Heath has a problem I think all of us have at some point. He wants to feel like he has a purpose. Like what he’s doing is leading him toward an important goal. Like what he’s doing matters.Every champion needs a plan—plus a secret move or two.
Dear Jeffrey,
I’m seventeen and graduating from high school this year. I have already decided on which college I will attend, but have not declared a major. I haven’t been sexually active, partied, or made any huge choices I now regret. I guess you could say that I have done pretty much what I am supposed to do up to this point. But what is bothering me is that I don’t feel like I have a purpose in life right now. I have been praying all the time, asking God to show me what he wants for my life but have not received a clear direction from him on my future. I want to do his will, but I can’t say that I really know what his will is. How am I supposed to live for God when I am not sure what it is that I have been created to live for? Any advice you can offer me would be great.
Thanks,
—Heath
Heath has a problem I think all of us have at some point. He wants to feel like he has a purpose. Like what he’s doing is leading him toward an important goal. Like what he’s doing matters.
Clearly understanding your purpose in life, and then knowing how to live out that purpose, isn’t always easy. But know this: God doesn’t want to keep you in the dark about what you were made to do. His timing may be different from yours, but he wants to reveal more of himself to you daily. And as you grow in him, God’s plan for your life will become clearer.
Heath asked me three questions in his letter:
1. Do I have a purpose?
2. How do I know what my purpose is?
3. How do I live out my purpose?
There’s nothing wrong with asking these questions—and maybe not getting all the answers right away. What’s important is how you choose to handle the search for your purpose. Hopefully my answers to these three questions will help you.
We’ve already discussed this question a little bit in chapter 5. When I explained to you how to obey God, I said that an important part of obedience is believing he has a purpose for you. Do you believe that now? Or are you still not sure?
Some people have to wait much longer than they’d like to find out what their purpose is. And while you’re waiting, you can start doubting. If you’re still questioning whether God really has a plan for your life, read these verses:
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible,… everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. (Colossians 1:16, MSG)
But with your own eyes
you saw my body being formed.
Even before I was born,
you had written in your book
everything I would do. (Psalm 139:16, CEV)
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me.
(Psalm 138:8)
You are no accident. Psalm 138:8 proclaims that God will fulfill his purpose for you. You do have a purpose. It’s a God-given purpose. And God wants to help you fulfill it. But while you’re waiting for your “big” purpose, you also have a purpose that’s constant, from the moment you accept Christ until the day you go to live with him in heaven—witnessing to others. I’ve said it again and again: your greatest privilege—and your greatest responsibility—is to be God’s mirror in your world. This is a purpose you don’t have to wait for God to reveal to you.
Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out. (John 1:3–5, MSG)
God planned all of creation before time on earth began. Before there was light, animals, food, mountains, oceans, or deserts, God had it all planned out in his heart. And when he dreamed the idea of creation, you were a part of that dream. He dreamed you. So no matter how insecure you feel, no matter how unworthy you feel, no matter how afraid you feel, you can’t let that stop you from pursuing God’s purpose for you. When you’re asking and he’s not answering, you have to trust he will answer someday. And until then, you have to do all you can for him. You can’t sit back and think, When I lose twenty pounds, then I’ll feel better about myself and I’ll be able to talk to people about God. Or I don’t know enough about the Bible yet to do anything for God. Once I know more, then I’ll do what he wants. You’re who he made you to be right now, and he has things for you to do right now. Don’t let anything hold you back.
Wouldn’t it be great if every day you received an e-mail from God with specific instructions to get you through the day? How cool would it be if God gave you a road map for the day detailing what you should do, where you should go, who you should talk to, and what you should avoid? It seems like life would be much more manageable that way, doesn’t it? Never having to question, think, or make tough decisions. Never second-guessing your choices or wondering, What if?
What would happen if today God decided to reveal to you every detail about the rest of your life?
• who you’ll marry
• what your occupation will be
• what your children’s names will be and what they’ll look like
• how those closest to you will die and when
• exactly when, where, and how you’ll die
At first, it may seem cool to have an inside scoop on the rest of your life. However, after a while, living that way would also be pretty boring. Life would become nothing more to you than a checklist of events. There would be no wonder, no adventure, no anticipation, and no quest. You’d simply clock in, perform your duties, and then clock out. You’d never be driven to figure anything out or search for the answer or prayerfully seek God’s guidance to find the right way to go. Life would be routine and meaningless.
