41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.

So now we come to the last. We have identified purpose in four men’s lives. Now we can talk about God’s purpose.

Ephesians 1:9, 3:11 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

So often we look for our purpose in life and we forget that it is God who gives life purpose and those purposes are found in Him and in Christ. The issue is here in verse 41 in that these men having found their purpose, having achieved their purpose, were a part of the much larger picture. The confirming of the church, the bride of Christ, that we would grow up to be a worthy help meet for our Lord and Savior, our bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

We need to find purpose. We need to identify how God worked in others to fulfill His purpose and in that we might, just might, find an example of how God is working in us to do the same. It is all a recognition of pattern. God does not change. His purpose is One. His will is One. Nothing He will do in us will be anything different than that which He has already done in those who came before us.

There are set before us many fine examples of men and women of God who have found their purpose. We should never think of ourselves as so special and different that God is doing something different in us. Being special and different is disorderly and misguided. Those are the lies of the enemy who wants to enslave us to his special kind of hell.

Look for godly examples of godly people to find your purpose in Christ.