“God put in Perry’s heart the service of the Marine Corps,” Congressman Todd Akin (R-Missouri) explained of his son’s life-long desire to be a Marine.
Akin passed down a principle found in Ephesians 2:10 to his six children. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
“What most people know intuitively is that God made us unique. That’s a very common thought. But the other part of this verse says ‘from the beginning of time, before the ages, God had a job that every single one of us are called and prepared to do for him,’” Akin explained.
That desire to find a purpose in life begins early. Adults often ask children what they want to do when they grow up. Children may answer “be a fireman” or “be a doctor” but they often aren’t sure. What children do know is this: they want to do something.
“Most people don’t really know what they want to do at an early age but there’s something inside that’s guiding and pulling them in certain directions, so they try this or that. My belief is that every one of us has a sort of a destiny something we were created to do for the Lord.”
Akin witnessed this guiding and pulling in his son. As a boy, Perry started a Marine club with his brothers and friends. They bought used uniforms and little wooden rifles from an army surplus store to use in their club.
“They stood at attention in line. They raised the American flag on the flag pole. They tied pieces of clothes line to the top of trees. They took big steel pulleys and slid down the line, crashing into the ground. But they were tough and didn’t cry because the Marines don’t cry,” he reflected with a laugh.
It was no surprise to Akin when Perry entered the Naval Academy. Perry’s decision to become a Marine was the workmanship of God, manifested in childhood.
“And so it takes courage, a great deal of courage to chase the dream that God puts in your heart. Yet you can do it because you know the Lord is with you. And so that’s something that I taught to my children,” Akin explained.
It’s never too late to seek God’s purpose for your life. It simply takes faith to ask God for direction and courage to follow where he leads.
Lord, give me the courage to pursue the dreams you have put in my heart.
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)