Today’s Post by: Rae Lynn DeAngelis
A comment that I frequently hear when ministering to others is, “It must be nice to know your calling in life. I’m still trying to figure mine out.”
Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For topped the New York Times Bestseller list for over ninety weeks. Tens of millions of copies were sold, shared, and devoured by readers around the globe.
Why did the book become so popular?
Because deep within the core of every human being there is an innate desire to matter, to know that our lives have meaning, to leave our mark on the world.
This longing is not a sin. It is not prideful or self-serving. Rather, our yearning for significance is aspiration and inspiration threaded into our soul at conception. God literally wove “purpose” into our DNA.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:14; 16)
While we were still in the warm, safe cocoon of our mother’s womb, God already knew the hopes, dreams, and plans of our lives. The Psalmist David’s revelation goes on to declare God’s foreknowledge of even the words we would speak.
“Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.” (Psalm 139:4)
It is mind boggling, but true.
“How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:17)
I will be the first to admit there is a great sense of fulfillment in knowing you are doing what God has called you to do.
I will also admit that I once struggled to know my purpose.
From the time I was a little girl, all I wanted to be was a wife and mom. I didn’t go to college because motherhood didn’t require a degree. Thank goodness. (Although, looking back, I sometimes wish it did. I can’t tell you how many times a “mommy manual” would have come in handy.)
I had no desire to have a career and felt completely fulfilled by motherhood. I loved being a wife, caring for our home, and raising our children.
But then something horrible happened. Our kids grew up. Despair set in and I felt a deep sense of loss for what I thought was the “end” of my God given purpose.
For a while I wandered aimlessly, looking for what I was supposed to do next. I was too young for my life to be over.
So how did I go from being lost and in despair to knowing in the core of my being what God was calling me to do?
First, I acknowledged to both myself and God that I wanted my life to matter. Then I began seeking God with intentionality. I had some prophetic sense that God held the key to my purpose-filled future. And for good reason.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
As I grew closer to God through an experiential relationship with Him, Jesus started opening my eyes and heart to see what He wanted to do next in my life.
There is something really amazing that happens when we grow closer to God. His desires, thoughts, and ways become our ways. The more I learned about God, the more I wanted to learn about God. To this day that intense desire has not diminished. My passion to know Him more is all consuming.
Eventually God set my feet on the path towards healing, and after Jesus set me free from the enemy’s lies, He taught me how to speak His truths into the lives of others.
Friends, I can’t tell you what calling God has for your life. But I can tell you where you to go to find out.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
Jesus holds the key to our purpose filled life.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
As long as we have blood coursing through our veins and oxygen pouring into our lungs, God has a purpose for our lives.
