God’s Purpose – The Millennial Perspective

This pandemic has taken our world by storm. With so much uncertainty in the world, I knew the only way I would mentally survive was by strengthening my relationship with God and trusting in his plans. I decided to start each day with prayer and asking God the same question, “What is my purpose?”. One night I was scrolling on Tik Tok (yeah you read that right). I came across this verse that shifted my prayer. Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” It clicked. God’s purpose. Not mine. 

I realized something about myself, but also about most people my age and younger as well. We do not really pray and ask God for his purpose for ourselves. We might pray and ask God for a job, financial help, or for a relationship to work. But we do not pray and ask God to reveal his purpose for our life. And if we do, are we living up to the purpose he reveals to us? 

This moment of revelation allowed me to see that I have been running from God’s purpose. How do I know that? I knew God’s purpose for me years ago, but I kept trying to live life MY way. Additionally, I kept feeling like I was not good enough or smart enough. I even felt like I was not “Christian” enough because I have made so many mistakes in life. I felt as if I should be the last person trying to encourage others spiritually. 

I am not the perfect Christian, I might not be the perfect friend or daughter. I struggle constantly with trying to live a life that pleases God and doesn’t conform to societal pressures. 

However, the more I strengthened my relationship with God daily, and when I started to shift my focus to align with God’s purpose for my life, the more I began to see that in his eyes, I have always been enough. 

This pandemic has helped or maybe forced me to come into agreement with my God-given purpose. Nothing God does is by accident. I had all these plans for my life from 2020. I had planned to move to a new city and start a new career and then the pandemic hit. I had my life all planned out. Yet, none of which I had prayed about or asked God for direction. They always say “if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” No matter what we think we have figured out for our life, God knows what we need, and when we need it. 

I am a firm believer in the fact that everything happens for a reason. Some things happen for us to open our eyes to see that some circumstances are seasonal. Whether that’s a job, a location, or a relationship. Just because a season ends, doesn’t mean it didn’t serve a purpose. And if it served a purpose, it only brings us closer to serving our God-given purpose. 

I know that God has a plan for my life. I am trying not to be so focused on the “what’s next”. I have navigated the last few years of my life always looking for the “next”. I am having to constantly make sure that the decisions I make in life are aligned with what God wants for me. 

Ultimately, we are here for God’s purpose, and we should want to take the path in life that God has for us. So as you decide to apply for that new job or promotion or start the new company, take a moment to ask the Lord for guidance and perfect discernment before embarking on that new journey. I remember my pastor saying, “There is a good idea, and there is a GOD idea”. A lot of the time, if something looks good it is easy to quickly jump on the bandwagon. But in my experience, this has always ended in tough lessons learned as a result of trusting my gut and not trusting God. In the end, God tells us that our steps are ordered. All we have to do is follow. 

God will never leave us nor forsake us. As the world around us begins to open back up and 2020 closes out, I pray that we all continue to draw near to God and keep his purpose for our lives.