Change of Purpose

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen Romans 11:33-36

Have you ever had something you thought was for one thing and ended up being for something else? Some of the most ordinary, successful products became valuable because customers used them differently from the inventor’s intention.

Tea drinking and the British go hand in hand; they are inseparable. The arrival of tea in Britain in the 17^th century altered the nation’s drinking habits. To make a perfect cup of tea, place the tea leaves in a teapot and steep for 3 minutes. Add a hot scone for the perfect teatime!

You can imagine the mess of cleaning out the pot until an accidental American invention in 1908. Thomas Sullivan, a New York tea merchant, started sending samples in small silken bags. Sullivan intended that people open the bags and pour their contents into a pot. Customers started dropping the little bags into the pot, and thus, by accident, the tea bag was born. (UK Tea & Infusions Association)

Developers Hurley, Chen, and Karim had the idea for an online dating service with the slogan “Tune In, Hook Up,” and launched it on Feb 14, 2005, but it flopped as originally intended.  However, they quickly realized the value of the video-upload platform, which transformed YouTube into a place for users to upload, view, and stream videos. That failed dating platform is now worth as much as $550 billion.

Inventors Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes were trying to create textured wallpaper. They ran two pieces of plastic shower curtain through a heat-sealing machine in 1957, resulting in a sheet of film with trapped air bubbles. Unfortunately, they failed in the interior decorating business, but what they did changed the world of packing and shipping forever with the introduction of Bubble Wrap.

God is masterful at taking how one thinks something should be and turning it into a treasure that far exceeds what was intended. God used a godless king to provide a way of salvation for his people. Cyrus was a political and military genius, bringing together the Medes and the Persians into a unified nation. One of the greatest changes he introduced was a genuinely fresh idea onto the world stage: tolerance. God said of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please.” (Isaiah 44:28).

God takes the improbable and redefines it for His purpose. God takes what is hidden and reveals it for His glory. God takes what can’t be explained and reshapes the whole story. “I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.” (Is. 45:3) God is at work in the darkness where we can’t always see.

God often uses one person’s concern to ignite a spark. This is the story of Professor Robert George of Princeton University in 2023. “I happened to read a report in the Wall Street Journal. It included polling data showing that the belief of Americans in certain core values—values that had traditionally been sources of unity and strength for Americans—had very considerably diminished over the past decade or decade and a half. I’m talking about values such as religion, family, and patriotism.”

According to the polling data, the only value that had increased in importance was money. Can one person make a difference? Professor George didn’t know, but he decided to do something bigger than himself. He announced on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, “By the authority vested in me by absolutely no one, I have declared June to be Fidelity Month—dedicated to the importance of fidelity to God, spouses and families, and our country and communities.” (fidelitymonth.com website)

Fidelity is defined as “Faithfulness to obligations, duties, or observances; loyalty… Fidelity involves the unfailing fulfillment of one’s duties and obligations and the keeping of one’s word or vows.” (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)

Time will tell whether this one man’s concern and determination will become a movement. It has grown across the nation since launching, with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Michigan’s House of Representatives all proclaiming June as “Fidelity Month.” Gov. Sanders told the Daily Wire in an interview after the Fidelity Month declaration, “The resolution highlights the state’s goal of creating a healthy society by sowing faithfulness to ‘God, family, community, and country.’”

Jesus taught his followers what the kingdom of heaven really looked like. Given their choice, their nation would have been a superpower. Jesus took an opposite approach, teaching parables about the kingdom of heaven as God intended. (Matthew 13). Though the consumer market has many successful products used differently from how the developer first envisioned, Jesus made sure his kingdom would be used correctly. “A disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” (Matthew 13:52b)

“Dear brothers and sisters, I pray God may open your eyes and let you see what hidden treasures he bestows on us in the trials from which the world thinks only to flee. Shame turns into honor when we seek God’s glory. Present affliction becomes the source of heavenly glory. To those who suffer wounds in fighting his battles, God opens his arms in loving, tender fellowship, which is more delightful by far than anything our earthly efforts might produce.” (St. John of Avila, 1499-1569)

“May God give you treasures hidden in the darkness.”

God is great!

A weekly devotional post to offer encouragement, hope, and purpose found in Jesus!