Some of the best insights in life come from really good questions. The question for today is, “Why are you here?” There are so many ways to understand this question and answer.

First, “Why are you here?” can be seen and answered from a very narrow perspective. I can look around and see that I’m a grocery store, for example, and say, “well I’m here because I need to buy a few items.” We can answer things like: “I need to work,” “I wanted coffee,” or even, “I’ve got nowhere else to be.” This is a very surface view.

A Bigger Context

1 Kings 19:13: ‘Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”’

The next level deeper is to look at the choices you’ve made that lead up to this point. Elijah, from the quote above, understood that the question wasn’t asking what he was doing right in that moment. He knew that the question was about why was he choosing to hide in a cave. (If you read the surrounding verses, that’s what Elijah was doing.)

Why are you living in your town? Why are you working at your current job? What choices are you making that you are here – wherever “here” is for you? “Here” could be a physical place, a spiritual or emotional place, or state of personal character, or “here” could be about your goals. Are you choosing to be here intentionally with purpose? Are you here because it was convenient and less risky? Are you here because it’s what you’ve always done? Are you here because you can be more effective?

Why are you here?

A Really Big Context

But an even deeper way of looking at this question is to think in terms of your life’s purpose. What are you here for? Are you here to enjoy a hundred years or so, and that’s it? Might there be a more meaningful purpose that you can choose?

You get roughly 30,000 days here on earth. If you were to make a plan, what would you want to do with them?

Why are you here?

Love

I believe that ultimately people are here to learn to Love – to love God and love people. It turns out that loving really well is tough. At times I love myself and others can do whatever they want. But that’s not love. And sometimes what may appear to be loving on the surface is unloving. I can do a loving action with an unloving spirit and it can corrupt or diminish the love that should come through.

How do I forgive? How do I love, really? That’s the challenge. I believe that being there for others and making an impact in the world is all a part of learning to love.

Why are you here?