, perhaps your purpose informs/shapes your heart's desires, or at least the desires of your heart help you to fulfill your purpose, so, ultimately they go hand in hand. The heart desires are the goals, per se, that fulfill the life mission.

That being the case, then everything in your life has to be pointed in one direction – toward your purpose, and anything that does not follow the lines of the arrow is just plain junk/waste.

Maybe I didn't forget to tell ye old skeptical baby girl the "b" part after all. But it is imperative that I go back and make it clear.

I will now prepare myself for that "what-you-goin'-through-now?" look.