Have you been struggling recently with discerning what God’s purpose is for your life? Have you been unable to shake that feeling that God wants more from you, that He has some larger purpose for your life? I would suggest that if you haven’t experienced at least occasional uncertainty about why you’re here, you probably haven’t been doing much. I believe that as we do more, we in turn want to stretch ourselves even further for the Kingdom, and that often leads us to wonder why we’re so clueless about what God has in store for our lives.

Well, this is your day. You see, I’m going to let you in on God’s will for your life!

But before I let you in on God’s purpose for your life let me tell where I’m coming from. For the better part of a year now, I have sensed very strongly that there is something specific that God is calling me to do. I’ve struggled with it, wept over it, and asked a number of people to pray with me about it. I’ve even gotten mad about it. “God,” I insisted, “you’re wasting valuable time. Until you tell me what great mission you have for me, it’s being left undone!” 

Well, finally I found out what I’m supposed to do. And as I said, the Lord told me what you should be doing, too. 

John 21 records the time shortly before Jesus’ ascension into heaven. One passage provides an account of an encounter with Simon Peter, appropriately for me, a fisherman. Just before Jesus was led away to be crucified, Peter had sworn to lay down his life for Him, but, as we know, he denied Christ three times. Now that it’s set up, and based on my understanding of the original Greek through the Zondervan Commentary, here’s the Johnson paraphrased version of John 21:15-22. 

Jesus said, “Simon, do you love me intensely, more than these other guys?” Peter replied, “Of course, Lord, I have great affection for you!” So Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 

But Jesus asked a second time, “Simon, do you love me with your entire being?” And Peter replied, “Like I said, I’m tremendously fond of you.” Jesus said again, “Then feed my sheep.”

Shortly Christ said, “Simon, is your fondness for me really all that deep?” and Peter, was troubled, not just because Jesus questioned him the third time but because on this third inquiry Jesus changed the level of devotion he was questioning him about. So Peter admitted, “Yes, Lord, you know everything. You know I love you, but not in the way you require of me.” Jesus replied yet again, “Then feed my sheep.” 

Then Jesus said to Peter, “Come walk with me.” And seeing John tagging along, Peter said, “What about him?” Jesus responded, “What’s that got to do with you? This is about you and you must follow me.”

What a revealing passage! And it may seem general but it is, oh, so explicit! In it we find God’s purpose for our lives. In it is God’s will for your life. It’s the same thing that it is for me and the same thing that it was for Peter. We are to follow Him and feed His sheep! 

When Peter determined to do that, God unfolded His plan for Peter’s life day by day. 

I am persuaded now that God has simply told me to give each day to Him every morning and ask Him to equip me for what comes that particular day. And whenever I say, “What about that other guy?” or “What about the rest of my life?”, He just says, “What’s that to you? Follow Me daily and feed my sheep daily.” 

Probably right now you’re saying that, after the initial buildup in the opening paragraphs about revealing God’s will for our lives, what I’ve given you is sort of a cop-out to the larger issue of God’s purpose for my life – or your life. But I maintain that, instead of getting off light, this way is much more demanding than getting a set of detailed marching orders for our future. For we now have to wait and see how it unfolds day by day. It’s tougher to concern ourselves with God’s will for our lives than it would be to get the whole picture at once about God’s WILL for our lives. 

But it’s also liberating. We no longer have to worry about the big picture. It’s enough for God that we give ourselves to Him daily to feed His sheep. It may very well turn out that we wind up in the Ministry with a capital "M" but it will be because we have been faithful in our “ministry” with a small "m." And though we may indeed find ourselves involved in some Godly undertaking that everyone will agree is glorious and essential, that eventuality too, will be because we were faithful in the small things that God considers equally glorious and equally essential. 

So while I may still be clueless about what God has in store for me long-term, at least now I’m clueless to a certainty! For me right now it’s as simple as giving each day to the Lord, watching for open doors, not fearing to use my heart and mind to try to see where some possibilities might lie, but to primarily feed His sheep daily and follow Him daily. 

“Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:34

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'” – James 4:13-15