The year 2006 was rough for me; it felt like rock bottom. I was a single mother with three young children to care for … my youngest still in diapers. It was in this season of my life I found purpose and calling. 

I was struggling to maintain my finances, be an involved mother and keep hope alive in my heart. At my lowest point, I cried out to God asking, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

In that moment, I remembered my dad’s words from when I was a teenager. 

“Angie, in life you won’t always be able to depend on a man; sometimes you have to do things yourself,” he said. I cried that ugly cry – the one where snot is running down your nose and you sob so hard you are gasping for air.  

It was later that week when I heard the Lord’s answer to my heartbreaking question. 

Delivered through the message at church, the pastor said, “It’s not God’s intentions for us to suffer or to hurt. God wants us to be joyful, successful and healthy.”  

Have you ever felt this defeated in life? Have you ever wondered why you were born? Have you ever wondered what purpose you were meant to give in your life? 

I pondered all these questions in that season. Then the Lord spoke his words to me. 

“I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.” – Psalm 57:2

God is the one who knows our life and will use it to fulfill every purpose he has for you. 

However, our choices and actions also really matter. We must stop using hurts and pains as an excuse to not step forward in our calling. We must become responsible for our lives. We can choose to do things that will bring us more joy and give us a sense of purpose. 

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” – Jeremiah 29:11

When you accept responsibility for your life and start moving in the direction of your heart’s passion, you will see purpose unfold. You will feel the joy that is birthed in your everyday life when you can use what you have experienced to give a guiding light to another in a similar situation. 

Be the light in someone else’s darkness. Shine the hope that love, peace and blessing live and thrive in the world today.

Written by Angelina Mojica, Buckner Family Hope Center™ Lubbock program director. 

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