IDK What to Do: 5 Steps to Living Into Your Purpose

Have you ever asked yourself, “What on earth is my purpose?” If so, you’re not alone. Desiring to understand the larger “why” behind our lives can help guide and inspire us to explore the inherent meaningfulness and purpose of our lives. Whether you’re just starting out in your career and wondering what direction God is calling you into, in the middle of life and longing to lead well those entrusted to your care, or you’re in or approaching retirement and eager to understand what God has for you in this new season, the work of clarifying your purpose is something for all of us to consider—regardless of age and stage.

Below you’ll find pieces of wisdom taken from Mark Roberts’s in-depth series, “Clarifying Your Purpose in the Third Third of Life.” Though originally written to those in the third third of life, we’ve adapted these steps to be for anyone looking to clarify the purpose God has for them.

1. Know and commit to God’s purpose for you.

A good starting place for clarifying your purpose is understanding God’s purpose for everything.

Ephesians 1 gives us an interesting glimpse into God’s cosmic and predetermined purpose in Jesus Christ (Eph 1:4). Through Christ God is restoring the whole cosmos that was broken by sin, and has a plan for “the climax of all times: to bring all things together in Christ, things in heaven along with the things on earth” (1:9–10 CEB). God will unite all things in Christ, restoring the whole universe to what God had intended from the beginning.

Not only that, but according to Ephesians 1:11–12, Christians are the beneficiaries of and participants in this work of redemption by reminding us that in Christ we have “been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.” In other words, our purpose in Christ is to live for God’s glory in everything we do.

When we consider what it looks like to live for God’s glory, I’m sure many of us consider things like going to church weekly, feeding the homeless, praying alone in our rooms, and reading our Bibles. While these are good and appropriate ways to live for God’s glory, they’re not the entire picture.

Ephesians 2:8–10 says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” It’s crucial to note that we have been saved not by, but for good works. We don’t earn our salvation by what we do, but it comes by grace received through faith. But we do express our salvation through the good works God has for us to do: in our work, families, friend groups, finances, prayers, and play.

It’s through this connection that we realize that our purpose is about far more than ourselves.

It’s here that we begin to recognize that our purpose is directly connected to God’s purposes for all things. It’s through this connection that we realize that our purpose is about far more than ourselves.

2. Seek and surrender to the Lord.

The Bible invites us to continually seek God. Jesus himself commands us in Matthew 7:7 to make multiple efforts to inquire of the Lord: “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Matt 7:7). Here, Jesus is inviting us to be participants in our own understanding of our purpose and life.

And yet, in the search for purpose, we must also surrender our life to God. Jesus teaches us to say to our Father in heaven, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10). When we pray, “Your will be done” we are implicitly adding, “And not my will.” A few verses later in Matthew, Jesus adds, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else” (Matt 6:33, NLT). When we do this, we are choosing God’s will over our own, surrendering to God’s gracious sovereignty. In a profound way, Jesus models that kind of prayer in Gethsemane when he prays, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want” (Mark 14:36). Our experience of God’s limitless goodness enables us to pray more truly and fully, “Your will be done.”

This can be a challenge, surrendering to God. Here is where the prayer of St. Ignatius, known as the “Suscipe,” can be especially helpful. Suscipe is a Latin word meaning “receive or take,” and is the first word in this prayer by St. Ignatius as it appears in Latin. The Suscipe goes like this: Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. All I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace. That is enough for me.

3. Consider your gifting and desires.

Psalm 139:14 includes this memorable and moving line: “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Each human being is a unique creation of God. Even though sin corrupts the goodness of creation, every person still bears God’s image. God has given everyone, including you, distinctive talents, strengths, personality traits, perceptions, and spiritual gifts.

