In my last teaching, I talked about why every one of us needs to discover our purpose. Today I want to give you practical tips on how to actually discover it.

But first, let me take some pressure off you. Finding your purpose is not as difficult as many people make it sound. You don't have to force it. You don't have to worry about it or get agitated. You just start. And when you start in the right place, you will naturally find yourself walking in it.

Two Things We Must Settle First

Before anything else, we need to establish two facts.

The first is that everyone has a purpose. Every man, every woman, every child. Nobody is here by accident.

The second is that God made all men. And because God made all men, God is the designer of every man's purpose. He is the one who determines what the purpose is for every human being.

From those two facts comes something very important. There is a general purpose for which God made all of us, and every specific purpose is discovered from inside that general one.

The Rock of Your Purpose

So what is that general purpose? It is very simple.

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created" (Revelation 4:11, KJV).

God made every creature, and that includes you. You were made for His pleasure.

This is the bottom of your purpose. It is the rock it stands on. You could call it our universal purpose. Whatever specific thing God has called you to do, no matter the direction it takes or what the path looks like, it will somehow feed back into this one thing: giving God pleasure.

That gives you an acid test. Anything that doesn't give God pleasure is not in alignment with the purpose for which He made you.

Now, giving God pleasure doesn't mean you must become a cleric or work in a church. As I said before, your career is not your purpose. But God can give you a purpose inside a career. He can lead you to a discovery that makes people's lives better. That is very different from living only for your job, as if work is all your life is about.

You Can't Find It Without the Designer

Here is something you must not skip. You cannot fulfil your purpose without a connection to your Creator, because He designed the purpose in the first place.

People in the world talk about purpose too, but they usually mean living a goal-oriented life. What we are talking about is a divine purpose. And you cannot walk in a divine purpose in isolation from the One who designed it. You need a relationship with Him. That is why you must be born again.

Meet Mr. John

Let me make this practical with a simple example.

Mr. John is a Christian. He wants to walk in God's purpose for his life, but he doesn't know how to go about it.

Let's say God's plan is for Mr. John to reach people in the media space, changing lives through the Word of God with cartoons and 3D animations. Mr. John doesn't know that yet. As far as he can tell, his purpose could be anywhere: media, finance, anywhere at all. Purpose isn't restricted to any one area of life.

But here's the thing. Mr. John has a spirit, a soul and a body. And the tools he needs for his purpose are already in him, even before he knows what the purpose is.

He has skills. He has talents. He has a personality, a way he speaks, a way he thinks and reasons, things that resonate with him. Some skills can be learned by anyone, but your talents, desires and passions make some skills easier for you than for others. Some people just enjoy numbers, so learning statistics comes naturally to them.

So while Mr. John doesn't know the specifics, he does know one thing for sure: according to Revelation 4:11, he exists for God's pleasure. So he looks at what he has. He loves working with design software. That's just what he enjoys.

He begins to design images and create videos and animations that reach people with the gospel, because that gives God pleasure. Jesus gave us a direct instruction:

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19, KJV).

So Mr. John starts doing things that directly fulfil that instruction. Gradually he finds fulfilment and joy in it, and he does more. He didn't hear a thunderous voice or a big bang from heaven. He simply took what God had already put in him and pointed it toward God's pleasure. And he found himself walking in his purpose.

Is it that easy? Yes. God has placed so many abilities, blessings and opportunities around us, and they are there for the fulfilment of our purpose. Look at your skills, talents and passions. Look at your network, your relationships and your education. When you deliberately decide that all of these will be for the pleasure of God, and you build a way to make them work toward that, your purpose gets clearer and clearer as you live, until it becomes crystal clear.

One House, Many Builders

Here is another picture.

Imagine a rich man who wants to build a mansion on an acre of land. He doesn't know anything about building, so he buys everything someone recommends and spreads it across the plot: cement and sand in one corner, pipes and taps in another, roofing materials over here, electrical wiring over there.

Then he invites four men: a bricklayer, a plumber, an electrician and a roofer.

What happens when they arrive? Each one naturally goes straight to his own materials. The plumber starts looking at the pipes and imagining how he will run them through the house, even though it isn't his turn to work yet. The bricklayer's cement means little to him. Each man is drawn to what he has mastered.

There will be an order, of course. The bricklayer lays the foundation before the plumber and the electrician come in. But they are all building one house, and each builds it with his own skills and abilities.

That is how the purpose of God works. The general purpose is like the house: giving God pleasure. Inside it are specific purposes, already shaped by the skills, abilities and passions He gave each one of us. We find ourselves inside God's purpose, and we look for where we fit. As we keep walking with God, it grows and gets clearer.

There Is a Space Only You Can Fill

If you are supposed to be somewhere and you're not there, there is a gap. There is something unique about you.

Even if your purpose is to serve full time in ministry, and there are already many pastors, teachers and evangelists, there is still a space for you. Ministries have focused on healing for many years, and there are still sick people who need healing. There is room for everyone.

The Bible describes the same thing with the body of Christ:

"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Corinthians 12:27, KJV).

We are different parts of one body, and the whole body exists to live in fellowship with the Father and give Him pleasure.

Your place may be in church. It may be in another area of human endeavour entirely. It could be an invention. History tells us the brothers who gave us the airplane were Christians. Who knows? Maybe that was their purpose, and look how many problems it has solved for mankind.

It could even be the money you earn. If you work in accounting or finance, you don't have to do accounting inside the church for it to please God. The money you make can fund the kingdom, sponsor the work, or support an NGO, while you still spend time fellowshipping with the brethren.

Your Takeaway

Here is how to start discovering your purpose this week:

1. Settle the foundation. You were created for God's pleasure (Revelation 4:11). Every specific purpose fits inside that one.
2. Stay connected to the Designer. Your purpose comes from God, so walk closely with Him.
3. Take inventory. Write down your skills, talents, passions, network, relationships and education. The tools are already in you.
4. Point one thing at God's pleasure. Pick one skill and use it to obey what He has already said, like Matthew 28:19.
5. Keep going. Purpose gets clearer as you walk in it. You don't need a thunderous voice to begin.

I pray that as you desire to know your purpose, God will grant you insight and direction, and it will become easy for you, in the name of the Lord Jesus.

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God bless you,
Michael Adegoke