It’s so easy to fall into the rut of our daily lives that we forget that God has a divine purpose for every 24-hour window that we’re given. Yes, there are things that have to get done, to-do lists that have to be checked off, and errands that have to be run, but we don’t have to fall into the trap of the mundane. Instead, we can live an exciting life in pursuit of God’s purpose for us.
Do you ever feel like a hamster spinning in a wheel? You’ve probably seen these little animals before, running for what seems like forever without actually getting anywhere. It’s easy for life to feel like that. Depending on your personal list of responsibilities, every day may feel like one giant to-do list. Kids to take to school, reports to get filed at work, dinner to cook, extracurricular activities to attend, and any other number of tasks that need to be checked off before you can go to bed, and start over again the next day.
It’s easy to become so caught up in the “rat race” of life that we forget that every day has a purpose. Each morning, when God wakes you up, He does so with a goal in mind. That doesn’t mean that every day is going to be revolutionary. No, there will still be some days where nothing spectacular ever happens. However, when you embrace God’s purpose for every day of your life, you’ll find that life is exciting, regardless of how mundane it looks on the surface.
If you’ve ever wondered what you’re doing here anyway, keep reading. God has a divine plan for you.
Submitting Your Plans to God
Proverbs 16:1-3 (TPT)
Go ahead and make all the plans you want, but it’s the Lord who will ultimately direct your steps. We are all in love with our own opinions, convinced they’re correct. But the Lord is in the midst of us, testing and probing our every motive. Before you do anything, put your trust totally in God and not in yourself. Then every plan you make will succeed.
Arguably the most important part about finding your real purpose in your everyday life is found in submitting your plans to God’s will for your life. Undoubtedly, you have dreams, hopes, and aspirations. Not only is there nothing wrong with that, having those plans and goals is an important part of life. However, as God’s children, we have to keep our plans in subjection to His plans.
It’s not because God wants to overrule our hopes and dreams. However, it’s because we know that His plans for our lives is far better than our own.
When you put your goals and your plans in a secondary position behind God’s plans for your life, it becomes much easier to embrace His purpose for your life. This doesn’t mean that you don’t go to work and do your best every day. However, what if your primary goal every day was to walk in God’s design for your day? What would that look like?
It doesn’t have to be something life-altering. Is there someone in your office who is going through a tough time? Maybe they’ve recently lost a loved one or their marriage is struggling. Perhaps they have a close family member who is in the hospital, and they’re trying to pick up some of the slack and are showing the signs of fatigue. What if you got that person a cup of coffee when you stop to get yours tomorrow morning? Something simple, simply to let someone else know that you care about them is an example of fulfilling God’s purpose for you.
Something as minor as spending a couple extra dollars on a cup of coffee for someone else can be an example of you doing something God wants you to do tomorrow. Not only will it brighten their day, but it will brighten yours as well.
Understanding Individual Purpose
Colossians 3:2-3 (TPT)
Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm. Your crucifixion with Christ has severed the tie to this life, and now your true life is hidden away in God in Christ.
There are some purposes that are universal. For instance, in the example that we discussed earlier, God wants all of His people to show His love to those around us. Commandments like the Great Commission given at the end of Saint Matthew’s Gospel are universal in nature. All of us, as disciples of Christ, are called to make disciples. However, while there are universal purposes in place, God also has an individual purpose for you.
In Jeremiah 29:11, God told Jeremiah that He knew the plans that He had for them. Earlier in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5), God told Jeremiah that before he was ever formed in the womb, God had a plan and a purpose for his life. You can go to those two verses of Scripture and put your name in where the Bible says, “you.” Before God formed you in the womb, He knew you. Not only did He form you and know you, but He had a purpose for you.
One of the most exciting parts about the Christian life is found in recognizing and embracing your specific purpose. It’s important to note that there are no “big” or “little” purposes when discussing God’s plan for you. His plan for you may not include standing in front of a congregation and sharing the Gospel on a Sunday morning. His purpose for you may not include selling everything you own and flying off to a foreign country to live the life of a fulltime missionary. That doesn’t mean that His plans for you aren’t big, exciting plans.
Maybe His plan for you involves volunteering with your church’s children ministry. Perhaps He wants you to start a ministry in your neighborhood that provides food, hygiene products, and some other necessities to the homeless and less fortunate. Whatever the purpose is, understand that God set that plan into place before He ever formed you in your mother’s womb. Finding it is one of the most exciting things that you can ever do.
Does Your Purpose Seem Out of Reach?
James 1:2-4 (TPT)
My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can! For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up power within you to endure all things. And then as your endurance grows even stronger it will release perfection into every part of your behind until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.
When you begin to identify your God-given purpose, Satan will do everything possible to distract you from it and delay you from truly embracing it. However, James said that instead of letting ourselves grow discouraged in the face of this deferral and distraction, that we should count it as an opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can!
Life is often compared to a journey, so the idea of viewing God’s purpose for your life in that light isn’t a stretch. If you’re going on a trip and you run into a roadblock, do you give up on the entire trip? Of course not! You take the detour, or you wait for the roadblock to be cleared up and then you keep going toward your destination. You would never give up on a vacation or an exciting trip just because of a single hindrance.
In the same vein, we can’t give up on the pursuit of our divine purpose when we experience a roadblock on that journey. Satan wants to distract you from what God wants you to do. However, when you commit yourself to pursuing your purpose, those roadblocks aren’t anything that can stop you. Instead, they’re just a chance for you to learn more about who you are and who God is while you’re on your journey.
Many people are intimidated when they try to discern God’s will for their lives. They think that they have to find some level of super-spirituality where they are going to change the course of human history. However, God puts people in every industry, in every walk of life, solely to fulfill His divine plan for all of humanity. Finding and pursuing your personal role is the greatest adventure that life can offer.
A Closing Prayer:
God, help me to fully identify your purpose for my everyday life. I will not become stuck in the mundane. Instead, I want to enjoy this journey with You. In Christ’s name, Amen.