The Pursuit of Purpose

Are you struggling to find your purpose? I think most of us have a fairytale idea of searching for our purpose. We’re looking for that one big thing that is going to make a huge impact in the world or in the lives of the people around us. We’re looking for that one thing that we are going to be known for. But that just might be the problem. That might be why we struggle. Are we too focused on trying to be known ourselves, instead of making Him known?

If you’re struggling to find your purpose, I hope this next statement will put your mind at ease. There is not just one single solitary purpose that defines your life. Your purpose is made up of a million little things. Our ultimate purpose is to glorify God, but we all have different assignments that fulfill that purpose. Those assignments are what we should actually be searching for. Each one, whether lifelong or for just a season, are the building blocks that give our lives meaning.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1

Your current assignment might be motherhood, entrepreneurship, teacher or student; friend or caregiver; volunteer or missionary. When you identify your assignments, the places and space God has positioned you in, it’s much easier to see that your life has a special purpose, to glorify God and be a good steward of the relationships, jobs and opportunities that He’s placed in your life.

Accepting Your Purpose

Some of us know our purpose, but just refuse to accept it. We keep striving and looking for something else that we think is bigger or more important.

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21

But we can’t see the big picture. We can’t see God’s full plan, so who are we to determine what is and isn’t important? Something “small” that you are doing today could have a huge impact on history. It might be the thing that brings His whole plan together. So don’t be discouraged if you feel that what you’re doing isn’t “big enough”. Trust that it is where He wants you to be right now.

“He is a God who applies grace to the long view of life.” Charles R. Swindoll

Be encouraged, embrace this season of your life, knowing that you do make a difference while keeping your eyes and heart open to where He might lead you next. Whether it’s obvious to you or not, every day of your life is an important part of His plan.

Living Out Your Purpose

And what happens when you’ve found your purpose, but find yourself struggling to hold on? Sometimes we realize He has given us a special assignment, but there is some hardship involved or we don’t know how to prioritize it in our life. You know that feeling when your heart knows what you should be doing, but life just seems to keep getting in the way?

“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Colossians 3:23

It doesn’t matter if your current assignments involve starting a non-profit, cooking dinner for your family, traveling to the ends of the earth as a missionary, covering for that coworker who is out sick or going to school to get a PhD. Encourage yourself to live out your purpose every day. Remind yourself daily that everything you do is a special assignment that God has placed on your life. Do whatever it takes to stay encouraged. Join a community that will support you, write words of encouragement on sticky notes and post them around your home, have your favorite encouraging worship song on your phone ready at your fingertips. Do whatever you have to to make the most of the assignments God has entrusted you with and work at them as though you are working for the Lord!

 

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Jamila is the founder of loved+blessed. On her personal mission to leave a legacy of encouragement, she blogs about her own life lessons with the hope that it will bring joy into others’ lives and help them find the courage to keep walking in faith knowing that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. Read her testimony of how God turned her misery into ministry.