What on Earth Am I Here For?
For the last 4-5 years of my wife’s life, Gloria and I watched a lot of western movies on TV. She had pancreatic cancer, so we could not travel much, and due to her restrictive diet, we could not eat out in restaurants very often. Therefore, our evenings we spent mostly at home playing games, reading books, or watching westerns. She and I enjoyed the old westerns. She enjoyed the westerns for the horses, but I enjoyed them for the great actors.
So many of the great westerns starred the greats, such as John Wayne, Audie Murphy, Randolph Scott, Jimmy Stuart, Clint Eastwood, and many others. They all became household names. And yet, those old movies were filled with countless others, many of whom you have never heard, such as William Scott Elam. Many of you probably don’t recognize that name, even though William appeared in 73 different movies and had a supporting role in at least 41 different television series. However, you might recall the six-foot-tall actor with a gruff voice with his strange, unmoving left eye. He was not the most handsome dude, but he made a great villain in a lot of productions. “Jack” Elam spent most of his career as a supporting actor, and while you might not have known his name, his role was vital to the story.
The Bible is filled with many who have had supporting roles. Their “role” was vital to God’s story. God used these people of supporting roles in the performing of miracles, and yet, we will never know their names. In the Old Testament, we know the story of Naaman the leper. “Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria was a great man with his master and honorable because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: He was also a mighty man of valor. But he was a leper” (2 Kings 5:1). The Syrian army had captured a young girl from Israel who had become a servant girl to Naaman’s wife. She told her mistress about Elisha the prophet of God who lived in Samaria whom God could use to heal Naaman of his leprosy. Naaman listened to the Israelite maid, and through Elijah, God cured him. There have been many sermons with the title, “Naaman the Leper,” but I have never come across one with the title, “The Little Maid.” We don’t even know her name, but her role was just as important as Naaman’s for God to perform this miracle to reveal that He alone is God.
Most of us are familiar with the story in the New Testament where Jesus Christ was able to feed five thousand men with only five loaves of bread and two fish. If you think about it, when you include the women and children, there could have been up to 20,000 people there. We recognize the names of the twelve apostles who distributed the food and collected the leftovers, but we don’t know name of the young lad who offered his lunch to Jesus. This boy was just as important as the apostles for this miracle to be performed which revealed that Jesus is the all-powerful God.
Whenever the pandemic started, there were some who had to work from home and some who needed to show up at the plants to get the product out. Sales still had to be made, accounting had to be completed, and the orders had to be filled by the production lines. There are so many team members doing incredible work, some that you and I may never get a chance to meet, who make Simmons so great. But one thing is for sure, every team member is as important as another to enable Simmons Foods to be the company it strives to be. The point I am trying to make, is that you and your role matter to the Simmons story.
But even more important as you role role as part of the Simmons family, your life has intrinsic value. Your life has purpose. The title of this blog was borrowed from Rick Warren’s most popular book, The Purpose Driven Life. Today, you can find the book which is now titled with what once was the subtitle: What On Earth Am I Here For? According to Warren, “This book will help you to understand God’s purpose for creating you, will reduce your stress, enable you to focus your energy, simplify your decisions, give meaning and purpose to your life, and most important, prepare you for eternity.” As a chaplain, I have given out over 300 copies of that book, because I think it is incredibly important for people to know that while many may not know your name, you are important…you matter!
Every person matters for two reasons: God created you and He wants a relationship with you. The Bible says that God created humans in his image (Genesis 1:27). That means that every single person who has ever lived was created in the image of God. Everyone! All are bearers of the image of God. You are an image bearer. And not only that, God created you in his image so that He can have a relationship with you (Exodus 6:7). However, while it is true that we are all image bearers of the Most High God, every single one of us are also stained with sin. The Bible proclaims what we all already know to be true: All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But, here is the good news: because you matter, and you have a role in God’s story, He has made a way for you to be in relationship with him. You may have learned this verse or even memorized it as a child: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Everybody is somebody who God loves, and everybody is somebody who Jesus Christ died for. We are all important and have meaning and purpose in the eyes of God. You are a part of God’s story.
What on earth am I here for? To fulfill the purpose of God.
“Trusting God completely means having faith that He knows what is best for your life. You expect Him to keep His promises, help you with problems, and do the impossible when necessary...You weren’t put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity.”