YOU ARE NOT AN ACCIDENT:

IDENTITY BEGINS WITH GOD!

 

Addiction and trauma are formidable challenges that many face today. These struggles often arise from a profound void in our lives—a yearning for something that seems unattainable. At Mystic Breakthrough Church, we believe that this void can only be filled by discovering our true identity in Christ. Understanding who we are in Him is the cornerstone of recovery and transformation.

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The Impact of Trauma and Addiction

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Trauma and addiction can leave us feeling lost and without purpose. These experiences create deep wounds, leading us to seek relief in ways that often cause more harm. Addiction is a rising epidemic, affecting countless lives, families, and children. The chain of addiction must be broken, and it can be through the hope, love, and power of God.

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You Are Not an Accident: Created with Purpose and for Purpose

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“The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder—a waif, a nothing, a no man.” — Thomas Carlyle

Nothing matters more than knowing God’s purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them—not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure. Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty, and pointless.

The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose. Without a clear purpose, you will keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches, or other externals—hoping each change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart. You think, maybe this time it will be different, but it doesn’t solve your real problem—a lack of focus and purpose. Without a clear purpose, you have no foundation on which you base decisions, allocate your time, and use your resources. You will tend to make choices based on circumstances, pressures, and your mood at that moment. People who don’t know their purpose try to do too much—and that causes stress, fatigue, and conflict. People try dubious methods, like astrology or psychics, to discover it. When life has meaning, you can bear almost anything; without it, nothing is bearable. LIFE BEGINS ONCE JESUS BECOMES THE REASON YOU LIVE IT.

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The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point—ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like: What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose. For thousands of years, brilliant philosophers have discussed and speculated about the meaning of life. Philosophy is an important subject and has its uses, but when it comes to determining the purpose of life, even the wisest philosophers are just guessing. Contrary to what many popular books, movies, and seminars tell you, you won’t discover your life’s meaning by looking within yourself. You have probably tried that already. You didn’t create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for!

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This is not a self-help book. It is not about finding the right career, achieving your dreams, or planning your life. It is not about how to cram more activities into an overloaded schedule. It is about becoming what God created you to be. God is not just the starting point of your life; He is the source of it. To discover your purpose in life, you must turn to God’s Word, not the world’s wisdom. You must build your life on eternal truths, not pop psychology, success-motivation, or inspirational stories. You must make a counter-culture decision to focus on becoming more like Jesus. Otherwise, other forces like peers, parents, coworkers, and culture will try to mold you into their image.

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The Purpose of Suffering

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“Pain is God’s megaphone.” — C. S. Lewis

Your most profound and intimate experiences of worship will likely be in your darkest days—when your heart is broken, when you feel abandoned, when you’re out of options, when the pain is great—and you turn to God alone. It is during suffering that we learn to pray our most authentic, heartfelt, honest-to-God prayers. When we’re in pain, we don’t have the energy for superficial prayers.

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It All Starts with God

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Many people try to use God for their own success. You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for His purpose, not you trying to use Him for your own purpose. — Colossians 1:16

For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. The search for the purpose of life has puzzled many people because we begin at the wrong starting point—ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like: What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment. Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose. Many books suggest ways to discover the purpose of life. All of them could be classified as “self-help” books because they approach the subject from a self-centered viewpoint. Consider your dreams. Clarify your values. Set some goals. Figure out what you are good at. Aim high. Go for it! Be disciplined. Believe you can achieve your goals. Involve others. Never give up. Of course, these recommendations often lead to great success. But being successful and fulfilling your life’s purpose are not at all the same issue! You could reach all your personal goals, becoming a raving success by the world’s standard, and still miss the purpose for which God created you. You need more than self-help advice. The Bible says: “Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.” — Luke 9:24

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If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You didn’t create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for! If I handed you an invention you had never seen before, you wouldn’t know its purpose, and the invention itself wouldn’t be able to tell you either. Only the creator or the owner’s manual could reveal its purpose. The easiest way to discover the purpose of an invention is to ask the creator of it. The same is true for discovering your life’s purpose: Ask God. God has not left us in the dark to wonder and guess. He has clearly revealed His purposes for our lives through the Bible. It is our Owner’s Manual, explaining why we are alive, how life works, what to avoid, and what to expect in the future. “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for, long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone.” — Ephesians 1:11

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1. You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

2. God was thinking of you long before you ever thought about Him. His purpose for your life was planned before you were born, it was planned without your input! You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies, and many other parts of your life, but you don’t get to choose your purpose. It’s not about me.

 

“Everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.” — Colossians 1:16

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You Are Not an Accident!

 

“God’s ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ. Becoming like Christ does not mean losing your personality or becoming a mindless clone. God created your uniqueness, so He certainly doesn’t want to destroy it. Christlikeness is all about transforming your character, not your personality.”

 

“God is far more interested in WHO you are than in what you do. We are human beings, not human doings. God is much more concerned about your character than your career because you will take your character into eternity, but not your career.”

 

You exist for God’s purposes, not vice versa. Why would God provide heaven on earth when He’s planned the real thing for you in eternity? God gives us our time on earth to build and strengthen our character for heaven. We must ‘put on’ the character of Christ by developing new, godly habits. Your character is essentially the sum of your habits; it is how you habitually act. Your commitments can develop you or they can destroy you, but either way, they will define you. Tell me what you are committed to, and I’ll tell you what you will be in twenty years. We become whatever we are committed to. Every problem is a character-building opportunity, and the more difficult it is, the greater the potential for building spiritual muscle and moral fiber. What happens outwardly in your life is not as important as what happens inside you. Your circumstances are temporary, but your character will last forever.

 

This next sentence is one of the most important spiritual truths you will ever learn: God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you’re tempted to express the exact opposite quality! Character development always involves a choice, and temptation provides that opportunity.

 

We must change the way we think. “Let the Spirit change your way of thinking.” The Bible says we are ‘transformed’ by the renewing of our minds. The Greek word for transformed, metamorphosis (used in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18), is used today to describe the amazing change a caterpillar goes through in becoming a butterfly. It is a beautiful picture of what happens to us spiritually when we allow God to direct our thoughts: We are changed from the inside out, we become more beautiful, and we are set free to soar to new heights. Becoming like Christ is a long, slow process of growth. Spiritual maturity is neither instant nor automatic; it is a gradual, progressive development that will take the rest of your life.

 

You are a work in progress.

 

Your spiritual transformation in developing the character of Jesus will take the rest of your life, and even then it won’t be completed here on earth. It will only be finished when you get to heaven or when Jesus returns. Your heavenly Father’s goal is for you to mature and develop the characteristics of Jesus Christ. Embrace your identity and walk in the power and purpose God has designed for you.