Every at some point in their life wonders this thing, "What is my purpose in life?" Were we not all created for something greater than just existing?
As Christians, our purpose in life has to do with what is called the ultimate will of God. The will of God is the desires that God has for our life. This will has both general and specific aspects to it.
First, let's go over the general. The general aspects of the will of God is what God wills for everyone. God wants everyone to get saved, this is the general will of God. God wants everyone to live moral lives. God wants everyone to soul win. God wants everyone to go to church. These things can be found by reading the Bible and following its instructions.
Second, there is the specific will of God. These are things like, what occupation should I have? Who should I marry? Where should I live? What should I spend the core of my life doing?
Most of this book talks about following the general will of God, but today, let's talk about the specific will of God.
To start, a Christian will not find the ultimate fulfillment they are looking for in life until they surrender there heart to God not just for salvation, but for doing His will. A person can be saved, yet discontented and empty, if they are not willing to surrender to the general and specific will God has for them. Many a person will say they got saved when they were young but were very unhappy until they also decided to surrender their lives to God. That is because God has a specific will for each of us that He created us to fulfill, and unless we do it, we will not be completely happy and content.
So, you may be asking, how do I know the specific will of God? Well, there are a few ways we can know these things.
First, pray. Pray for God to reveal His will to you. Fast about it. Let God know that you want to know His will for your life.
Second, do the general will. Go soul winning, pray for others, live a godly life, and read your Bible. Honestly, if you just did this, you would be doing a large portion of the specific will. As you follow His general will, His specific will often becomes more clear. If you only date the kind of people the Bible says to, you will eventually marry who God wills. If you soul win like the Bible says, you will spend your time reaching others like the Bible says. If you don't though, how can we expect God to reveal the specifics of His will to us?
Romans 12:2 - And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 - For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
1 Thessalonians 5:18 - In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Third, remember desires can be for good and evil. Desires are sometimes placed inside us by God because God wants us to do those things. For example, David was led by God to begin building the temple by a desire to do it. Sometimes desires are just personal wants though that God does not want. How do we know the difference? If the desire is a wicked one or driven by an ungodly thing like pride or selfishness, it is not from God. For example, David also wanted to number the people, something God specifically said not to do. If our desire is something like that, we know that no matter how much we may desire that, it is not from God. We also should tell God to make our desires His will.
Proverbs 16:3 - Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Proverbs 16:9 - A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.
James 4:13-15 - Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Forth, use common sense. We are called to have faith, and sometimes faith is not sensible, but the Bible says that the will of God involves being wise. God will not call you to do things that are pure foolishness. Maybe foolishness in the eyes of the world, for example, being a missionary in a country where conversion to Christianity is punishable by death, but never foolish in an anti-Biblical sense. For example, God does not call people to go five thousand dollars in debt or mouthing off to the police. These things are unwise and can even be sinful.
Ephesians 5:7 - Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord [is].
Fifth, listen to the Holy Spirit. When He tells you to do something, it is always a good idea to do it. Another thing often wondered is how can you tell if it's just you or the Holy Spirit? This may sound silly, but when you are a Christian, a lot of times, you just know. Sometimes you don't, but you usually do. If not, I would recommend continuing to do the above things listed to be able to discern the Holy Spirit.
Sixth, opportunities or circumstances may be God's will. Esther wasn't planning to become the queen of an empire. The opportunity just opened up and it just kind of happened to her. This was God's specific will for her life though, for her to be queen so that Israel could be saved. God may have doors open or close or circumstances happen because they are in line with His will.
Acts 16:6 - Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
Esther 4:14 - For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Finally, be willing to accept that you may not just magically know every single detail of God's will for your life. You have to come to terms with this. There are things you won't know. There are things you won't understand. There are things God just won't tell you. And that's ok. If you don't accept this, you will honestly cause yourself a lot more anguish and anxiety than there needs to be. I know that this is hard to accept, but it's something that one needs to.
The most important things to listen to on this list, I would say, our the Holy Spirit, the general will that we all know, and prayer and fasting. These things trump anything else mentioned on this list. Under this then, we need to listen to our God given desires, circumstances, and common sense.
Also, there's this thing commonly taught that the will of God is whatever your pastor or parents or other authority in your life says. Look, I totally believe we are called by God to honor and respect our authority and listen to what they say, but that is NOT a biblical idea. God says that His desires are to take precedence over your mother, father, and government. Your pastor is not a mediator between you and God. He is a leader of the church, yes, and definitely you should take his advice into consideration, but he is not Jesus. It will be a rare occurrence when he will know specifically what God wants you to do, if ever. This story is a reminder of this fact.
1 Kings 13: 9-24 - And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
I'm sorry, that was super long, so if you skipped it, this is what happened in brief. Basically, this prophet was invited by a king to dinner, and he said no, because God says not to eat or drink at anyone's house but to go straight home. On the way though, this much older prophet hears about him and goes to him and invites him for dinner. The younger prophet again refuses and says why. The older prophet lies, saying that HE got a message from God saying that God said it was ok. The young prophet has dinner with the old prophet and then the young prophet is killed by a lion for disobeying God. So, just because someone older and wiser and even a godly person, tells you to do something, if you know the will of God is something different, always listen to God over them. ALWAYS. I'm not saying you'll die, maybe, maybe not. But it won't be near as good spiritually or maybe even physically then if you had listened.
So, listen to what you know God wants you to do. Use your gifts for His glory, and TRUE fulfillment in a spiritual sense and knowing you are doing your purpose will come.
Romans 8:23 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.