Photo Credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/L-mNqn89I2s
By: Missy Tennant
Are you fulfilling your purpose? Do you even know what God has planned for your life? If not, you’re certainly not alone. Being uncertain of God’s plan for our lives is common. But it shouldn’t be (Eph. 5:17). How can we ever expect to do the job God has for us if we don’t know what it is? The place to start is to realize that the Lord has a specific and unique plan for you. He’s had this plan in mind before you were even born.
Psalm 139:15-16 says, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (NIV).
God has a plan. We were born at the time and place and to the family God designed. God orchestrated it to perfection. We have a purpose. We also have free will and you can’t assume that God’s will is automatically going to happen in your life. It won’t. God’s will doesn’t always happen. Remember…we have free will. Once you realize that you are the one responsible for discovering God’s will, the next step is to start seeking Him for it. He’s not hiding His will from you. But you’re going to have to do some seeking to find it.
Jeremiah 29:12-13 tells us how we need to seek God: “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Notice the emphasis on seeking with all your heart. If you can live without knowing God’s will for your life, you will. But when you seek with all your heart, you will find it (Matt. 7:7).
When I was younger and then first married, I never dreamed the twists and turns my life would take. I actually didn’t give my purpose much thought. However, there was a point. After my husband passed away and I took over his job in sales, I questioned what I was to do with my life. Was I doing the job created for me? There was a bit of discouragement. I didn’t have an answer. I liked what I did and was good at it, but it was a means to support my family. God supplied it and I decided to stay faithful to it until God showed me what was next. I began to pray for God, asking him to show His will. It wasn’t a lightning bolt or anything, but it was a slow and steady unsettling. I was unsettled in my spirit that so many people were suffering and doing without so much when I was so blessed. It felt like a lot of people were walking around and seemed perfectly fine with this. But I was very disturbed by this feeling. I thought to myself, “There must be more to life than this”. Certainly this can’t be all God wants from us or from me. I began to study and pray as the unsettled feeling continued. I prayed for God to break my heart for what breaks His and show me what He wanted me to see. That unsettledness has become a strong desire to serve the least of these. I don’t have all the answers. I just know God does. If we ask Him, He will put a strong desire in our hearts for His Will. We need to ask. We need to seek.
God’s Word can speak to your heart and give you the knowledge needed. The first thing to know is God want’s us to be part of His family, to trust Jesus to forgive our sins, and for us to follow Him. Following Jesus isn’t a guarantee that all will be easy, but it’s a guarantee that Jesus will be with me even when it’s not easy. If you truly want to follow Jesus, you must give yourself up and realize: It’s not about what you want, it’s about what God wants.
Romans 12:1-2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
Think about that scripture. If you give your life up to present it to God, then you let Him guide your decisions. He decides what you do. Seek His will through prayer and the study of His Word. You need to diligently seek Him, ask Him to stir your heart. This isn’t a question to ask lightly. When you do, be ready and willing to do whatever He asks.
It’s important to be aware that you are talented in certain areas because those are the areas where God may have called you. However, be open that that may not always be as well. Sometimes God may decide to stretch us, call us to an area that we aren’t comfortable, and we need to fully rely on Him. I never imagined that I would own a company. That wasn’t on my radar and it wasn’t my desire. However, God has called me to this, He has stretched me, and He has and helped my grow in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.
God called me to do what is beyond my natural ability so that I would have to rely on Him to get it done. That’s why God’s may have nothing to do with your natural gifts. If you can do something yourself, you wouldn’t need God’s empowerment. If you only look at what you’re good at to determine your purpose, you may totally miss it.
Supernatural peace and joy come when you completely surrender to God. It’s a daily renewal to do this. It’s tough. But, you will have peace and strength to do what you are called to do. God’s blessing and anointing will always be on your work when you’re doing what He’s called you to do.
Are you feeling stirred and unsettled? Are you thinking ‘is this all there is to life and all God wants from me?’ That is a good place to be. Pray and seek God’s holy scriptures. You will find all your answers there.