There’s a word that perfectly describes the kind of person you would become: robot.
God could choose today to give you the blueprints to the rest of your life. And there are times when that offer might seem very tempting. However, when God created you, he didn’t create a robot. Instead, he created a man who thinks for himself. And remember, being made into the man he desires isn’t always easy. And finding your purpose isn’t either. But when you do find it, you’ll celebrate so much more because you worked to get there instead of just letting God hand you the solution. Until then, though, it’ll take time.
It’s impossible to consistently know and do God’s will if you don’t spend time with him. The Bible is a guide for our lives that God has given us.
Look at Psalm 119:104–105:
I gain understanding from your precepts.…
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path.
Psalm 119 makes it clear that by spending time in the Word, you’ll gain understanding. As you commit to spend time in the Word, you’ll develop a greater understanding of who God is. As you begin to know him more, he’ll reveal to you a greater understanding of his plan and purpose for your life.
One Passage of Scripture + Once a Day + One Week = Finding Your Purpose Repetition is key. There are times when I read the Bible and then forget what I read as soon as I walk away. Going back and reading the same verse over will help you absorb the truth of Scripture. And this is the way to live a life that honors God:
How can a young person live a clean life?
By carefully reading the map of your Word. (Psalm 119:9, MSG)
Here are some creative ways to spend time in the Word:
1. Grab your Bible and journal, and find your favorite quiet spot—a park, your backyard, or the lake.
2. Go to Starbucks for some Bible and bean time.
3. Get a few friends together for a sleepover, and instead of watching a movie or talking about girls, start a conversation about a scripture you’ve been reading and encourage each other to spend more time in the Word.
4. Start a Bible club at your school. Commit to meet once a week to dive into the Word and pray together.
Write down the answers to the following questions about your closest friend:
• What’s their favorite color?
• Who’s their favorite musician or band?
• What’s their MySpace address?
• How many times have they been to the principal’s office?
Have you ever stopped to wonder why you know so much about the people in your life who are important to you? The reason is, you’ve made it a priority to spend time with those people. In short, time = knowledge.
The same is true when it comes to your relationship with God. You’ll know him better as you spend time talking with him. When you do, he’ll reveal himself to you in ways he never has before. And the more time you invest in your relationship with God, the more important your relationship with him will become to you.
Look at what Mark 11:24 says:
That’s why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you’ll get God’s everything. (MSG)
Mark 11:24 says it all: embrace a life of prayer with God, and God will give you everything.
1. Escape
Prayer can happen anytime, anywhere. But choosing a specific place to escape to, away from distractions, can help you focus on God and not on the busyness of your life.
2. Schedule
Strive to develop a habit of praying at the same time each day. Log it on your PDA, phone, or laptop, and treat prayer just like a daily meeting. If you’re not a morning person, don’t sweat it. Make your prayer time an afternoon thing after school or in the evening before bed. There’s no right or wrong way to do it. Find out what works for you, and stick to it.
3. Shuffle
Shuffle your prayer experience. One day pray for yourself, the next pray for someone at school, then a family member, then a friend—you get the point.
4. Journal
Keeping a prayer journal is a great way to keep your prayer life organized. This’ll remind you of specific things you want to pray for and help you see how God answers so many of your prayers.
5. Talk
Talk to God like you would talk to your best friend over coffee.
Consider all the things you listen to:
• music
• friends
• MTV
• your dog (questionable …)
• parents
Now consider how much time to you spend listening to God. As we discussed in chapter 5, God wants to talk to you. Proverbs 1:5 says, “Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” Choosing to listen to God will help you gain understanding of the purpose he’s created you for.
give it a shotA high-school boy named Christopher told me that his drive time to school is typically the time when he pops in his favorite CD. In his effort to spend more time talking and listening to God, he made a commitment to spend the first half of his twenty-minute drive listening to music and the second half praying and listening to God. He explained that applying this to his morning commute has been a positive way to start living a God-focused day. Find a little window in your life to give over to God. Just a small amount of time spent with him will make a big difference.
We live in an instant-message, ATM, DSL, drive-through, got-to-have-it-now world. Waiting isn’t always fun. And sometimes it really stinks. But God says sometimes waiting is a necessary part of realizing our true purpose in life.
