POST 60: The World Needs You to Come Alive
POST 60
The World Needs You to Come Alive
I feel like I belong now—how do I say this—in this world. I feel like now I have a purpose.
Armando
Are you really alive?
Twentieth-century writer and theologian Howard Thurman once told a young person, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
What does it mean to come alive? Is that a trick question?
Of course, if you’re reading this right now, you’re alive. That’s good news! You’re not a zombie.
Actually, you are a small miracle—the fact that your heart is beating, your lungs are expanding and contracting, your brain is running a massive network of neurological wonder so complex that the world’s best scientists still don’t fully understand it. When you stop to think about it, being alive is kind of mind-blowing.
But there’s more.
Thurman was speaking to the dilemma of purpose: What should I do? How can I make a difference? How will my life matter in the world? This kind of wondering can turn into worrying. It can make your brain hurt.
Being Fully You
Instead of agonizing over figuring out the “one thing” that you were meant to do or that the world most needs you to do, Thurman offers a freeing alternative: be fully alive.
Thurman loved praying, reflecting on Scripture, pastoring people, teaching and writing about God, and acting out God’s heart for justice in the world. He didn’t see these as separate pursuits but all part of one consistent stream—following Jesus. And it all made him feel fully alive because he was being himself while he followed Jesus.
What makes you feel fully alive? Maybe the following are clues to what it means for you to come alive:
When do you feel most truly yourself?
What brings you joy?
When do you have the most energy?
When do you sense God’s presence the most?
Jesus said that he came into the world so we may “have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10 NRSV). Life to the full. Life not just later in heaven but here and now on earth. Flourishing. Being whole.
Coming alive is always what God has wanted for you. And when you feel fully alive, you are being who the world needs you to be.
READING GOD’S WORD
Jesus spoke again, “I assure you that I am the gate of the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and outlaws, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief enters only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest.” (John 10:7–10)
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:4–10 NIV)
REFLECT AND RESPOND
Journaling Questions
Think about your own life for a moment—your physical, breathing, beating-heart, emotion-filled life. What are you grateful for? What is amazing to you about being alive?
Consider what makes you feel like you’re really alive—physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally. Is it listening to your favorite music? Going for a run? Dreaming up a new graphic novel? Coding? Serving in an after-school tutoring center? Write some of your own ideas, and if you’re not sure, list some things you think you’d like to try.
How does the idea of “coming alive” help—or not help—when it comes to pressure about your future?
Pray This Prayer
Lord of life, thank you for making me and giving me life. Thank you for making me uniquely me—even for the things I don’t like about myself sometimes. Give me discernment to see how you have made me and what it means for me to truly come alive. Help me to offer the gift of my full self to the world. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Something to Try
Take time this week to do something that makes you feel truly alive. Pay attention to yourself: How do you feel before, during, and after? What do you enjoy most about the experience?
If you’re not really sure when you feel most alive, that’s okay. Keep your antenna up to catch signals when they come through.
THE TAKEAWAY
You don’t have to have it all figured out. Start by coming alive.