If this year, this month, this week, or today were your last, what would change?
Du lebst nur einmal
Time is running inexorably. Whether this makes you anxious or happy depends on the situation in which you find yourself at the moment. Winston Churchill once said:
„If you´re going through hell, keep going.“
n dark times we wish that time would come to an end. But then there is the time that is more precious than gold. Time with friends, time with role models, time with heros. Time with family.
I remember an incident in the spring of 2021. At that time, I was a missionary doctor in one of the largest missionary hospitals in Peru. The Covid 19 pandemic was raging in the mountains. Across the country, tens of thousands of people were struggling to survive. Many were dying. I stood one morning in front of the bed of a family man. Until recently, he had been standing in the midst of his life. Married, two teenage daughters. His condition had deteriorated extremely. 80% of his lungs were destroyed by the inflammation. He was in the process of suffocating. My experience over the last few months told me he would not survive. With oxygen pressure mask in front of his face, we gave him another twenty minutes. He said goodbye to his family via WhatsApp call. After that, we intubated him. He never woke up again.
They were his last twenty minutes. They were the last words he could say to his wife and children. How precious were those minutes?
If this year, this month, this week or today were your last, what would change? Your time is also running out. If you have the finiteness of your life in mind, you will assign a different value to your lifetime. Your vocation is God's dream for your life. It is His mission for you. You have a mission that only you can fulfill. And you have only a short moment in the timeline of world history. You have only the now.
"I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you Lord Jesus." Jim Elliot
On the search
In the course of their lives, most people embark on a search for the meaning and purpose of their existence. Especially times of pain, separation, illness, a stroke of fate or even moments of change, such as graduation, welcome these questions.
Asking yourself the right questions early in life releases incredible potential. The question of your "why" is ultimately the question of your very personal mission. The right answer can change your whole way of thinking and acting. Finding that answer means understanding more about why God wants you in this world. The sooner you get clarity about this, the more life decisions it will influence. Career choices, spouse selection, investments or family planning will now appear in a new light. You have a vision that you are pursuing. And you're at least partially clear about what your mission is. Both will be a template for your life choices.
Everyone has a mission
The Bible is full of people who have experienced dramatic moments of faith. Everyone knows their stories. Paul, Jonah, the twelve disciples, Moses or Abraham. But what were the vocation experiences of Priska, Lazarus, Luke, Simon of Cyrene or Timothy? A closer look quickly reveals that most of the biblical characters had a unique story. Priska was one of the first Christian missionaries with her husband. Luke was a physician, wrote a Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Simon of Cyrene worked in the fields. Except for one day in his life. When he carried Jesus' cross up a mountain. And Timothy? He was a co-worker of Paul and was somehow also a man between cultures and religions. His father was Greek, his mother Jewish, he a christian.
An infinite number of stories of this kind can be found in the Bible. They all have one thing in common: You somehow don't read anything about a dramatic divine calling. Nevertheless, each of them lives their very own mission. As if out of nowhere, they appear on the scene. For their time, for their moment in world history. They leave behind their own narrative. And in the process change the history of the world.
All these show that the one who is called is the one who heeds to the call. As a follower of Jesus, you are called to be different. You are called to a holy life. You are called to love your neighbor and to make peace. You are called to a mission. And you are also called to accept the disadvantages or suffering that following Him can bring. In short: You are called to follow His footsteps. The fact that you are alive is no coincidence. It is God's "yes" to you.
Do you ask yourself the question about the meaning of your life?
Your Why
If so, it is a sign that you have matured. A small child does not ask himself this question. His world is manageable and simple. As your world becomes more complex and unmanageable, new questions arise. One of them is the question of meaning. You want to understand where your place is in the big picture. The world is no longer as simple as it used to be. This is exactly the right moment to clarify the question of "Why?". Maybe you already have a small premonition or a feeling of what your mission could be. Maybe you know a common thread up to here in your life. Your mission, which you may have been unconsciously pursuing for quite some time.
A first impression
Before you get started with the next chapters, I have a few questions for you. Please take a few moments to answer them. Don't think too long. Write down what comes to your mind. If you have to think for a long time, skip the question and move on to the next one.
1. What can you do really well?
2. Why do you get up in the morning?
3. What drives you?
4. What would be possible if you were fearless?
5. Where would you live if money were not an issue?
6. And what would you do, if you had enough money?
7. Would you work? If yes, what would you do?
8. Who do you want to spend your life with?
9. And where would you like to spend it?
10. For which conviction do you also accept disadvantages?
11. What life decision do you regret?
12. What missed opportunities do you regret?
13. What would you do if you didn't care what others thought?
14. What is your long-term goal?
15. What is your current goal?
16. If your life is the way there, where are you right now?
17. What gives you support and strength on the way?
18. Who supports you when you get weak?
19. What unnecessary baggage are you carrying around?
20. What scenes do you really want to see in your life movie?
Now complete the following sentences!
- My life is…
- the point of my life is that…
- The most important thing in my life is…
- I live because…
This book challenges you to tackle the important questions of life. My goal is for you to get an idea of what your personal mission is. Maybe at the end you will summarize everything in one sentence. But maybe there will be several "whys." When I was a teenager, I worked on construction sites at vacation jobs. Back then, I had a different "why" than I do today. To be honest, I didn't have any idea of my bigger "why" back then.
"Why." Today, I am quite a bit further along and have more clarity. Nevertheless, I know that there is still a lot to come, of which I have no idea yet. Your mission will always be a journey. To God, to you and to your destiny. So set out and find your mission.
The next chapter is about what can stop you.