If you’re unsure what exactly your strengths, traits, and gifts are, I’d urge you to first ask people who know you well. They will help you see things about yourself that you may not be able to see on your own. Then you could explore various tools that will identify your particular strengths, motivations, and personality. Possible tools include:

• The CliftonStrengths assessment (formerly StrengthsFinder)
• The Enneagram
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

None of these tools has cornered the market on identifying “who you really are.” However, they could help you see things about yourself that you haven’t before. By paying close attention to how God has made and gifted you, you will be helped in the effort to clarify your purpose. This suggestion alone won’t answer all of your questions about purpose and calling, however. But it will allow you to say with greater confidence, “Whatever my purpose is in the future, it will help me to exercise these gifts, strengths, etc.”

God has given everyone, including you, distinctive talents, strengths, personality traits, perceptions, and spiritual gifts.

4. Experiment your way forward.

Sometimes we think we need to have our purpose all figured out before we can begin to live into it. To be sure, this is how it works for some people. But many of us get stuck because our expectations are out of sync with reality. We keep waiting for a kind of clarity that just doesn’t seem to come.

You don’t need to fully clarify your purpose before you begin to live into it. It’s often better to try out different possibilities first. Dave Evans and Bill Burnett, co-authors of the bestselling book Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life, write: “Life design is an iterative [that is, frequently repetitive] process of prototypes and experimentation.” You try something new—a prototype—and see what happens. You learn from this experiment and then try something a little different, to see how that goes. The goal is to take small steps and experiment with things to see what happens, rather than trying to get it perfect the first time. A few examples of some modest-sized risks you could take in your job to help clarify your purpose are asking for additional responsibility, taking a course in something that interests you, or even asking to lead a workshop for your team on something you feel excited and passionate about. You could also try our Road Ahead course, designed to help you identify your next doable risk and execute it.

5. Pay attention to your joy and gratitude.

Distinguishing between joy and happiness can be difficult. An article in Harvard Health Publishing observes,

“Joy and happiness are often used interchangeably. However, happiness technically refers to the pleasurable feelings (emotions) that result from a situation, experience, or objects, whereas joy is a state of mind that can be found even in times of grief or uncertainty. Thus, we can work on cultivating joy independent of our circumstances.”

It’s not necessarily wrong to be happy or to seek happiness. If you are living into your purpose for life, you may very well feel happy at times. But joy is so much more than feeling happy. Our colleagues at the Thrive Center for Human Development offer insight into the nature and experience of joy. Dr. Pam King writes,

“Joy is found when we are living into our uniqueness, strengths, and interests. Additionally, being made in God’s image requires that we pursue our uniqueness in unity—with God and with one another. Consequently, joy is deeply intertwined with our connection with one another. We experience joy as we become more fully ourselves–with and for others and God.”

Rebecca Baer observes in “Deep Fulfillment Through the Practice of Joy” that “the experience of joy is intricately tied to how we define what is good in the world: we experience joy when we celebrate things in ourselves, relationships, or surroundings as being truly good.” For Christians, Baer adds, this means “True joy blossoms into life when we see and celebrate love in the world as that which is truly good.”

Additionally, joy is often expressed in gratitude. When we experience joy, we are moved to give thanks, not so much for the experience of joy as for the goodness on which it is based. We see a close connection between joy and gratitude in Scripture. The prophet Isaiah, for example, envisioned a time when “the LORD will comfort Zion.” On that day, “joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song” (Isa 51:3). Or consider what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, “How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you?” (1 Thes 3:9). Joy inspires and finds appropriate expression in gratitude.

Joy is so much more than feeling happy.

Though joy can lead to gratitude, sometimes the flow goes in the other direction. Brené Brown writes, “The relationship between joy and gratitude was one of the important things I found in my research. I wasn’t expecting it. In my 12 years of research on 11,000 pieces of data, I did not interview one person who had described themselves as joyful, who also did not actively practice gratitude.” But, according to Brown, gratitude doesn’t just follow from joy. “Instead,” she writes, “practicing gratitude invites joy into our lives.” If you’re looking for simple ways to begin this practice of gratitude, explore “3 Gratitude Practices” for some ideas.

If you’re curious to learn more about how to clarify your purpose, check out Mark Roberts’s entire series here.