Stacking Cans, Chasing Calling

In the winter of 1994, Kurt Warner was stocking shelves at a Hy-Vee grocery store in Iowa, earning $5.50 an hour. He had been released by the Green Bay Packers before ever playing a regular-season game. His NFL dream looked like it had died quietly under fluorescent lights, somewhere between the soup cans and cereal boxes.

But Warner never stopped believing he was made for something specific. He played in the Arena Football League — an indoor, spring league most NFL scouts barely noticed — sharpening his reads, building his footwork, refusing to let circumstances define his calling.

Then in 1999, starting quarterback Trent Green tore his ACL in the preseason. The St. Louis Rams turned to their backup: Kurt Warner. He led them to a Super Bowl XXXIV championship, took home the Super Bowl MVP, and was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player — twice.

The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10 that we are God's poiema — His masterpiece — "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Notice those two words: prepared in advance. Your purpose was not invented the moment you finally discovered it. It was waiting for you.