by Joanne Gilchrist, author of God for Kids app and books

If you’ve never asked, “Why Did God Make Me?” or some variation of it, then I really envy you. I don’t think I’ve gone a year of my life without asking God something like “Am I on the right track?”, “Have I missed my calling?” or “Does my life actually make a difference?”  Fundamentally, we want to know whether we have a purpose and crucially, are we fulfilling that purpose? I find an identity-crisis like this crops up after a significant change, a disappointment or even just on the first of January, when it seems the whole world collectively reflects on the year ahead. 

Why Did God Make Us All?

I think the line from the Westminster Shorter Catechism “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever” is inspired. It is an excellent answer to the overarching purpose of the human race. But it’s also not enough. In those moments of personal crisis when we question our purpose, direction and even existence, we need a deeply personal answer from our deeply personal God. 

My Favourite Line

That’s why my favourite line in this book, “Why Did God Make Me?” is this one: 

“But that’s not the end of your story, oh no.”

This is the most beautiful, wonderful thing about the Christian message: that we are not promised happiness every moment of our lives but we are promised hope in every single moment of our lives. 

The key Bible verses in this book are Jeremiah 29:11-13. They are verses of hope in the middle of a very dark time in the story of the Old Testament. Today, they are often verses people cling to when things seem to be going wrong. They are a promise that these dark and difficult moments are NOT the end of our story. God has a good plan and that can fill us with hope. 

I was taught to put my trust in Jesus as a young child, which I did. Throughout my adult life this trust has been tested. Through disappointments, broken dreams, failed relationships and closed doors, my trust in Jesus has been tested. As a result, I still have the same faith I had as a child (that I can trust my whole life with Jesus), only now that faith is deeper. The seeds that were planted as a child have grown into a deeply rooted faith that holds strong through all kinds of storms. 

Paul’s Story: “Why Did God Make Me?”

Paul is a boy with wonderful gifts and talents. He can talk to animals! He is devoted to his friends and he is a natural peacemaker.  Unfortunately, these skills don’t get him very far on the football field where he hopes to shine! 

After humiliating himself, he runs away and hides. But he also prays. He asks God if He can help Him and immediately the Holy Spirit responds to his cries of help. 

Does God answer his prayer by making him good at football? Does God tell him to just try harder? Does He tell him to just believe in himself and everything will be ok? So often this message just makes our children feel worse because that’s not the reality most of us live with. Sometimes things don’t work out no matter how hard we try or how much we believed it would work out. But that’s not the end of our story….

God’s message to Paul is hope-filled, life-giving and courage-building.

“Paul, you are loved by God no matter what.”

“Paul, God has a good plan for your life even when the opposite seems to be true.”

“Paul, God is with you even now, in the ups and downs of life.”

“Paul, this isn’t the end of your story…” 

So how does the story end?

Paul does go back and try again and discovers that the animals can’t play together without fighting and falling out. Suddenly, there is a place for Paul – as a peacemaker and team builder. He steps in to be their referee and they all get to play the game.  

Paul discovers a beautiful truth that we adults often need to hear too: that the world is a better place because we are in it. God has not made a mistake. He has created each one of us with a purpose and when we begin to find it, even in unexpected places, the world is a bit more beautiful. 

Whether that be as a healer, an encourager, a comedian, a heavy-lifter, a thinker or any manner of wonderful things God has made us to be… we have a place and a purpose in the world God has placed us. 

Figuring Out Why God Made Us

Sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error to find our place. Sometimes, where we live or work changes and we have to figure things out all over again.  But one thing remains true: that God has good plans for you and our job is to seek God with all of our heart, just like it says in Jeremiah 29:11-13. 

Read this story to your children and come back to it again and again when they most need to remember its message: when they don’t get the part in the play that they wanted or the grade they hoped for or they miss the goal they aimed for. Because the missed goal, the failed exam or the broken dream is never the end of the story, when you put your trust in Jesus.