--- id: 20170601_finding_gods_purpose title: BLOG - Finding God's Purpose category: Biblical Life Counsel predicted_narrative_arc: retirement-restlessness-to-divine-purpose sentiment: Convictional emotions: - Seeking - Hopeful - Pastoral keypoints: - Retirement restlessness pushed Dean to ask what he can still contribute at 74 - True satisfaction requires discovering God's purpose, not only personal goals - Ephesians 2:10 frames believers as God's workmanship created for prepared good works - Isaiah 46 and Jeremiah 1 ground purpose in God's prior knowing and standing purpose - Pray for wisdom, follow through, and aim to be beneficial to Him summary: > Dean Rush admits he thought retirement meant sitting back — until he found God had not wired him that way. At 74 he still seeks contribution, arguing that true satisfaction means discovering God's purpose. Anchoring in Ephesians 2:10, Isaiah 46:10–13, and Jeremiah 1:4–5, he urges readers to pray for wisdom, follow through, and live as God's workmanship rather than self-made usefulness. tags: - blog - policy - purpose - ephesians-2 - retirement - calling - jeremiah-1 - isaiah-46 - dean-rush sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 8 entropy: 3 sample: false consent: owner_approved agent: blog created: '2017-06-01' updated: '2026-09-09T00:00:00Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: BLOG prefix: BLOG enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: manual pipeline_filename: BLOG_2017-06-01_finding-god-s-purpose.md source_kind: blog_article proposed_topic: Wisdom lane: Wisdom voice: desk active_voice: desk voices: - desk routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: Wisdom content_status: active date: '2017-06-01' share_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/finding-god-s-purpose source_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/finding-god-s-purpose site_category: Policy archive_month: 2017-06 description: > Dean refuses retirement as spiritual retirement, pointing to Ephesians 2:10 and related texts so readers pursue God's prepared purpose rather than self-made usefulness alone. --- # Finding God's Purpose **Author:** Dean Rush **Original post:** [deanrush.net/blog/finding-god-s-purpose](https://deanrush.net/blog/finding-god-s-purpose) **Archive month:** June 2017 · **Site category:** Policy > Voice note: Everything under **Dean's article** is Dean's original prose (lightly cleaned of HTML/image artifacts only). Sections marked **Biblical foundations**, **Scholar sidebar**, **Takeaways**, and **First-time learner** are enrichment for Asker / first readers — not Dean speaking. --- ## Biblical foundations (preface) Dean names a late-life restlessness — retirement that still wants contribution — and relocates purpose from self-made usefulness to God's prepared workmanship. The enrichment below does not replace his verses; it shows how they fit together for a first-time reader. | Dean's claim | Scriptural undercarriage | | --- | --- | | Satisfaction requires God's purpose, not only ours | Delight in the Lord; He gives the desires of the heart (Psalm 37:4); seek first His kingdom (Matthew 6:33) | | We are God's workmanship for prepared good works | Ephesians 2:10; created in Christ Jesus for good works | | God knows the end from the beginning; His purpose stands | Isaiah 46:10–11; Romans 8:28 | | God knew us before birth and set us apart | Jeremiah 1:4–5; Psalm 139:13–16 | | Ask for wisdom and then obey | James 1:5; be doers of the word (James 1:22) | --- ## Dean's article ### The Pursuit of Purpose ![Listener image from Dean's original post](https://deanrush.net/Portals/0/downloads/Listener%20Image.jpg) I thought I was ready to sit back and relax in my retirement but found that God didn't wire me that way. I am, therefore, trying to determine what I can do when I grow up (74 years later) to contribute. I believe I am not alone in the quest for purpose. ### God's Purpose for Us! God seems to constantly remind us that we need to discover **His** purpose if we are going to have true satisfaction in life. A modern definition of purpose is: "The reason for which something is done or for which something exists". The second definition is: "Resolve or determination of existence" (Soanes, C., & Stevenson, A. (Eds.). (2004). *Concise Oxford English dictionary* (11th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.) ### God Cares about our Purpose God outlines His purpose for us very specifically in Paul's letter to the Ephesians 2:10 (NAS) *"10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."