By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

During my recent vacation, I stumbled upon Escape! games. I’m not talking about the recent fad where groups of people find enjoyment being “locked” in a room and must solve a variety of puzzles in order to unlock the door and escape. I’m talking about Escape! board games.

It looks like a deck of cards. Players begin with the top few cards and are presented with the challenge of uncovering hidden clues, translating codes, and combining items in order to escape the room.

It may sound boring, but my family and I poured over these cards like we were Nicholas Cage in National Treasure. It was exciting to find what was concealed and invigorating to expose another piece of the puzzle. The lightbulb, aha!, moments happened consistently as each of us would see something the others didn’t.

These feelings were addicting and we played late into the night. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun.

You know what’s not fun? Losing your keys.

Have you ever noticed that you never lose your keys whenever you’re ahead of schedule? You always lose your keys when you’re running late to an important meeting or you’re supposed to have lunch with someone across town.

You first begin by looking in all the obvious places–on the kitchen counter, night table, out in your car, but then you get desperate. “Honey, do you know where my wallet is!?”

No luck.

Couch cushions are overturned. Laundry is scoured. Beds are checked under.

No one likes searching for something they can’t seem to find.
Both the excitement of the Escape! game and the frustration searching for your keys can both accurately illustrate how we seek out our purpose.

As humans, we need and crave for a purpose. It’s what gives us energy and gives us hope. It’s like a compass that points our life in the right direction.
But, all too often, we attempt to find our purpose on our own. And, like a search for lost keys, it can be aggravating, exhausting, and hopeless. Our lives become filled with anxiety and failure as we constantly are on the lookout for something to drive us, something to get excited about, some kind of purpose, and yet we always come up short. Looking for your purpose like you do your keys puts the responsibility in your lap.
It’s impossible to choose or find your own purpose.

Instead, we believe that your purpose is dispensed upon you by the One who knows more about you then you know yourself. He knows your gifts and your talents. He knows how far you can grow and stretch. He knows what you get excited about and what passions you’ve yet to discover.
So, when we seek out our purpose, not on our own, but from God, it’s a lot less like pointlessly searching for your keys and more like the joyful excitement of playing an Escape! game.

The more we seek God, the more He reveals His purpose to us. And like slowly uncovering a magnificent puzzle, our purpose slowly and splendidly unfold before our eyes.

Life becomes a great mystery and a wild adventure as we run after God and find love, grace, and a life-altering purpose.