Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 1279 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Purpose That Brings Meaning to Life – Meditation Monday
Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.
Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1279 of our trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy.
For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body. As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you, too, will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind.
In our meditation today, let us consider…
Purpose That Brings Meaning to Life
Viktor Frankl who was a prisoner of war in the Nazi concentration camps said, “The lesson one could learn from Auschwitz, and in other concentration camps, in the final analysis, was, those who were oriented toward a meaning — toward a meaning to be fulfilled by them in the future — were most likely to survive.”
The apostle Paul said it this way in Romains 8:18, “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”
Paul survived many difficult challenges in his life. Some included anguish for being involved in persecuting the early church and supervising the stoning of Stephen (1 Timothy 1:12-14). Other challenges had to do with painful suffering and abuse he endured — hardship through shipwrecks, financial hard times, and physical afflictions (2 Corinthians 11:23-27; Philippians 4:11-13). He would eventually face martyrdom (2 Timothy 4:6-8). No matter the mountains in the way, no matter the severity of his suffering, no matter the difficulty of the challenges, Paul faced them with purpose because he knew his life had meaning in Jesus!
How did he survive these ordeals and keep going? Where did the old apostle find such resiliency in the face of such stiff opposition? How did Paul tap into such persevering strength that allowed him to persevere to his end?
Paul looked forward to a bright future with Jesus beyond this life (2 Corinthians 5:1-8; 2 Timothy 4:6-8). He was confident that when his life was over on earth, Jesus was waiting to welcome him into his presence: until then, he knew God had important work for him to do (Philippians [1:19]-26). While he waited for the eventual end of his life, Paul lived passionately to fulfill his calling from God. Paul believed that his life had meaning after his earthly life ended. He also trusted that God had a purpose for his life while he was still alive.
Viktor Frankl, in his epic book, Man’s Search for Meaning, suggested that we, as human beings, can survive almost any “how” if we have a “why”! We can endure almost anything if our lives have meaning and purpose!
In Psalm 1[39:13]-16, David talks about God being present in every dimension and time in our lives. He specifically talks about when our life began and when God first filled our existence with his purpose and meaning.
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
God knew you before your mom felt you as a flutter in her womb or knew you as the person inside the bump on her belly. God has known you even from before your conception. Your Father in heaven had a plan and purpose for you. That plan and purpose wasn’t a rigid program you had to fulfill, but an opportunity to embrace. That purpose was designed to give you meaning and a reason to persevere no matter what life throws at you. And, that same God has known you since you were reborn in his family (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:3-7). That new birth has given you a living hope — the expectation that something, your holy Someone, is awaiting you beyond this life (1 Peter 1:3-9).
No matter what you face in this life, God can reach into the middle of the mess and fashion something good out of it to accomplish his purpose for you and bring you to your eternal good (Romans 8:28). That truth is as valid for you as it was for his Son. Jesus’ life, suffering, and death were not wasted (Romans 8:29). As for you, when you confessed Christ and were baptized, your life was joined with Jesus’ life. The living and eternal part of you was hidden with him in God, awaiting Jesus’ glorious return when we will share in that same glory (Colossians 2:12, 3:1-4).
I have no idea where you are in your walk with God. Our listeners come from all ages, nations, and cultures. Some are enjoying life and are experiencing boundless joy. Others are suffering from persecution and oppression. Still, others are dealing with life’s almost unbearable realities because of a broken world or failing bodies or unspeakable grief. Above the circumstances, however, we all must embrace that God has a purpose for us that is greater than our joy or our pain. The meaning of our life is in following Jesus in both the transfiguration where he was glorious and in the cross when he endured abandonment, ridicule, torture, humiliation, and death.
No matter our circumstances — or your particular circumstances, we know glory awaits. Between now and glory, God has a purpose for us, no matter where we find ourselves. That doesn’t mean he wants us to be in the painful, awful, challenging situations of our broken world alone. God longs for us to know that he will go with us in our struggles. God wants us to know that no matter how difficult our struggles may be, our lives still have purpose and meaning, both now and eternally. Our Father will accomplish something out of messes for our good, his glory, and someone else’s salvation.
How do I know?
I know because of what God did with Jesus’ painful challenges. Jesus is our older brother — the one who has gone before us as our example and pioneer (Hebrews 2:10-18). Jesus endured what he did so that we could be sure that we would never be abandoned in our journey of faith (Romans [8:32]-39). As God’s children, our Father will not waste our suffering and tears, any more than he wasted our old brother Paul’s suffering and tears. Our lives are lived for his purpose, and this gives each of our lives enduring meaning.
Hopefully, we can join the apostle Paul in saying with confidence, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us,” Philippians [3:12]-14.
That is a wrap for today’s meditation. Next week, we will continue our trek on Meditation Monday as we take time to reflect on what is most important in creating our living legacy. On tomorrow’s trek, we will explore another wisdom quote. This 3-minute wisdom supplement will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise each day. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.
If you would like to listen to any of the past 1278 daily treks or read the daily journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player, so each day will be downloaded to you automatically.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly, your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow!