Have you ever stopped to ask yourself, “Why am I here?”  No, I don’t mean while you’re in a certain geographical area or even at a certain point in your life. I mean, why are you here on this Earth? What is God’s purpose for you? 

My hope today is to talk to you about how to answer the call of God on your life. And we hear a lot about living an abundant life and loving others, but as Christians, our aim should be more than just happiness, it should be to live a life of purpose for our King. And when your life has a purpose, it drives your every decision, it guides your every step. When your life has a purpose it’s no longer about superficial satisfactions and more about the goal of hearing those wonderful words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”  

I spent a good part of my life wasting. I wasted my time, my talents, my money, my resources, you name it. If I had it, I squandered it and it wasn’t until I came to a place where I truly understood that I was a Christian and life, wasn’t my own. And while I don’t have to earn my salvation, there was too high of a price that was paid for me to not spend my life living for his glory. And my friend, I hope you feel the same way. 

If you’re feeling like a fish out of water, if you’re feeling like your life is falling short of his calling, I want to talk to you today about three imperative steps that you need to take to answer the call of God on your life. 

Step # 1 – Discover. 

How can you fulfill your purpose? If you can’t find your purpose and the discovery phase, the goal is to learn all about the awesome creation that is you and I don’t mean this in a self-focused narcissistic me-ology kind of way. I mean this in Psalm 139:14 kind of way that says,  “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful,  I know that full well.” 

God himself, the master craftsman created you before the foundation of the earth and he knew everything, every intricate detail about your formation that would contribute to fulfilling your purpose, but like Proverbs 25:2 says, “it is the glory of God to conceal a matter. It is the glory of Kings to search the matter out.”

My friend, you are fearfully and wonderfully made. God took the time to craft every detail about you, it’s your job to discover those details, learn your likes or dislikes, your temperament, and your talents. They were all put there by God. And when you enter the discovery phase, I want to encourage you to put aside the expectations of others besides the preconceived notions of what purpose and success should be. And start fresh and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you. And to teach you who you are after all, who better to turn from sin, than the one that created you? 

Step #2 – Develop. 

Mark 2:22 reminds us that “no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins and the wine is destroyed. And so are the skins by new wine is for fresh.” 

Once you’ve discovered how you are and who you are as a unique creation in Christ. My friend, it is time to begin the development phase. You didn’t think this was all just going to fall into place without some work, did you?  To successfully answer, the call of God on your life, you must have a mindset of growth and development. Whether that development means that you need to go back to school to cultivate a gift that God is giving you or to develop a healthy or more biblical mindset, anyone who has ever done anything powerful for God, has one thing in common, their development never stops. 

And one of the most important areas is the development of your character. Now, you could be called to a place of prominence, but without strong Godly character, you will not remain there. In the development phase, you begin to grow in your areas of discovery. The development phase is unique to each person. Maybe you go back to school or maybe you spend months in counseling to get healing for past pain. Maybe you even hire a coach to help you learn a skill or take the time to get to know God, on a deeper level, whatever it is that you need to develop personally professionally, and spiritually do it. You’re calling is worth that investment. 

Step #3 – Design.

Proverbs 21:5 says the “plans of the diligently surely to abundance but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”

Your purpose in life, will not fall into place on its own and no, I’m not encouraging driving and stepping ahead of God, but anything of value takes diligent planning and preparation. God does not reward the lazy and that includes procrastination. And in the design phase, your goal is to set goals, and answer questions, like “What are my next steps?” 

“What are the next steps that I need to start walking out my calling in life?”

Don’t worry if the picture isn’t complete yet, it never will be. Just start walking. Ask yourself,
“What are the things I can do today to start on this journey?

You have to get moving my friend, even God won’t steer a parked car. Once you have discovered yourself and made the commitment to develop, now, you can begin to set the plan in place to take your purpose from concept to completion. Of course, with the help of the Holy Spirit, it’s time to take action. All of your dreaming and praying will not amount to anything if you don’t apply feet to your faith. And I know it is your desire to hear those wonderful words, “Well, done my good and faithful servant.” 

And if you want a little more help, in learning what God wants you to do with your life, I want to encourage you to grab a free copy of our Uncover Your God-given Purpose Guide. And if you are ready to dive even deeper, I want to invite you to grab a copy of my book, Make it Matter. It’s a roadmap to helping you live a life of purpose.