“I used to float, now I just fall down
I used to know but I’m not sure now
What was I made for?
What was I made for?”
I found myself humming these lyrics at my desk yesterday while organizing the office calendar, and later quietly singing this while making peach dessert after dinner.
The catchy tune still echoed in my ears long after I had closed out the Instagram app where I had first heard it.
This song seems to have taken social media by storm.
I realized I have seen so many trending reels that use the new song “What was I made for?” by Billie Eilish, written for the new Barbie movie. These various video clips tend to portray the beauty of motherhood, girlhood, family, or achievements.
But it really got me thinking.
What about it keeps drawing people back in? Could it just be the popularity of the new movie? Was it the soft piano and vocals? Or was there an element that called to something buried deep in all of us?
Then I realized it.
This song highlights that age old question humans are seeking to know answers about.
I think this is why the song resonates with so many people. The melancholy and reflective feel of the melody carries this lingering question only further into our thoughts. It pulls at our emotions, our longings, and our desire for meaning and beauty.
What is the purpose and meaning of life? Why am I here? And ultimately, What was I made for?
The Westminster Shorter Catechism’s first question asks a similar inquiry, “What is the chief end of man?
What does the world say?
Our western culture places much emphasis on our achievements, romantic relationships, pleasure, and money. Our culture tends to derive identity, meaning, and purpose from these items. Usually, the first question asked when meeting someone new is always, “So what do you do for a living?”
It’s no secret that every human at least once in their life ponders their place in the world and the reason for their existence. Our world desperately tries to answer this question through the means listed above, or even tries to do the complete opposite.
Often, our culture strives to make you forget those age-old questions by distracting you from critically thinking about this important topic. These distractions are almost always earthly, tangible items. The world often seeks to offer physical answers, but fails, because it is ultimately a metaphysical issue in nature.
So what is the answer?
The Westminster Catechism seeks to answer this by stating, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
Scripture tells us that our purpose for existing is to have a right relationship with our loving Creator and bring glory to Him (Isaiah 43:7). God loves us, and He made us. This truth is what dictates and illustrates everything else we do in our lives.
Everything is an overflow from this relational bond. It gives purpose and meaning to our relationships, activities, and careers. We were created in the image of God for His good pleasure, and intended to joyfully partake in the eternal life He offers us (John 3:16-17).
“So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” – Genesis 1:27-28
So, primarily, I was made for His praise and His glory. I was made to be a Child of God. This happens through the work of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for us to have a restored relationship with God (Ephesians 5-7).
My identity and purpose rooted in Jesus is one that never changes. My identity and belief in Christ serve as a firm foundation for the entirety of my existence. If, instead, it is informed and found in a vocation, a romantic relationship, or achievements, it all has the potential to come crashing down (Mathew 7:24-27).
Why is this important?
If my reason for being on this earth is my family, accomplishments, or a job, I am in serious trouble. While these relationships and activities are wonderful and necessary, they are neither eternal, transcendent, nor permanent.
My identity and reason for living should not be found in what I do or who I am to someone else on this earth.
This is a tough truth for me. I often find myself placing my value in achievements or being a people pleaser. My toxic tendency is to try to prove my worth through perfectionism and to strive to be everything to everybody. My core fear is to be rejected, useless, and unloved.
My identity and purpose should instead be established in Whose I am. I am a child of God, created by Him to possess and enjoy relationship with Him and to walk in the good works He has prepared for me. Not in exhausting perfectionism, or in attempting to win the love of others should I walk. My God gives immeasurable grace and His Spirit empowers me to carry out His will and works. My God gives His love freely and without partiality. I can be free to receive the love He has shown me without price, and then I can joyfully pour out the love received unfettered onto others around me.
“ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10
I love my husband. I love my family. I love my dog Beverly. I love my daily work and hobbies. But I realize I cannot establish my identity and reason for living on them. They were not designed to bear the burden of being my identity and to answer those age old questions. It’s not fair to them. It’s puts an enormous amount of pressure on them. They are fragile and fleeting, made out of the dust, just like me, and just like you.
Even though these are wonderful gifts from God, and my daily work has incredible potential for impact and value, I was not made for them.
So what was I made for?
What were you made for?
We were made for God, to be His very own. He created us for His good pleasure. To be with Him forever. To tell others about His love and His desire for a relationship with us. To enjoy and partake in His Joy, peace, presence, and ultimately Salvation.
We were created for Jesus to be our reason and our why.
We were created to walk in His direction and to participate in His work on the earth.
We were created to live life the way He intended for it to be. Jesus promises Life, a life that is full and abundant (John 10:10).
We were created to reflect His character and glory.
A relationship with Him brings meaning, purpose, and direction to every relationship we have, and to everything that we do.
Our lives and our relationships are even more meaningful and enjoyable because of this Truth.
I can hear the ending lyrics to “What was I made for?” echo in my brain again. I think about how often I have fallen into the habit of turning to temporary things as my solution to living a life worth living.
“Think I forgot how to be happy
Something I’m not, but something I can be
Something I wait for
Something I’m made for
Something I’m made for”
Thankfully happiness is not what we were made for. God has created us and has a plan so much better for us than to just be “happy”. He has prepared a Life with Him that is so full that it never ends, unlike transient emotions. Jesus offers us an eternity with Him so precious and amazing, that it not only begins when we leave this earth, but also begins the moment we say yes to His salvation.
Jesus gives us everything we’ve been searching for, and gives us the full Life and purpose we are seeking. When we live life by His standards and the way He intends for humans to flourish (Ecclesiastes 12:13) we then can finally understand and experience true meaning, beauty, identity, and purpose. When we accept and receive His love, we are forever changed and satisfied.
The search is over.
He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
I was made for You, Jesus.
It’s easy for us to look for meaning in our lives apart from God. How can you surrender more of your life to Him? Is there anything or anyone you are placing your identity in?
Cultivate a Lifestyle of Worship + Love of the Word 
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