Penning Our Purpose

What is your purpose?

If I asked you, what has God created you for, would you have an answer? If you don’t you’re in the right place. If you do, then you’re also in the right place because we can refine it and push it forward. How do we discover our purpose, refine it and move it forward? Here are three steps to start penning our purpose.

Get alone with God. Find a spot free from distractions. Yes, this is a challenge with all the beeps, tweets, tags, and pings we can get from our devices. It seems as if everything is an emergency and should have been handled yesterday.

However, I challenge us to let go of what feels urgent for a little while and settle into what is important. Quieting the world and tuning into the still, small voice aching to be heard by our hearts. God wants nothing more than to give us wisdom. James 1:5 (NIV) says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

He freely gives wisdom and direction to all who ask. Wisdom isn’t just for the person preaching on television or only for the woman at church who seems to have it all together, you know the one I’m talking about.

God is generous with His gifts and you are included in the word, “all”. The woman who has it all together is most certainly not me, but when I get alone with God, I’m filled with His presence and peace, which has allowed me to move along on to the next step in penning my purpose.

Write it down. I have prayer journals piled on my bookshelf filled with my requests and rants to God. Only recently have I taken time out at the end of my journaling to begin listening to God. I leave space in the early morning dawn to sit quietly and write down what I’m hearing from God.

What I write might have nothing to do with what I wrote about earlier or it might provide a glimpse into how I’m supposed to fix a problem which I played a part in or it might be a day for correction, which aren’t my favorite but deeply needed on my journey drawing closer to God.

This exercise may seem awkward at first, at least it was for me. Ask God for the ability to hear His unique voice created especially for you. He created only one of you, so His voice has a connection to your heart meant for you and you alone.

How God speaks to me, will not be how He speaks to you.

Write down what you hear. In time, you and God will grow in tune with one another and this divine experience will become easier. Even if what you hear seems weird, go with it.

God knows your heart and will speak to you. Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV) says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” This time of seeking God’s voice has become one of my favorite times of day and on some occasions has lasted even longer than the concerns I’ve laid at the cross. God knows the days when I need a little more encouragement and then there are the days where I need a little more movement, which leads to the last step.

Live it out. After we’ve heard from God, He expects action to follow the purpose He’s put on our lives. We could be the most brilliant author, but if we don’t put the words to page crafting the story God has put in our hearts, we are not living out our purpose.

Even if the story is only meant for us and God, if He has called us to write it, we must.

Living out the purpose we penned is about obedience and leaving the results up to God. In Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV), it says, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” When we allow the Lord to direct our steps, we can rest assured that we are living out our purpose.

If you need help staying on the journey to living it out, consider an accountability partner such as a friend, family member, someone in your church or even hire a coach to keep you moving forward in your purpose.

I challenge you to pen your purpose by getting alone with God, writing it down and living it out. Share in the comments below how you’ve penned your purpose to encourage others on their journey.