FINDING GOD’S PURPOSE AND CALLING
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)
As a young generation, this is one of the hardest questions in life. Most people are not sure about their calling in life. But I think it is very important to find God’s purpose and calling in life because without them, we can feel exhausted, lack direction and aim. Without directions and purpose in life, we won’t have passion in life. But Jesus said that He wants us to have life to the fullness, meaning life full of purpose, passion, and joy.
Paul often refers to life as a race and he runs as fast as he can toward the goal. What is your goal? And how can we discern if it’s God’s provision or our own provision? The answer is not that difficult.
Oftentimes in the scripture when God calls and blesses people, He blessed them so that they can become a blessing to others. For instance, He said to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, “All nations will be blessed through you.”
So God’s calling always involves blessing and serving other people. The problem is most of us have dreams to fulfill ourselves. But God created us to bless others by loving and giving.
The good news is all of us have the same general purpose, which is to live for Christ, advance the kingdom of God, and spread the gospel all around the world. But all of us have different ways of how God wants to use us. Some are called to be evangelists, shepherds, prophets, apostles, and teachers. That’s who we need to become.
The other point is, that all of us are created to love and serve. John 3:16a says “for God so loved the world.” And Paul said it is more blessed to give than to receive. As children of God, let’s not conform to the pattern of the world but learn to love like Jesus. Above all things, He cares so much about the intention of our hearts.
The wrong examples in our daily life for young generations are that we work to be rich and to survive, we want to get married and have kids because everyone else does, we do ministry to gain glory for ourselves and so that God will bless us. Notice that the purpose or the heart of the things we do matters more than what we do.
The problem with the examples above is they are your personal goals and not God’s purpose. Instead, examples of God’s purpose are:
I want to work and get rich so that I can be the most generous person,
I want to get married to bless and help others who are struggling with their marriage,
I want to have kids to raise up a generation of godly children,
I want to do ministry to save as many people as possible.
What I want to encourage each one of us is that God has a big dream and vision for each one of us. Church, we are not created for this world and we are not created to serve ourselves or to have a normal life. We are created for so much more. Why would you settle for less than God’s dream and God’s best?
There are 4 simple steps to find God’s calling and purpose:
- SPENDING TIME WITH HIM
Spend time with Christ and set aside a specific time and ask Him, “What is Your purpose in my life?” James said that if we lack wisdom, ask Him and He will give to us without finding fault. Why is this important? Because most of us are distracted in our hearts and mind that it’s difficult for us to set aside time to find our real purpose.
- DON’T MAKE EXCUSES
One thing my leader used to say is to not give up and make excuses easily. This is so common in our DNA to underestimate what God can do through us.
For instance:
Moses said he was not good at speaking but eventually God used him to speak to the whole nation, Jeremiah said he was too young, Gideon said he was too small, And so on.
After a while, I found out that God works best through our weaknesses because God’s given dreams and vision are always beyond what we can think or imagine or what we can handle.
Philippians said that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. So all we need is to have faith, boldness, passion, and confidence.
When I found out my calling to be one of the leaders of the church, I used to not believe and make excuses. I told God that I’m not qualified, I’m too busy, I’m not holy enough, not good at speaking, too young, and all kinds of excuses.
But when one of my leaders started speaking life into me, suddenly my insecurity was turned into divine and God’s given confidence and boldness. And after a while, he just started giving me assignments after assignments. And I just started influencing many people’s lives through Christ in me.
Today, I encourage you to say to God, “Here I am, send me wherever you want me to do” and stop making excuses.
- FIND OUT YOUR IDENTITY
I believe that there’s no limit to what God can do through your life. The challenge is that we have to find out who God says we are and believe it. You can find this everywhere in the Bible. I heard a quote from my devotion once that says “The only thing that would scare the enemy is when you find out your identity in Christ”. Our enemy is called the father of lies and he always attacks our identity. But when we learn to hear God’s voice and learn about the stories and how His people responded to His calling, everything changes.
Examples of people who aren’t sure about their identities are the Israelites, who never saw themselves as free people, but kept seeing themselves as slaves, or Saul, who never saw himself as a great leader. His insecurities kept him from being a great king and a great leader.
On the other hand, Peter thought he lost his position as an apostle because he denied Jesus, but when he found the grace and forgiveness of God, he was transformed. In the beginning, Jesus changed his name from fisherman to fisher of men. He wrote a very powerful message in one of his letters when he said ‘You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light’. And he said this to all of us who are reading his letter.
In my personal journey, I never saw what God put inside of me and called me to as long as I cared too much about what other people said about me or about what I thought about myself. I often feel insecure because of the mistakes that I’ve made in the past or some events that happened in my past. But don’t let your mistakes or your past define who you are.
Church, let’s all decide to believe that you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood (a priest connects people to God), a holy nation (meaning you are set apart from this world), and God’s special possession! You are not created and called to be a normal person but all of us have a special calling, in our job, our family, our ministry, and all other platforms God has given us.
- PURPOSELY FIND A GOOD LEADER AND SOMEONE TO DISCIPLE YOU
This is very important because all these years, for me, other people can look at my hidden gifts and calling that I didn’t know existed in my life before. They will guide you and lead you to Jesus, our Good Shepherd.
The last question is: why do we need to find our purpose? Because if not, we will not get excited about our daily life. Life would be so flat and boring without knowing why we are on this earth. The main reason is to be content, get excited about living with Christ, and not live for ourselves anymore.
Church, we are citizens of heaven, not of earth, therefore live like it and do not put your goals and purpose in this world. Each one of us is called to be an ambassador, we have a mission to fulfill, and that is, to make disciples and to spread the gospel across all nations. In other words, invite people to heaven, wherever you are. And at the end, our goal is so that God can say to us “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Amen.
Source : Global Young Professional Team
