What is Your Purpose in Life?

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

Ephesians 1:12

Yes you! You were created by God for something wonderful. Do you know what it is?

In today’s blog post, we will ask that important question – What is my Purpose in Life?

I invite you to come along on a journey of insight.

Dilemma

When I was younger and busy raising children, trying to be a supportive wife, serving in my church, and growing a business, it seemed I would never get to a place in life where I could focus on my own dreams or to figure out what my purpose in life was.

Of course, the things I became busy with were important and I was the only one who could do them, however, when I did find a few moments for myself, I wondered who I was inside. What my purpose was on this big, beautiful Earth.      

Struggle

I struggled to figure out who I was for a while. You know at the core of my being. Without being a wife, mother, co-worker, daughter, friend.

For years I looked at myself tied to a role. I didn’t know who I was without one of these roles to define me.    

I decided it was time to find out my purpose in life.  

Determined, I cleared an hour or two from my schedule and drove to a park. I found the perfect spot overlooking the lush green grass and trees from inside my car. With pen and tablet in my hand I felt hopeful.

Insight

I asked myself a simple question.

“Who am I at the core of my being?” Just me, no other title to fall back on.

I prepared myself to write down quickly all the things which would come pouring out.  

I waited. And waited. Certainly something would come to mind. Nothing!

I couldn’t conjure up one single thing to write down. I had no idea who I was or what my purpose in life was.

It was a profound feeling. And I began to cry. Sob really. I felt blank inside. I knew nothing about myself.

Hope

I prayed. I asked God to help me discover myself. To help me unlock the woman inside which he created me to be. I read Romans 12:2 and was reminded, I could test and approve God’s will for me. His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

After calming myself, I realized something had to change. I couldn’t go through life not knowing anything about my likes, dislikes, my dreams, or my vision for the future.  

I needed to give myself permission to think about me. Angela. Not to become selfish, please understand that’s not at all what I’m saying. But for me to be all that God created me to be, I had to find out who I was.

• What am I good at? What are my talents and strengths?
• What are my favorite foods, movies, books?
• If I could do whatever I wanted, if money, or the right education were no object, what would it be?
• What is my purpose in life?

I left the park that day with renewed hope.

Discovery

I found an article which helped me a lot, and I want to share it with you. Over the following weeks I set out to figure myself out it clearly wasn’t going to happen quickly.

To help us to figure out our purpose, I suggest taking baby steps. Don’t be like me and expect everything to change overnight. It will only set you up to fail. Below are seven questions to ask yourself.

In his article, Seven Life Purpose Questions, Tony Stoltzfus suggests organizing around these seven themes.

1. Whose am I?
2. Who am I?
3. What has my whole life prepared me for?
4. Why do I desire this?
5. Where is the Master sending me?
6. When will this happen?
7. How will I get there?

He goes on to explain. 

1. Whose am I – Allegiance. It deals with our fundamental allegiance. Who are we living for? When the chips are down, whom have we chosen to serve?

• Who am I – Design. Covers your inborn nature: personality type, gifts, strengths, and talents.

• What has my whole life prepared me for – Preparation. We pick up valuable things along the way in life which shape your destiny: learned skills, work-and life experience, character, and self-understanding.

• Why do I desire this – Passion. Taps into our desire, passion, and motivation. Why is what I want to do important enough to give my life to it? Passion is a vital part of living an on-purpose life. To accomplish something extraordinary you need exceptional desire to finish the race.

• Where is the Master sending me – Calling. A calling is a commission that comes from outside of you to serve a larger end, (others, not you). Explore what God has revealed to you about your life mission, the people and needs you are drawn to serve, and the message of your life.

• When will this happen – Timing. Most of us express this question as, how long, O Lord? If your call is to own a business, it may be that now is the time to launch out, or you could have years of preparation ahead.

• How will I get there – Implementation. This will depend upon many things in your life. Tony Stoltzfus refers people to his Christian Life Coaching Handbook to find the answers to this topic.

Encouragement

What is my purpose in life?

It’s time to pull out your pen and tablet and answer the questions above. Have fun with this exercise. There is no right or wrong, and you can make changes along the way.   

• Pray. Ask God to open your mind and heart to what he wants to reveal.
• Share. Find your husband, sister, or friend and say what you discover out loud.

It makes it real when you can hear yourself say it.

• Plan. Break things down into doable action steps and follow through. 
• Refine. Don’t be afraid to change goals down the road.   

Conclusion

Oh, and what I discovered about myself is that I’m a visionary, love to learn, like to gather information, I’m social, I need relationships in my life, I like being needed and I’m a creative person. Who knew?  

Ask yourself – What is my purpose in life? What is God calling you to do?  

Contact me. Let me know how it goes.