MOVING FROM PRIVILEGE TO PURPOSE

No victory comes without a fight, writes Ladi Ayodeji

Few authors are as passionate about their work as Michael Nwimoh, who is also a gospel minister, conference speaker and counselor. This passion reflects in his writings and the conviction that drives his vision.

Moving from Privilege To Purpose (Living Out Your God – Ordained Purpose) is one of his two books I have read out of about ten he has published. And he deals with the subject of purpose in a thorough, down-to-earth manner, which clearly satisfies the reader who is patient to read all eleven chapters of this book with the attention it deserves.

Let me warn that, like virtually all inspirational books written by Pastors, the readers of this book should have a basic knowledge of the Bible to fully appreciate it. Don’t be disappointed because the author is dealing with the subject from a Biblical perspective.

The book is subtitled-Living Out Your GodOrdained Purpose. Therefore, Nwimoh wants us to see God as the author of real purpose. However, we can’t deny him the right to take us through scripture to advance his argument. From chapter one, he quotes, the famous words of the Bible the ultimate book of wisdom, Proverbs: “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails-Prov 19-21.

The author, drawing from his Christian religious experience, writes that God’s methods are different. He declares that God finishes a plan before bringing it to existence, and he foreknows the end of all things from the beginning. This is the reason every object, material or otherwise, serves a unique purpose on earth. Therefore, everyman’s destiny derives from God’s pre-ordained purpose for that individual.

Since we are God’s creations, men were made to point men to God through godly living. In other words, according to the author, whose pastoral gift is at work here: Your purpose on earth is to win lost souls for God. To support this position, Pastor Nwimoh says, “God created light to solve the problem of darkness. God is the light of the entire universe and his children are the light of the world. All God’s children are here to win over the dark-world from Satan to God.

However, the author chose to give us a broad definition in chapter 3. Again, he writes, “Purpose, from the Biblical perspective means to will, wish, resolve or determine. Taking it further, it means the very aim or desire that drives a person; the motive and reason for an action; or what a person resolves to achieve before stepping out.

“Purpose sets goals for your life”. A purposeless life is like football players playing without a goal post. With no aim to score, the game becomes boring. “This is typical of a life without purpose;” he asserts.

One of the things purpose does, according to the author is that it brings out the best in you. Your best is measured by what God gave you to achieve; not the expectations of men. When we follow the dictates of men, we could lose focus, he warns. Any counsel that takes you out of the Divine will for life is dangerous.

Here’s a powerful nugget from Nwimoh on discovery of purpose in the opening paragraph of chapter 4: “What you hear is information, but what you see is a discovery…when it comes to purpose, there’s no substitute to discovery because until you discover you cannot recover or fulfill it”. He goes on to show that the three components of the discovery of purpose are-vision, mission and passion. He says vision is like a dream through which insight is given to man. Vision is foresight, the ability to see far ahead of time, into the plans and purpose of God.

Apart from vision, you can discover your purpose if you use your divine endowment to serve your generation according to the will of God. Passion is an avenue through which you could discover your purpose. Passion is the fire that burns inside you. Passion moves you to act on something that others ignore. If, for instance, you can’t stand suffering, you may be called to a Help ministry; fighting for justice; or a liberation movement of sorts. This motivation is a pointer to your divine purpose in life.

Chapter 5 addresses people who are easily swayed by every kind of fads or trends, without commitment to any definite goals of their own. The author gives us four marks of a definite purpose. The assignment God gives you will be bigger than you and your natural capacity to achieve, and your purpose should outlive you. This purpose should fit into the larger purpose of God’s kingdom. It would not require a

family history, but merely a step of faith to actualize. Every real purpose must satisfy these four criteria.

In the pursuit of your purpose, Nwimoh’s nugget is helpful: “Under pressure, some people breakdown while others break record. Under pressure, something must break, either you, or an existing record, what is not already in you. Pressure only reveals what is already in you”. That’s on point.

Now, to the heart of the matter. It is in the very last chapter No II that the author finally deals with the main theme of this book: Moving From Privilege To Purpose. This chapter is the meat of this book. Nwimoh says here that to move from privilege to purpose, you’d go through tests and trials. However, he adds, “You must learn to find purpose in pains, otherwise you will forfeit the intended lesson and may need to go through the process again.”

To terminate this cycle, he says, “Everything you go through in life contains two lessons: God’s mercy to see you through it, and a lesson to learn from it. If God’s mercy is not with you, you will get consumed by the circumstances of life. And if you fail to learn the lesson, you would have to go through it again, because in the school of the Holy spirit there is no promotion. If you fail, you repeat the process.”

Again, we learn a valuable truth: “Tribulation is the last stage in divine repositioning. There are three sets of people in the world today: those who are going through a test; those who are coming out of a test, and finally those who are about to enter a test.”

One major example of a man who moved from privilege to purpose is Joseph, the dreamer. Loved by this father who gave him a coat of many colours, Joseph’s envious brothers tried to kill him by throwing him into a pit. Egyptian travellers saw him and took him to Egypt where he ended up as a servant in Potiphar’s home. Despite resisting the adulterous advances of Potiphar’s wife, Joseph, nevertheless, got thrown into jail, from where his gift of interpreting dreams paved the way for him to get Pharaoh’s attention.