* If I am truthful with myself, I need to realize that God simply wants me to use me as His workmanship and not my desire to, individually, be beneficial to the world. I need to be beneficial to HIM. Maybe we all need to spend more time trying to be like HIM? > **Scholar sidebar — Workmanship, not self-invention** > Ephesians 2:10 follows 2:8–9: salvation by grace through faith, not works — *then* good works as the prepared path we walk. The Greek *poiēma* (workmanship / poem) stresses God's craftsmanship. Dean's honesty — beneficial to Him, not merely useful to the world on our own terms — matches that order. Purpose is received and walked, not manufactured as a personal brand. ### Suggestions to Discover Your Purpose If we are going to find our purpose in life, we have to know our personal goals in life. God says that He make each of us unique. Our individual goals should also be uniquely personal as well. It is interesting to understand that Isaiah 46:10-13 says, "I make known the end from the beginning, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." Be ready to follow God's purpose when you realize what His intent is in your life. It is God who gives rain so pray for rain in time of need. Do not be afraid to pray for His favor when it goes to your purpose. There are examples all over the bible of how God meets the needs of people who follow His desire for their individual purpose. Pray for God's wisdom and then follow through. He knows you. Jeremiah 1:4-5 says "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.'" If God knows us, He certainly expects us to reach **His** purpose. Daniel 12:4. The purpose of this search will be "to increase knowledge." (Miller, S. R. (1994). *Daniel* (Vol. 18, p. 321). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.) In Him Dean > **Scholar sidebar — Known before formed; wisdom then obedience** > Jeremiah 1:4–5 is God's word to Jeremiah's prophetic call, yet Dean rightly hears the wider truth that God's knowing precedes our résumé (cf. Psalm 139:13–16). Isaiah 46:10 anchors purpose in God's standing counsel, not shifting self-help. James 1:5–6 invites wisdom asked in faith; James 1:22 refuses hearing without doing. Dean's sequence — pray, then follow through — is classic biblical order. --- ## Takeaways 1. **Retirement is not spiritual retirement.** Dean thought he would sit back; God had not wired him that way — purpose continues at 74. 2. **His purpose, not only ours.** True satisfaction tracks discovering God's purpose. 3. **Ephesians 2:10 is the center.** Believers are God's workmanship created for prepared good works. 4. **Uniqueness under sovereignty.** Personal goals matter because God makes people unique — yet Isaiah 46 says *His* purpose stands. 5. **Pray for wisdom; follow through.** Jeremiah 1 grounds the call in God's prior knowing; obedience completes the search. --- ## First-time learner ### What is Dean saying in one sentence? Don't treat retirement — or any life stage — as permission to stop seeking God's prepared purpose; you are His workmanship, meant to walk in good works He already planned. ### Why Ephesians 2:10? Because it answers "why do I exist?" without flattery: you are crafted by God in Christ for good works prepared beforehand — purpose as walk, not ego project. ### Key verses to read with this post - **Ephesians 2:8–10** — Grace, faith, then prepared good works. - **Isaiah 46:10–11** — God declares the end from the beginning; His purpose stands. - **Jeremiah 1:4–5** — Known and set apart before birth. - **Psalm 139:13–16** — Formed and known by God. - **James 1:5, 22** — Ask for wisdom; be doers. - **Matthew 6:33** — Seek first the kingdom. - **Psalm 37:4** — Delight in the Lord. ### A simple practice This week: (1) write one sentence naming a "contribution" you still desire, (2) pray Ephesians 2:10 aloud and ask whether that desire serves His workmanship or only your résumé, (3) take one small obedient step James would call "doing," not only hearing. ### How this feeds Ask Dean Seed material for questions such as: *How does Dean think about purpose in retirement? What does Ephesians 2:10 mean for calling? How do I find God's purpose?* Keep Dean's voice primary; use scholar notes as scaffolding around workmanship and obedience.