Finding Purpose in Life

Ro 8:6  So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

I'm committed to joining my accountability partner as he walks his son through the foundational study entitled The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. This forty day walk through a Christian perspective on our earthly purpose is not just worth doing, but something that should be internalized by every Christian, especially those facing key decision points in life or those positioned to advise people who are doing so such as our youth.  Between the ages of mid teens to mid twenties, we make at least the top ten decisions in life beginning with our spiritual foundation followed by decisions on higher education, employment, housing, marriage, and so on.  These key life decisions set us on a vector we will live the rest of our lives and thus are not to be made lightly. 
Rick points out in the very first day of the study that we basically have two methods to discover our life's purpose: speculation and revelation.  We can approach those top ten decisions with a cut-and-try method and blame others if things don't go to our liking, or we can turn to the only source of the best information; that is information from God who knows us thoroughly, knows exactly why he created us, and knows the future and how we fit in it.  We know that everything God has ever done fits in his singular eternal purpose which is to reconcile a lost world to Himself.  Therefore we can approach life from a self-centered perspective and make decisions based on our own internal motivational factors such as materialism, need for approval, fear, resentment and anger, and possibly others, but these factors are fleeting and decisions rooted in them are doomed to long-term failure.  We need what I call a strategic understanding and focus to properly understand our purpose.  This strategic understanding can only come from our creator who knew us before He created us, created us for an eternal purpose, knows exactly our past, our own capabilities and limitations, and clearly the only one who knows the future.  Therefore the best decisions are rooted in revelation from our creator who gives our eternal life, including that one here on earth, clear purpose direction and meaning. 
One problem we face as parents is lies by Satan who says we are on a timeline and we fail when we violate it.  Satan says that good parents force children into successful programs be they curriculum, extra curricular, or church, then send them off to a quality college or university, guide them into a lucrative field of study, then cajole them into employment that has high profit potential.  Don't get me wrong, we as parents are tasked with ensuring our children are prepared to fulfill God's purpose, but clearly God doesn't mandate a cookie-cutter approach or he would have put such a checklist in scripture.  God may be calling our kids into a "traditional" pattern of school, activities, and higher education, but the true parenting isn't mindlessly following said pattern, it is teaching our kids how to focus on, hear, and follow God's direction.  Rather than follow worldly examples, we need to learn how to pray with our children and teach them to hear God's still small voice - a skill I have yet to master, but have been blessed by kids who will at least dialogue with me and follow my lead at least to some extent.  I always ask folks before they are about to lead in any aspect of worship "have you been prayed up?  Of course my purpose is to ensure I remember and them too that true worship is a spiritual act and can only be effective if led by the Spirit.  I think I need to ask myself daily, "I've got to be a husband and a Dad today, so how have I prayed myself up in preparation?"