How to Pursue God’s Purpose for Your Life

It was 2017, and God spoke to me. I had just listened to a conference talk by an NGO about the plight of refugees around the world, and it was now prayer time. The woman leading the prayers described how various injustices are part of this world’s darkness. She said, “I have a sense that there are some of you in this room who God is calling right now to expose those injustices. You will be like flares sent up into the darkness to expose them.”

When she said that, I felt profoundly that this word was for me. Then I felt a powerful-yet-loving force pulsating throughout my body. I turned to my friend Rachel and asked her to pray for me. She said, “Sarah, when I closed my eyes to pray for you, I saw a bright, pure white light.” Later that day, as we departed the conference, I still wasn’t sure what had happened or what that word would mean. But something deep within me had been sparked and a process was picking up a new pace.

While at university, I joined a wonderful organization called “Just Love,” which works to equip Christian students to follow God’s biblical call to pursue justice. Those years were formational for me. Precious friends who were—and continue to be—a blessing entered my life along the way. Our conversations spurred me on toward this calling. But my experience at that conference in 2017 was different. I had been spoken to by my heavenly Father about my purpose.

Lean into the Journey and Trust the Process

The journey since that day has not been straightforward. I felt deeply—and still do—that I am called to pursue justice. But the process so far has been a mixture of closed doors and opened ones.

Sometimes the process has looked like job rejections followed by a more exciting opportunity that I wouldn’t have been able to do had the other job worked out. Sometimes it has looked like amazing connections made through the church, linking up in ways I could never have imagined. Looking back, I can say the process has worked for my good. I am confident when I read God’s Word that this will continue to be the case as I lean into his call and discover what’s next. Romans 8:28 reminds us that “we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (NLT). This is true for all God’s people—and you, too.

Your experience of being called to God’s extraordinary purpose is unique for you. You might feel “zapped” by the Holy Spirit in a moment. Or it might be that you have a building sense of something meant for you. Perhaps a series of experiences lead you in a certain direction. Or it might be that you aren’t sure what your unique purpose is, but you keep trusting God for each next step. Maybe you have experiences of all the above!

Whether or not we have a strong sense of our purpose, we are invited to turn to our loving heavenly Father. Psalm 37:5-6 tells us that as we “commit everything [we] do to the Lord” to “trust him, and he will help [us]” (NLT). As we do this, “the justice of [our] cause will shine like the noonday sun.” As we “put [our] hope in the Lord” and “travel steadily along his path,” Psalm 37:34 tells us, “he will honor [us].” As we “take delight in the Lord, . . . he will give [us our] heart’s desires” (37:4). When we lean into journeying with God, we can trust that he is both holding and shaping us and our desires as we discover and pursue his purpose for us.

Running the Race with Jesus

As we figure this out, we are not alone—phew! In fact, all our individual purposes are part of the collective extraordinary purpose that we share as God’s children.

As we follow in Jesus’ footsteps, as we “think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people,” that helps us not “become weary and give up” (12:3). Furthermore, we see that Jesus has already fulfilled the prophecy set out in Isaiah 42:1-4 (quoted from Matthew 12:17-21, NLT):

“Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen.

He is my Beloved, who pleases me.

I will put my Spirit upon him, 

and he will proclaim justice to the nations. . . .

And his name will be the hope

of all the world.”