Moses waited 40 years before fulfilling his purpose to help lead the Israelites out of captivity. Noah built an ark and waited 120 years before it ever floated. David waited many sleepless nights, hiding in caves and running for his life, before becoming the greatest king in the history of Israel.
God may choose to reveal to you the fullness of his plan and purpose for your life in the next five minutes, five years, or fifty years. But no matter how long the wait, choosing to wait faithfully will be much easier for you than choosing to wait miserably. But this is a difficult step to master. You have to focus on the reward that God says comes to those who choose to wait for him:
Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
(Isaiah 40:31, NASB)
If, like Heath, you find yourself frustrated over the uncertainty of your future, be encouraged. You’re never alone. We’ll have times when we’re anxious to know where we’re headed in life. And God understands how you feel. Rather than have you frustrated by the uncertainty, he wants you to use this time to rely on him even more. I know that waiting isn’t on your list of favorite things to do, but learning patience is essential if you want to grow as a Christian. It could be that God has you right here in this moment because he too is waiting—waiting to have your undivided attention, waiting patiently for you to give him all of yourself.
The waiting process may make you feel like a little kid lying in bed on Christmas Eve, anxiously anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus—and all the gifts he has for you. But really, waiting isn’t a passive process. It requires action on your part. Which leads to the final question Heath asked in his letter.
First, be confident. Remember that one of the Foundational Truths of this book is: God’s Word is truth. If he says it, he means it. Look at the promise God gives you in Philippians 1:6:
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
In his letter, it’s obvious Heath is struggling with believing that God created him with a purpose. Heath assumed that because God had not fully disclosed this purpose to him yet, there was no purpose at all. You may be in Heath’s position right now. It may not be time for God to fully reveal his plan to you. However, you can confidently move forward one day at a time believing that God will finish what he started when he created you. And you can know that, while you’re waiting, you have the daily purpose of being Jesus to every person you meet.
You may be thinking, Jeffrey, how am I supposed to live out my faith confidently when I don’t even really know what my purpose is? Well, that’s a great question. And fortunately, I have a great answer for it:
Be firm in your faith. Stay brave and strong. (1 Corinthians 16:13, CEV)
Living out your purpose requires tremendous faith.
Check out what Hebrews 11:1 says: “Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see” (CEV).
Even when you don’t have all the answers, and even when the direction you should go in life is about as clear as mud, you’ve got to be willing to trust God if you want to find and live out his plan for your life. Even when it doesn’t make sense. And even when it doesn’t feel fair.
I know the word faith can be difficult to adequately define. For me, living a life of faith means that I strive every day to live more for God than I did the previous day. And tomorrow, I’ll work to repeat that process.
The older I get, the more I realize that finding and living out God’s plan for our lives isn’t necessarily about arriving at a destination. Rather, it’s more about a journey. With every step we should become more like him, and every day we should surrender more of ourselves to him. When we walk that path, our formation—our transformation—can continue.
I guess you could say then that the process of becoming the man God made you to be doesn’t end until you breathe your last breath. I think that’s what Paul was describing in Ephesians 4:13 when he said, “This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him” (CEV).
No WaySo, you’ve made me read almost this entire book just to tell me that becoming the man God wants me to be is something that never ends. I’ll never actually become that man until I die? That’s not what I wanted to hear. It almost sounds like things would be easier on my own.
Okay, I know at first it sounds pretty tough … and even disappointing. But really it’s nice to know that, as long as you live, God’s working in you to make you better. You never get to a point where God’s like, “That’s all I can do with you. This is as good as you’ll get.” There’s always more good stuff to come. I know I’m still learning and growing in my relationship with God. I definitely don’t have it all figured out yet. But I finally came to a point in my life where I was willing to completely surrender it all to him. I’m trying really hard to trust where he has me today and where he wants to take me tomorrow.
I guess … but that sounds kind of exhausting and scary.
Sure, it can be. But knowing I’m being made into something bigger than I’ll ever become on my own helps me to remove the fear and just embrace the journey. Plus, God never makes mistakes, so what he’s offering may sound hard, but the outcome will be better than anything you can do on your own.
Hear me clearly: It is not always easy to live the way I’ve described, especially when we live in a world that’s trying to pull us away from God. So when you fail, don’t beat yourself up. Just get back up and start again. Remember, being made into the man he desires is not about perfection. It’s about consistency.