Author and podcaster Cathy Heller famously said, “The opposite of depression is not happiness, it’s purpose.” I tend to agree with her, and so would another guy you may have heard of, Michael Phelps. He’s the most decorated Olympian of all time: 28 medals, and 23 of those are gold! All of that success in the pool earned him a great deal of fame and fortune. His net worth is an estimated $100 million. Yet, with all that going for him, Phelps found himself in a deep depression following the 2012 Olympics in London. He decided to retire from competitive swimming and was confronted with the question, “Who am I outside of the pool?” This question haunted him and took him down a dark path. Alcohol seemed to numb the pain of uncertainty for a moment, but in the end, it would simply accelerate his downward spiral. Thoughts of suicide and isolation intensified. An embarrassing DUI was the final straw. Michael needed help. Family and friends persuaded the Olympian to enter a rehab facility. A longtime friend and NFL Hall of Famer, Ray Lewis, decided to pay Phelps a visit. It was a visit that would literally save Phelps’ life. Lewis, an overt Christian, gave him a copy of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life. Phelps devoured the book. Each page was like oxygen, breathing new life back into his soul. Phelps would tell ESPN, “It’s turned me into believing there is a power greater than myself…and there is a purpose for me on this planet.”
Michael found his way back to God and back to the pool! Coming out of retirement, he would go on to capture five gold medals and a silver at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Phelps rediscovered his purpose, and so can you!
In John chapter 20, the resurrected Christ appears to His bewildered disciples and says: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21–22)
“He breathed on them.” This is John’s way of pointing us all the way back to creation in Genesis, where God breathed into man the breath of life. Jesus, in dying on the cross for our sins, makes it possible for us to get the Breath of God back—the Holy Spirit! And with the Holy Spirit, we regain the power to image God. Our ability to form and fill the earth is restored. We get our purpose back.
No one can reflect God’s image quite like you. You are unique. The 23 chromosomes from your dad and 23 chromosomes from your mom make up the distinct 46 chromosomes of your DNA. It’s what makes you, you. The chances of you being you are roughly 1 in 100 trillion! You are truly one of a kind, and as such, you reflect the image of God in a unique way. The Apostle Paul would say it this way: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
The word “workmanship” is the Greek word poiēma; it’s where we get the word for poem or poetry. You are God’s poetry. His work of art. And He’s created you to do “good works,” or, in other words, for a purpose. David the psalmist will say it a bit more elegantly in Psalm 139: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:13–16)
“Knit together in your mother’s womb.” “Fearfully and wonderfully made.” You are a unique you, designed by God to play your part in God’s story. You were created for a purpose. Not only were you uniquely designed, but you’ve been uniquely placed by God for that purpose: “And HE (God) made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:26–27)
In other words, God determines where you live and when you live so that people might, in some way, experience God through you. God is not far from anyone because YOU are there! Pastor Matt Chandler says it this way: “You’ve been made for the day, and the day was made for you.” I love that! For the Christian, everywhere you go and everything you do is dripping with significance and purpose. The Spirit of God in you, to reflect the image of God through you, for the glory of God and the good of the people around you. I know that’s a mouthful. The Apostle Paul will say it more succinctly: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)
The word “whatever” in the original Greek means WHATEVER! Whatever you do—raising a family, working a job, going to school, playing a sport—whatever you do, do it in a way that glorifies God and blesses people. Suddenly, everything you do becomes significant and has meaning. There is no such thing as a meaningless task because you are doing it for the glory of God and the good of others. In fact, Paul says there is a way to drink coffee that glorifies God: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)