THE PROCESS OF DISCOVERING YOUR PURPOSE

Who you become is more important than what you can do for God

I Learned the Process of Discovering God’s Purpose for One’s Life — and It Couldn’t Be Simpler!

If you’ve been praying and fasting within an inch of your life just to discover God’s purpose for your life, this is for you!

In the first two blog posts, I briefly discussed how to establish our identity accurately and begin discovering our purpose. There seems to be an epidemic of confusion and undiscovered purpose among God’s people. He is the Author of our life. He is a God of order. He is wise, and He openly communicates when we care to listen.

So why are there so many of us, daughters of the King, who feel lost and aimless in life?

One of the main reasons is that we do not know Him for who He truly is. We don’t approach Him in a personal way. We look at Him through the lens of religion instead of through the eyes of a much-loved child of God. When I say “through the eyes of religion,” I mean that we look at Him as a legalistic authority — an impersonal and harsh taskmaster.

He is a loving Father, and He cares about how we live our lives so that we walk in His blessing. If we take the time to know Him, we gain a clearer appreciation of who we are, because we are image-bearers of God. An accurate view of Him leads us to value ourselves and realize we have a natural inclination to live for a purpose. God had a goal when He created you and me. We were not an accident.

So, here’s the burning question for most believers: “What does God want me to do — specifically?”

In John 10:27, the Lord Jesus said: My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.

This tells me we have a God who is intentional in leading and instructing us. He does not want us to guess where we’re going. Straightaway, in this verse, the Lord Jesus establishes our identity: we are His sheep. We are loved. He is responsible for us. He knows us. He is our Leader.

Being His sheep means we know His voice, recognize it, and obey it. If we want to discern His directions and commands so we can walk in our calling, we must first learn how to be His sheep — to depend on Him, to follow His Word, and to never live apart from Him.

Let me give you a few myths about God’s purpose for His children’s lives. My hope is that, if you’ve been believing some (or all) of these, you can renew your mind in this area. A renewed mind steeped in truth and stripped of deception is the best way to start discovering God’s call for each of us. Sadly, we often fall for these myths and end up heartbroken and lost. I pray that for you, my dear sister, it will be a much happier case from this day forward.

Myths About God’s Purpose

1. Achieving worldly success is His goal for every one of His children. No. An unknown pastor in a small village is just as much in God’s will as a world-famous Christian author or a billionaire believer. God’s goal is character building. He is not as interested in our results as He is in our obedience.

2. He gives us our “assignment” all at once, with a deadline — or else. Often, God’s assignment is revealed in increments, depending on our capacity to obey the next step. Moses had to go through the process. Joseph had to go through the process. Paul had to go through the process. Peter didn’t even understand the full picture until after he denied the Lord Jesus — and he certainly didn’t anticipate preaching the first sermon! That was quite a process.

3. He has the same calling for all His children. We are all on different assignments. A mother raising her children in the fear of the Lord is as much on assignment as a missionary in Afghanistan or North Korea. We are all given different measures of faith — so why should we be expected to do the same thing or be judged the same way? We will be judged on faithfulness: “Well done, My good and faithful servant!” Never compare your journey with that of another brother or sister in Christ — especially the famous or well-known ones.

4. God’s big calling upon our lives is always church- or mission-related. Many people fulfill God’s work in secular settings. Tim Tebow (athlete) and Manny Pacquiao (boxer) impact the Kingdom as much as a pastor preaching every Sunday. God also calls people into the marketplace, healthcare, education — and sometimes He calls moms to stay at home and raise their families. No calling is inferior to another.

5. A life without struggles is a sure sign we’re in His perfect will. Absolutely false! Every one of God’s anointed people who lived out their purpose faced struggles. Ask Elijah. Ask Paul. Ask John the Beloved — he was dipped in boiling oil but survived.

6. God’s big call on our lives is about us. No! God’s big call is about Him. It’s never about us. We might imagine ourselves successful, famous, or rich, surrounded by people we admire — and that may happen, or it may not. It depends on Him. We must be able to pray: Not my will, but Yours, Lord!

After looking at these myths, let me leave you with this: obedience in small, ordinary tasks prepares us for God’s bigger call. He will not send us before we’re ready. That’s why in the beginning, He teaches us obedience and trains us to hear and recognize His voice — so we aren’t deceived by the enemy into doing what we were never created to do.

When we have developed intimacy with Him — knowing Him through Scripture and obeying His will and Word — we are ready to receive revelation and specific instructions about what He wants us to do. In the meantime, He wants us to get to know Him and enjoy the process.

At the end of the day, He is not as interested in what we can do for Him as He is in who we become as a result of our intimacy with Him. Sometimes, becoming who He wants us to be is the very purpose He made us and put us on this planet.

Crazy, right? But true. God wants us. He wants us to be like His Son. He wants us to reflect Him in our spirit and our soul. That alone can be a lifelong process. Rest assured: if you focus on obedience and intimacy with Him, He will not let you miss His purpose for your life.

For everyone who comes to this website — welcome to Flourishing Faith! This is your home. You belong here. Welcome home.