Interesting. I got a sense that God saved me many times from becoming wicked, being kidnapped as a child and from being defeated by evil. "Not 'my name', not my son". Can't fathom why other than that He has a purpose for me, but not sure what that is, either.
Probably. If God's intervention is identifiable in your life, then I would say so. I was saved many times from death in a variety of situations that could have gone either way, a lot of them in my teenage years when I was in places I shouldn't have been. God even answered prayers in some of those situations so specifically that there was no way it wasn't Him, and at the time I didn't even know God beyond just believing He was there. A lot of weird cults tried to get me, too, but He never let that happen. They never smelled right anyway. I did find out some of the purpose for my life along the way, and it has much to do with how I'm made, the stuff that was already built into me––personality, talents, etc. It wasn't just one big thing.
I'm pretty sure that moving into purpose depends upon our focus, and there is a lot here to distract us. Free will is a thing. It's one of the things that makes us look like God (in His image), and He never violates that. Maybe start asking about it. Seek God out. You won't be ignored, and you will eventually find the answer. He said that everyone who seeks will find what they're looking for, and that's a blanket promise that depends on no other action than seeking. It works the other way, too––if you keep hunting for bad stuff, you're eventually going to find it, and you'll get mugged because the darkness doesn't care about your free will. In any case, there are no religious hoops to jump through, no holding you mouth just right or being holy enough before you can start. All you have to do is start seeking. Who knows? You might even find out that your purpose for existing is because God really loves you and just enjoys you being here (kind of a given, but it can be a reason.)
I actually think the seeking-finding thing is a mechanism built into creation, and I think it's part of the reason the anons are so successful digging up the truth about things. They want to know, and they never stop seeking. Their persistence brings the reward, but I think this spiritual component contributes a lot to their human effort.
In any case, don't get locked into thinking that your purpose is to do one big thing that you have to be focused on all your life. It might be like that, but it might not be. It might be a lot of things, maybe even things you don't know you're doing to bring good into the world, which could never have happened without you because you're the only one of you.
Sorry for the long reply. I get going sometimes. But I hope it's helpful. I know it helps me to hear other people's perspectives on things.
Interesting. I got a sense that God saved me many times from becoming wicked, being kidnapped as a child and from being defeated by evil. "Not 'my name', not my son". Can't fathom why other than that He has a purpose for me, but not sure what that is, either.
Probably. If God's intervention is identifiable in your life, then I would say so. I was saved many times from death in a variety of situations that could have gone either way, a lot of them in my teenage years when I was in places I shouldn't have been. God even answered prayers in some of those situations so specifically that there was no way it wasn't Him, and at the time I didn't even know God beyond just believing He was there. A lot of weird cults tried to get me, too, but He never let that happen. They never smelled right anyway. I did find out some of the purpose for my life along the way, and it has much to do with how I'm made, the stuff that was already built into me––personality, talents, etc. It wasn't just one big thing.
I'm pretty sure that moving into purpose depends upon our focus, and there is a lot here to distract us. Free will is a thing. It's one of the things that makes us look like God (in His image), and He never violates that. Maybe start asking about it. Seek God out. You won't be ignored, and you will eventually find the answer. He said that everyone who seeks will find what they're looking for, and that's a blanket promise that depends on no other action than seeking. It works the other way, too––if you keep hunting for bad stuff, you're eventually going to find it, and you'll get mugged because the darkness doesn't care about your free will. In any case, there are no religious hoops to jump through, no holding you mouth just right or being holy enough before you can start. All you have to do is start seeking. Who knows? You might even find out that your purpose for existing is because God really loves you and just enjoys you being here (kind of a given, but it can be a reason.)
I actually think the seeking-finding thing is a mechanism built into creation, and I think it's part of the reason the anons are so successful digging up the truth about things. They want to know, and they never stop seeking. Their persistence brings the reward, but I think this spiritual component contributes a lot to their human effort.
In any case, don't get locked into thinking that your purpose is to do one big thing that you have to be focused on all your life. It might be like that, but it might not be. It might be a lot of things, maybe even things you don't know you're doing to bring good into the world, which could never have happened without you because you're the only one of you.
Sorry for the long reply. I get going sometimes. But I hope it's helpful. I know it helps me to hear other people's perspectives on things.
Thank you very much :)
I especially got a lot out of your last paragraph about expectations and accumulation of positive impacts/influence.