You have a Purpose. // The Carpenter

Jesus likely would have begun his work as a carpenter while still a teenager. When we consider this, it seems like a decade or more of his time on earth could have been used differently. Only 10 percent of Jesus's life was spent in public ministry.  

I think we need to know this because we will all have "carpenter years." Times when we don't feel like we're living up to our potential. We feel like we could be doing something more, something bigger. We can resist the smallness. We, like the questioning crowd around Jesus, can become disappointed and disillusioned by what doesn't seem as grand as we'd imagined.  

// Hope Your Heart Needs by Holley Gerth, page 140

I'm not even exaggerating when I say that these lines jumped off the page at me as I read them. Wait...Jesus had a season of "smallness"? Yes, yes, He did.

His ministry, covered in the four Gospels, all happened in about three years—around 10% of His earthly life! The average life span in the US is about 78 years. (Yes, I just googled it.) Ten percent of that is less than 8 years.

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. 

// Mark 6:3 kjv

It is not at all my intention to insinuate that you only need to serve God for 7.8 years and then you can do what you want. Nope, not at all.

But if, right now, you feel like you're not doing anything. Like you're not fulfilling your purpose. You ache to be doing something more, something bigger, have a larger impact, but the opportunities just aren't there....don't despair.

There is a purpose in the place and season you're in at this very moment. Maybe God is preparing you for something larger. Maybe He's working out the details of your future, as you sit in the darkness, unable to see what comes next or why you're even on this earth.

But you have a purpose. Be patient as you wait for His timing. It's always perfect.

The One who died to wash away the sins of the entire world, to reach your broken heart and mine, He too had a season of waiting. A season of, in the eyes of some, not fulfilling His potential, His purpose.

even when you think you don't 

even when you can't see what it is
even when you feel worthless

even when you're confused 

hurting 

scared 

even when nothing makes sense

you. have. a. purpose. 

That's all for now... I pray this touched someone as it did me. <3