And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28)

Everyone and everything in life has a purpose (Eccl. 3:1). According to Romans 8:28, your purpose constantly calls out to you. You are not an accident in life. Your date of birth, where you were born, conditions into which you were born, your race, the color of your skin, who your parents are, whether they are rich or poor, educated or illiterate; whether you realize it or not, all these things come into play and influence your purpose in life.

US News & World Report has an annual list of "Americas Best Leaders" honoring personalities ranging from business entrepreneurs, to politicians, and directors of nonprofit organizations. These people are selected by an independent committee of judges assembled by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In last year's October 2005 issue, US News profiled 21 leaders that included Bill and Melinda Gates, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice and Steve Jobs. Most of them have had very challenging starts in life. And yet, God used even their failures and defeats for the fulfillment of their purpose.

One of the 21 leaders who made the list was Oprah Winfrey. Oprah had a difficult upbringing. The product of a fling between her mother and a passing serviceman, she was raised by her grandmother on a pig farm with no running water. When she moved to Milwaukee, she was sexually abused repeatedly by family friends and relatives. By the time Oprah was 14 years old, she was a rebellious juvenile delinquent who became pregnant. Her baby boy died one week after delivery.

Oprah left school at 19. Because of her good speaking skills, she landed a job reporting news for a television station in Baltimore. But she kept forgetting her lines at news reporting and often interviewed as if she were a talk-show host, crying with the interviewees on TV. Oprah's station management became very unhappy with her conduct on air. They also felt that she did not look glamorous enough; hair too thick, nose too wide, eyes too far apart. To glamorize her image, the station sent her to a New York salon for hair treatment. It turned out that the treatment failed and Oprah's hair fell out. She became bald. Everything was so disastrous that within a year, her TV station told her that she was unfit for prime time news. They then demoted her to a housewives' daytime talk-show.

Just when her career seemed to be heading south, her daytime talk-show became a hit and there was no turning back for her. By 1985, Oprah's program had become the number one talk-show in the world, and she held on to that spot for the next 20 years. Today, Oprah Winfrey is the first American-African woman billionaire in the world. In a recent interview, Oprah said, "Failure is really God's way of saying, 'Excuse me, you're moving in the wrong direction.'" Just change the track you are walking on!

God wastes nothing in your life. Every disappointment can be a new appointment. Every stumbling block can be a new starting block. Every tombstone can be a new stepping stone. When you are walking in your purpose, even when bad things happen, they will all work together for your good (Rom. 8:28).

God has made everything beautiful in its time; He has also planted eternity in men's hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose, working through the ages which nothing under the sun, but only God, can satisfy] ... (Eccl. 3:11, Amplified).

DISCOVER GOD'S PURPOSE FOR YOU!

It is your responsibility to discover that seed of eternity God has planted in your heart and mind because it represents your destiny and your contribution to human society. You have a responsibility to discover that preordained God-given purpose for your life. And where can we find the purpose of God for our lives? Your purpose is in the mind of God.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you ... thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11).

The more you renew your mind by the Word of God, the more you will discover His purpose for your life. But when and where does God reveal to you His mind? If you know the answer to this, you would be particularly sensitive spiritually when the hand of God is at work, when He is taking you into His purpose.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2).

Romans 12 speaks of transformation. Does transformation take place only when we are at church services on weekends? Or does it take place as we live our daily lives from Monday to Friday out there in the "secular"? We need to know because we want to be on the lookout for God's hand whenever He is more prone to move in our lives. Does transformation take place mostly in exciting, dynamic, spectacular weekend church services? Or does it take place in the mundane, humdrum routine of living life out there in a humanistic, secular world?

One of the maxims of the late Edwin Louis Cole is this: "if you only look for the supernatural in the spectacular, you will miss God—everytime!" As I study the Bible, I have come to realize that Dr. Cole w as right. More often than not, it is in the secular world, outside the four walls of the church, that we discover God's purpose for our lives.

The word "secular" in Latin is also the same word where you get the English word "mundane," which means the ordinary matters relating to this world. God often moves in the mundane. If you are wise and discerning, you will seek the imprints of a supernatural God among the daily natural processes of life.

Let us look at some Bible heroes who found their purpose as they lived life amidst the secular and mundane.

PURPOSE WAS EMBEDDED IN ADAM'S NATURE

When God gave Adam his life, He also gave him a beautiful home to live in. God then gave Adam a job which was "to tend and keep" the Garden (Gen. 2:15). Adam was to manage the Garden and prevent chaos from entering; to bring about order instead of allowing confusion to breed on the earth.

Out of the ground God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air. He then brought them to Adam to see what he would call them (v. 19). By giving Adam a "problem" to solve, God was signaling that He wanted an intelligent relationship with Adam. The Creator of the whole universe didn't want to relate to robots. God wants an intelligent relationship with you and me.

It was not such an easy task naming the animals. Adam had to find them, observe and study them, categorize them into their correct species, and then try to tame them. Very often, Adam found himself physically smaller or weaker than the beasts of the field. His only weapon of protection was his mind. He had to out-think and outsmart them. But the more Adam could name the animals, the more he had authority over them.

After a while, he got a hang of things and realized, "Hey, I am pretty good at this!" From naming the twelve species of cattle, Adam went after more than 10,000 different species of birds. And this time, it was even harder. He had to learn how to soar in the sky with them. Once he had mastered the cattle and the birds, he could now go for "every beast of the field," which bad a staggering total of 2,000,000 species! After that, there were "the fish of the sea."

As Adam applied his talents and creativity into his work, he found his job scope ever expanding and increasing. Adam soon realized that his one-man operation work style couldn't handle his workload. He needed a helper. But it couldn't be just any helper. It had to be someone he could love and live with 24/7. It had to be someone he could start a family with, and together with their children, do even more for the Lord on the earth.

Eventually, what started out as a one- man operation of naming some cattle grew into a vision for a family enterprise. Adam became so good at what he was doing that God gave him a new job description.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth" (Gen. 1:27-28).

Out of being a simple gardener taking care of some flowers and trees, Adam progressed to cattle, birds, beasts and fish. As be faithfully applied himself in his "secular" vocation, he found his purpose in God, which was to increase, multiply and have dominion over the whole planet!

Where did Adam discover his destiny? Not in a prayer chapel. But as he worked in the secular, in the mundane, ordinary, "boring" routine of living in the world that God had created, Adam discovered his calling. Starting out as an entry-level gardener, Adam morphed into being the CEO of the whole world! He was transformed in his mental, emotional and spiritual capacity as he engaged the secular. He found his purpose in life as he applied himself wholeheartedly in his vocation.