Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3: 5 & 6 (NLT)

Many people go through their entire life not knowing what their purpose is, they stumble from event to event, and from situation to situation without any specific goal or aim to follow. Without a purpose, life is just a set of scattered events. For a person who knows his purpose, life is a series of events leading to an ultimate goal. Now, the big question is, how do I discover God’s purpose for my life? God made us each a unique individual, with specific talents and tendencies. Our God-given talents are pointers to what our purpose is. As Christians we have the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all truth. He can use situations in our life to help us discover our purpose. Do you often find yourself listening to people’s problems and issues, are you often surprised by the ease with which people open up to you, have you noticed that solutions to problems and answers to questions seem to flow almost naturally: it could be that your gifts are encouragement, and words of wisdom and knowledge, and that you belong in the counseling field.

Sometimes God’s purpose is completely outside of our apparent natural abilities. Who but God would choose to anoint and appoint a little boy tending to his father’s flock to be the next King of Israel? That is what happened with David. I’m positive that David knew deep in his heart that he was destined for greatness. From a very tender age David spent time with God while he tended his father’s flock. David knew who his God was, and he saw himself through his Heavenly Father’s eyes. According to 1 Sam 17 when Goliath began to make a mockery of David’s God, and no one else would stand up to him, David fought the giant and won.

God sometimes allows circumstances in our lives that are hard and painful, to push us in the direction of His divine purpose for our lives. Consider Joseph, from a young age Joseph knew God and he received glimpses of God’s purpose for him in dreams. Joseph knew that he would one day be great, because God gave him a dream in which his brothers’ wheat bundles bowed to his (Gen 37:5). For Joseph, the path to greatness was long and arduous. Joseph went from being hated by his brothers (Gen 37:18), to being sold into slavery (Gen 37:28), to being falsely accused of attempted rape, (Gen 39:17-18) to being imprisoned (Gen 39:20). Would you have been able to hold on to God’s promise through all of those events? Many of us are faced with that type of situation at this very moment, deep in our hearts we know God’s purpose for our lives, but the enemy has used life events to create doubt in our hearts.

The noise of the enemy’s lies can drown out God’s quiet reassurance, so, instead of holding on to God’s promise that you would one day become a great surgeon, or open your own successful business, or finish your degree, or speak before large crowds of people, or own home and use it to bless His people, or become a pastor or ….(fill in the blank), you sit in fear and doubt and say, “well it really wasn’t God, it was just me” or “God really didn’t say that, the messenger was mistaken” or “I sinned so God no longer wants to use me” or “it was just my emotions or my mind playing tricks on me.” STOP BELIEVING THE LIES OF THE DEVIL! God says: “I know the plans I have for you… plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Spend time with The One who created you and who knows your purpose, ask Him to reveal His plan for your life, and to replace doubt and fear with faith and boldness. He will reveal to you His purpose for your life. Examine your life and be expectant. Tune your ears to hear God’s voice, He sometimes speaks to us while we are riding the train, or sitting in the park, or just spending time in His presence. He will give you ideas and make the resources available to realize the ideas.

Take your focus off the situation and put it on God. Sit at His feet and as He reveals or confirms to you the purpose for which you were born, and begin by faith to walk in that purpose. Be aware of the enemy’s strategies (2 Corinthians 2:11), for we have an adversary who wants to “steal, kill and destroy…” (John 10:10), he wants us as far away from our purpose as he can get us. As you begin to receive divine revelation, trust God and be faithful to begin walking in your purpose (calling) immediately. Joseph was walking in his purpose even while he was imprisoned: he used his God-given ability to interpret the dreams of his fellow inmates and that resulted in his being promoted to Prime Minister many years later.

Finally trust God, learn to hear His voice (that still small voice that we often disregard), be patient, persistent and expectant, and God who is faithful, will order your steps so that you will fulfill His purpose for placing you on this earth.

Originally published on May 15th, 2007