Finding Purpose In Meaninglessness

“Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete. If you’re alive, it isn’t.”

—Lauren Bacall

If we are fortunate, in an ironic sort of way, God will bring us to a point of meaninglessness where we have no scaffolding of comfort to rely on but God. This seems especially cruel when we have lived for years innately mission-focused. But many, also, have never found their purpose. Meaninglessness in existence is aberrantly common. Without a shred of masochism we can see there is still much to learn about purpose in meaninglessness.

Part of our purpose is finding our way out of meaninglessness and into meaning.

If we ask God long enough that crucial question—“What is the purpose in this?”—we shall be given our answer. The trouble is we stop and change directions long before the answer inevitably will come.

Finding purpose in meaninglessness must first be about having faith that there is a purpose in all things. There is.

What Sort of God Do We Believe in?

There is only one true God, yet we are given to believe many subtle nuances of difference. If we can answer the above question we have some idea how God may respond for us, personally.

If we believe in a God who is loving, perfectly graceful, merciful and just, we can also believe in a God who has a purpose in all things—even a purpose in seemingly meaningless things. If we believe in that sort of God—so holy as to be irrefutably faithful—we can know that nothing is wasted in the kingdom of God.

If we believe in a God that vindicates the faithful, we know how to think and act. We are hence constantly reframing our thoughts and transforming our ideas into obedient actions.

But this doesn’t always cater for that thing called patience. And we need vision, too.

Faith Enough for Vision and Patience

If we have a sufficiently hopeful vision, we can act in faith even when there is no vision at all. Trudging each day, but praying for revelation of our purpose; that is faith—having faith enough to pray the question over and over and over again.

Just as much we need patience to endure both the panicked and bored minutes. Patience helps us to relax and to get things into perspective. Patience calms our fatigued souls.

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God sometimes brings people to maturity through meaninglessness. Through a void of purpose we are inspired to find the purpose in what seems meaninglessness. And God always proves faithful. There is a purpose in all things; a purpose for us to find. That is our divine invitation.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.