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Mentoring Warriors Editor’s Note: MW welcomes Kevin Loop as a guest contributor. Kevin is actively involved in mentoring men for years. Recently, he shared this talk at a fireside event near Wichita. Welcome Kevin.
Men’s Fireside Event
Men, have you ever had the feeling that your life should matter more than it does? Maybe you’ve never said it out loud. But somewhere inside you’ve wondered:
“Why am I here?”
“What am I supposed to do with the years I have left?”
“Does my story really matter?”
I think every man wrestles with that question. Not because we’re selfish. But because we were created for a purpose.
Deep down, every man wants to know:
“Do I matter?”
“Was I created for something?”
“Do I have a place in this story?”
For Such a Time as This
One of my favorite passages in Scripture comes from Esther.
Mordecai tells Esther:
“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)
Esther couldn’t see the entire story. She only saw the chapter she was in. A difficult chapter. A frightening chapter. A chapter she never would have chosen. Yet it became the very place where God used her.
Men, most of us want clarity before obedience.
God usually offers obedience before clarity.
Esther stepped into her role before she understood how everything would work out. That’s faith. And often that’s how God works with us.
[Pause – Think of a story about a season when you felt out of place or wondered if your life had any larger purpose.]
“At the time, I couldn’t see how any of it fit together. Looking back now, I can see that God was writing a story I couldn’t yet read.”
There’s a Plan for Your Life
Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
It’s easy to quote this verse like a Hallmark card. But the truth is, it was written to people who were in exile. Broken. Discouraged. Lost.
Sound familiar?
God wasn’t telling them, “I’ll rescue you from the story.” He was saying, “I will fulfill my plans for you through the story.”
Your heartbreak, your wounds, your gifts, your failures — all of it fits. You haven’t disqualified yourself. You’re not lost on the map.
[Pause – Think of a moment when God met you in disappointment and showed you that the story wasn’t over.]
“Sometimes we think God’s plan means a straight line. My experience has been exactly the opposite. God’s plan often looks like a winding road that only makes sense in hindsight.”
Your Role is Not Small
Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Let that sink in: You are His masterpiece — not an accident, not an afterthought.
The good things He planned? They’re not generic. They’re your assignments. They have your fingerprints on them.
John Eldredge says it like this:
“Every man has a Kingdom. A realm that has been entrusted to his care.”
Your Kingdom might be your family. Your work. A group of guys. A mission you feel stirring in your chest but haven’t acted on yet.
God is not asking you to be someone else. He’s inviting you to step into the role He wrote for you.
The Story is Bigger Than You
One of the great dangers in life is believing that our story is only about us. Our successes. Our failures. Our plans. Our disappointments.
But Scripture tells a different story.
God has been telling a story since the beginning of time. And somehow, He has chosen to write us into it.
In Ephesians 2:10, Paul writes:
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Think about that.
Before you were born… Before your first success… Before your first failure… God already had something in mind for you.
You are not an accident. You are not an afterthought. You are not filling space until you die. You were created on purpose.
For a purpose.
Personal Reflection
“Several years ago, I wrote a personal mission statement:
‘I want to be the man I needed in my life when I was in my greatest pain.’
I didn’t discover that mission in a classroom.
I discovered it by walking through my own story.”
Your Past Is Not Wasted
To put it another way, God never wastes a hurt. One of the enemy’s favorite lies is:
“You’ve wasted too much time.”
“You’ve made too many mistakes.”
“You’ve missed your chance.”
But listen to what Paul says in Romans 8:28:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
Notice it doesn’t say God works through the good things.
It says all things.
The victories.
The failures.
The wounds.
The regrets.
The chapters we’d rather erase.
God wastes nothing.
Nothing.
The very things we wish had never happened often become the places where God prepares us to help others.
Personal Reflection
“There are chapters of my story that I would never have chosen.
If God had given me the choice, I would have skipped them entirely.
But those chapters have shaped the man standing before you today.”
Called Before You Knew It
Paul tells Timothy:
“He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace.” (2 Timothy 1:9)
Notice the order.
Called.
Then equipped.
Purpose.
Then preparation.
Many men spend years waiting to feel ready.
But God has never called ready men.
He calls willing men.
Abraham wasn’t ready.
Moses wasn’t ready.
David wasn’t ready.
Peter certainly wasn’t ready.
Yet God used them anyway.
The Future God Sees
Most men define themselves by where they’ve been. God defines us by where He is taking us.
Brothers, every great story reaches a moment when the hero must decide whether he will step forward or remain on the sidelines.
Esther had her moment.
David had his moment.
Peter had his moment.
And every man in this circle has his moment.
The question is not whether God has a place for you in His story.
The question is whether you’ll step into it.
Because the world needs what God has placed in you.
Your family needs it.
Your friends need it.
The men sitting around this fire need it.
You were not created merely to survive your story. You were created to participate in it.
So don’t hide. Don’t withdraw. Don’t assume your best days are behind you.
Brothers, you were made for such a time as this.
Warrior On!
MW Editor’s Note: Take time to process these questions with your mentor, or with a trusted brother in Christ. Be honest about where you are at. This isn’t a time to fake it, rather, to remove the mask and let God and others see your heart.
Questions
- Where have you felt like your life doesn’t matter or that you’ve missed your moment?
- What “Kingdom” has God entrusted to your care, and how have you been showing up—or hiding—from it?
- Can you identify a difficult chapter in your life that God later used for good?
- What might God be inviting you to step into during this season of your life?
Need help processing these questions? Reach out to us at info@mentoring-warriors.com
Kevin Loop
Kevin is a men's ministry leader, speaker, writer, and recovery coach. Drawing from his own journey of brokenness, redemption, and restoration, he helps men discover their true identity, find healing, and embrace the purpose God has written into their story.
