Made with Intention
God made you in His image and gave you a unique purpose and connection with Him.
What if your coach showed up to practice without a plan? What would that say about your coach? Careless. Not focused. Uninterested. The best coaches craft their practice plans with significant intention. There is purpose behind every hard day, recovery time and everything in between. A coach with purpose starts with the goal in mind before any plans are created.
God’s goal for your life is for you to know Him. He knew this before any plans were created. His top desire is to be united with you in a whole and healed relationship. Since we are now aware of the goal, we can begin to see the methods of His intention from the beginning of creation.
God made you in His image. He set you apart from the animals, land and sea to give you a unique purpose and connection with Him.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.’” (Genesis 1:26)
It was His joy to put you on this earth and give you a responsibility to reign over creation with Him.
Not only did God make you like Him, but He created you to show the world a unique part of who He is. He has put you in a specific place with intentional interests and gifts to demonstrate His glory on the earth.
“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” There never has been and there never will be anyone like you. Your passions were not placed in your heart by accident. You were made short, tall, strong or slender on purpose. (Psalm 139:16)
God has formed you and continues to form you into the man or woman that He has called you to be.
There are people and places that only you will have access to because of how God has made you. Whether you feel stuck on the bench in the high school dugout or you are flying across the world to play at the highest level, you were made for such a time as this. In the book of Esther, a girl who was an orphan made her way to the throne of royalty. There were plenty of times that she could have felt confused or hurt by the life she was living, but her family, her appearance and her circumstances were completely orchestrated by God. Her cousin Mordecai reminded her in Esther 4:14 says, “Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” Esther understood her position, used her voice wisely and eventually saved her people from destruction.
When you can grasp the reality of being intentionally created by God, there is a new fire that will emerge in your life. You are not a wanderer stuck in the world; you are a traveler with purpose. You are not stuck on the sidelines; you are a fierce teammate. You are not a careless coach; you are a fearless competitor. Live out how God has made you and make an impact on the team He has placed you on and in the community He has set you in.
Let that fire burn bright so others will see the God who makes us with intention.
-Jolee Paden
Challenge:
Go through FCA’s 31-day
Every YouVersion reading plan with a teammate, family member or as a coaching staff.
