I have this solid cherry rocking chair that belonged to my Mom. It was one of her prized possessions. I might have mentioned it before. It has tremendous value for me, but no one else. I took care of that years ago.
You see, I broke it. I was just old enough to stay home alone. My friend lived just down the road. I could see her house from mine. The temptation was strong to go and play. I called my Mom at work and asked if I could go. It was a hard “no.” I was angry.
In my fit of anger, I hit the back of the chair and knocked it over. I broke the fancy spiral ends of the arms clean off. They remained in the floor, along with my heart, when I picked up the chair. I was dead where I stood. I was sure of it. The tears came quickly. I tried tape and glue to no avail – all that my young mind knew to do.
So, I switched gears. I called Mom again and crafted a lie in the hopes of saving my life. She only asked if I was okay. “Yes,” I muttered through the tears while shaking like a leaf in fear of imminent death, “but I broke your chair.” She never said another word to me about it. Just used some industrial strength glue I guess and repaired her then worthless chair the best she could. I’ll tell you one thing, if she wasn’t going to mention it again, neither was I.
Years passed. I became an adult. Mom and I were on a shopping trip, and I can’t begin to remember what sparked the conversation, but the broken rocking chair finally came up. No longer in fear of losing my life, I confessed my sin. There it was out in the open. I had not only ruined her chair, but I had lied to cover it up. She said, “Oh, I knew that from the minute you called to tell me. I couldn’t do anything about the chair, but I could teach you a lesson. I thought I would let you live with the lie and wait and see how long it took you to confess. And now when I die, you get that worthless chair, and you’ll remember how costly anger and lying are.”
Oh Friends. It makes me cry just typing that story. A few years later when Mom died that chair came home with me right away. I call it the lying chair. My kids know the story. They’ve sat in it when they needed to think about their misbehavior. One day recently my youngest sat there to “read” while I sat working nearby. He sat on the edge sliding his socked feet across the floor as he rocked. The chair creaking with each trip back and forth. Suddenly, his momentum took him forward and over they went – him and the chair. I saw it. He got up, picked up the chair and those spiral pieces were left lying in the floor once again. His tears came quickly.
I sent him to his room for a few minutes and promptly shared the incident with my sister. She laughed and reminded me that the chair’s value was no longer in its quality. She was right, and it reminded me of two things. The first was that I should take a page out of my Mom’s book and focus more on the child and less on the stuff. So, I did. He and I talked about taking care of things we value and decreasing the chance of accidents by behaving appropriately. Then I told him I loved him, gave him a hug, and sent him on his way.
The second reminder was about purpose. And that, is why I believe God wanted me to share this very personal story with you. I would imagine that whoever made that chair, made it believing its purpose was for sitting. I believe its purpose was to teach lessons. In fact, I think I’ll start referring to it as the lesson chair instead of the lying chair. Sometimes when we start thinking about purpose, we stay at the surface and don’t dive deeper.
I’ve wondered many times in this season of my life what God’s purpose for me is. I bet a lot of you have wrestled with the same question from time to time. What should we be doing? What job does God want me to have? Should I go back to work at a traditional job or should I stay at home? Here’s the question I really want to ask. What if our purpose is about who we are rather than what we are? What is a label. Who is much more.
Colossians 1:16 says, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” We were created for God. The purpose is who.
Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 1 (and I’m paraphrasing) that God chose us, and we are to be holy and blameless before Him. When we choose Christ and ask for forgiveness, we are forgiven. Then our purpose becomes growing more like Him to be prepared to live with God for eternity. Our real purpose is to get back to our Creator. It’s about who we are.
That worthless, twice-broken rocking chair is much more than what it does. It’s purpose, for the last 35ish years, has been in making me a better who. Look deeper friends. We are much more than what we do. Eternity is promised because of who we are – complete in Christ.
