Your Purpose Begins on Monday

Pastor Flávio Macieira — 2025

This reflection is part of the series "The Mantle and the Call of the Successor," inspired by themes from the book "The Desert Therapy."

God doesn't wait for you to be on a pulpit or in a spiritual retreat to call you; He meets you in the midst of your routine, in the dust of your daily life.

Have you ever wondered if God has a plan for your life, but feel your routine is so ordinary that a divine call would be unlikely? We often imagine that great purposes are revealed in dramatic moments, with lights and celestial voices.

Elisha's story, however, shows us a more surprising and accessible truth: God finds His chosen ones in the most unexpected place—in the field, while they are working, in the middle of real life. Elijah, the great prophet, didn't find him in a temple, but among twelve yoke of oxen.

"So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.” (1 Kings 19:19, NLT)

The scene is simple, but its power is immense. Elijah, fresh from a transformative encounter with God at Horeb, receives the mission to anoint his successor. And where does he find him? Not in a school for prophets, but in the field, hands on the plow, fully immersed in his work. Elisha wasn't looking for a sign; he was simply plowing the land.

This is a vivid reminder that a divine vocation intersects with our ordinary lives. The mantle Elijah threw on Elisha was not an invitation to a distant future, but an immediate call to a new direction, right where he was.

To illustrate, imagine a talented programmer who dreams of creating a world-changing app. She expects to be "discovered" by a major tech company, but her opportunity comes unexpectedly: while helping a small nonprofit organize its data. It is in her faithfulness to this seemingly small task that her true calling to use technology for good is revealed.

Similarly, Elisha was being faithful in his work, and it was there that the divine invitation reached him. Preparation for the extraordinary happens in the faithfulness of the ordinary.

Our culture, obsessed with "influencers" and spectacular moments, pressures us to believe that purpose is only real if it's grand and visible. This can make us feel that an ordinary life is a life without purpose. The gospel, however, frees us from this pressure. God's call does not depend on the size of our stage, but on our availability in the place where He has put us.

God's grace is manifested in how He calls us: He meets us where we are, with our tools in hand. The mantle wasn't thrown on a renowned prophet, but on a farmer. God sees potential where we only see routine. He empowers us for what He calls us to, and the initiative is always His. Elisha's story invites us to open our eyes to the possibility that God's next big step in our lives could happen in the middle of our most common work.

Your Next Step of Faith Reflect on your daily routine. Is there any "ordinary" task or moment where you feel God might be calling you to something new, or using you in a way you haven't yet noticed? Ask Him to reveal His purpose in the midst of your everyday life.

The Soul's Mirror

• Have you been waiting for a "big sign" to discover God's purpose in your life, or are you open to finding it in the small things of daily life?

• How does Elisha's story challenge you to value your routine and the tasks you already perform more?

• What "plow" in your life do you need to be willing to leave behind if God calls you to something new?

Prayer

Loving Father, thank You for meeting us where we are, in the midst of our routine. Help us to have open eyes and attentive ears for Your call, even when it doesn't come with grand spectacles. Empower us to be faithful in little, so that we may be ready for the much You have for us. May our lives be a fertile field for Your purpose. In Jesus' name, amen!

God's call blossoms where life happens.

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