The notion of purpose is not a scientific term. Science can only observe, describe, and draw conclusions. It cannot import from theology (or metaphysics) a belief in a divine ordainer of purpose. But neither can it deny its possibility. There is no reason why the evolutionary process could not be compatible with the achievement of purpose on the part of God. Theists are free to insist that their belief "provides an equally rational and plausible explanation which may ultimately prove to be the best explanation." (McGrath, op.cit., 196)

St. Paul consistently refers to God's purpose in creation and salvation. "This is indeed the great theme of the whole of the Bible. The Bible is a collection of books, but it has only one great theme; and this theme concerning God's purpose runs through it from beginning to end. The Bible declares that purpose and shows its unfolding in history. I make bold to assert that a person cannot really understand the Bible and its teaching unless he understands something about this teaching concerning God's purpose. It is implicit in the whole teaching of the Bible and if we fail to see this unifying principle in it - in the plain teaching, in the history, in everything - then we have a wrong or very inadequate view of the teaching of the Bible. So here we are dealing with something that is basic, not only to the understanding of salvation, but even to an understanding of the Bible itself as the Word of God." (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, 207)

Life is not the random mess which it may sometimes appear. God, in all things, is working toward our supreme good. The story of Joseph is an example of this. His brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt but he rose to be prime minister to Pharoah. When his brothers came looking for food in the midst of a famine he said to them, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good....the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20) Jeremiah wrote in God's name a letter to the Jews in Babylonian exile after the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem: "I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

How deeply do you believe that you have been called according to God's purpose? As you look back on your life, do you see any rhyme or reason, any plan or purpose in it? The person who sees his life in terms of a divine destiny, the fulfillment of a calling, a spiritual vocation, experiences confidence in the present and in the future. Some fourteen years ago I wrote a memoir of my life entitled Divine Destiny: Discovering Meaning and Purpose in Life. I wrote it to help people who have a struggle making sense of their lives. Many feel that there is no value and purpose to their lives. I used incidents in my life to illustrate the thesis that there is a pattern to life. My life would be incomprehensible if there weren't. How could my wanderings from New Zealand to England, to Massachusetts, Florida, Texas and then back to Florida make any sense at all except by the Providence of God?

Is there any sense, any reason, for the twists and turns of life? Is it all a matter of aimless choices, that result in labyrinthine confusion? How do we know if there is meaning and purpose to life? William Cullen Bryant's famous poem, TO A WATERFOWL sheds some light on the question.

There is a power whose care
Teaches thy way along that
pathless coast, -
The desert and illimitable air, -
Lone wandering, but not lost.

All day thy wings have fanned,
At that far height, the cold, thin
atmosphere,

Yet stoop not, weary, to the

welcome land,

Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end;
Soon shalt thou find a summer
home, and rest,
And scream among thy fellows;
reeds shall bend,
Soon, o'er thy sheltered nest.

Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven
Hath swallowed up thy form; yet,
on my heart
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou
hast given,
And shall not soon depart.

He who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky
thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread
alone,
Will lead my steps aright.

The waterfowl seems lost, but there is a Power whose care teaches his way along the pathless coast. We may seem "lone wandering", but we are not lost. The lesson of the waterfowl is that

"He who from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone
Will lead my steps aright."

There is built into migratory birds an autopilot that guides them to where they should go. No doubt there are choices to be made, weather to adjust to, food to find, but the course is set. Each bird has a different guidance system, directing it to a unique destination, but it is not alone. There is a Power who cares to the extent that not a sparrow falls to the ground without his notice. The structure of Nature, the way physics and biology works, is the means through which God's purposes are fulfilled. There is no incompatibility between God and the Nature, the Bible and Science.

What is so for the birds of the air, is also true for us? "Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matt.6:26) What if God has built into us a guidance system that directs us along life's journey? Can we look back and discern where he has led us? If so, is not our faith increased, as we see that our lives contain a divine purpose? What has seemed from time to time a meaningless meandering, becomes an appointment with destiny. Nothing is insignificant, as each incident leads on to another choice, another turn in the road. This is not a recipe for determinism. Our need to make choices does not weaken God's powerful sovereignty. We cannot know the end from the beginning. Our choices are truly free. We do not know the script. We are not being manipulated into thinking we are making free choices when we are not. But through all our choices God is working out his purposes. As Paul put it, "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Phil.2:12,13) We are working out our future, making terribly important decisions that matter. God also is working out his purpose in us so that we will choose his will. It is both/and, not either/or. This approach makes life full of meaning and purpose. There is a pattern to discover. We can see all of life as worthwhile. Nothing that we do is wasted. Events take on heightened meaning. Coincidences become providential happenings. Retrospective reflection unearths a treasury of connections that we had not imagined before.

You are called according to God's purpose. You are called to fulfill a divine destiny. Your life is valuable in God's sight. He has invested himself in it. Before the universe was even created God had a purpose and a destiny for us. "For he chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." (Ephesians 1:3) Let us thank him for it by seeking to serve him all our days.

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