Episode 56: Find God's Purpose In Your Projects

You know I love a good project and a good plan. But sometimes, we get caught up in checking off the tasks and lose sight of what God is trying to do. In Episode 56 of Just One Simple Thing, we’ll learn to find God’s purpose in our plans.

Welcome, friends! I’m so glad to have you hanging out with me today as we talk about two of my favorite things … projects and plans.

In his book, Getting Things Done, David Allen defines a project as anything that takes more than one action to complete. So almost EVERYTHING is a project! Which makes my project manager heart so happy.

Over the next few episodes, we’ll talk about some tips and tools you can use to complete your projects. But before we do, let’s talk about why it’s so important to complete our projects well. Friend, God has a profound purpose for your very practical projects.

Sometimes, he shows you that purpose before your start. Sometimes, you discover it along the way. And other times, you don’t really understand what he is up to until long after the project is complete.

Let me give you some examples. God gave Noah a big project … build an ark and repopulate the earth.

God said to Noah, “I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.” Genesis 6:18. For Noah, it was all about saving his family.

Nehemiah thought God was sending him to rebuild a wall.

But when he got there, Nehemiah found not only a broken wall, but a broken people.

So as Nehemiah was leading them to rebuild the wall, he was also leading them to rebuild their confidence and their identity as God’s chosen people. And being the great leader that he was, Nehemiah was able to steward both parts of his projects well.

Joseph had a big project … save Egypt from a famine.

It says in Gen. 41 that he stored up so much grain, he stopped even trying to keep up with how much he had. Not only did he have enough grain to save Egypt from the famine, but he had enough for the surrounding countries as well.

But God had a more profound purpose for Joseph’s practical project. God used it to reunite Joseph with his fractured family, and heal years of hurt and guilt.

What if Joseph had only completed his project halfway?

His brothers would not have come to Egypt to get grain, and they may never have reunited.

Because Joseph executed his practical project well, God was able to complete his profound purpose.

So as we get wrapped up in our projects, checking the boxes and closing out the Trello boards, let’s keep our hearts and minds open to God’s profound purpose. Even the smallest, most mundane two-step projects can be used in ways we can’t imagine. So let’s do them well.

ACTION STEP:

Look at the projects you have on your plate. Can you see God’s profound purpose in them? Watch for the Lord to start revealing more about His purpose as you cross things off the list. Be sure to join me in the next episode when I’ll share some tips for breaking your projects down into small steps so you can make a plan to get them done. You’ll learn the process and the tools I use for all of my projects. So if you haven’t already, follow the podcast wherever you listen, so you don’t miss a thing.

RESOURCES:

Learn more about Noah and his ark project in this blog post: Find Your Next Right Step to Build Your Ark.

Book Recommendation: Loyal Judas: “What If …” Biblical Fiction by Lila Diller.