Aligning Your Life with God’s Vision: A Path to Purpose

I am an ENFP on the Myers-Briggs Personality Type. We are interested and truly love so many things. Some people have difficulty visualizing anything, including what they want in life. ENFPs may sometimes become intoxicated by all the life-direction flavors available and create an erratic path of experiential seasons in order to attempt to enjoy them all.

It's an experiential gluttony of sorts.

Missing God's Best Path

I think the gluttonous among us may miss God's best path as we never slow down long enough to savor and solidify one direction. At the same time, those more focused on the here and now may miss God's best path because they never look up and see that there are others to choose from. They have let the world box them into whatever their current circumstances have created. They are followers of fate, rather than creators of their journey.

Passion and Purpose: A Daily Necessity

For me personally, a day without passion and purpose sucks the life out of me. It is more exhausting than jumping in, seizing the day, and having things not work out as planned. Others fear "things not working out as planned" so much that they stick to the status quo.

The Leap of Faith

I have a framed picture with the saying, ”The jump is so frightening between where I am and where I want to be…because of all I may become, I will close my eyes and leap!”

And I honestly feel this way. You may be thinking that I mean huge, grandiose adventures and challenges. No, that isn't the point. Whatever the thing you are going after needs to match you.

I used to believe it was all about creating Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Since becoming a follower of Jesus, I have learned that His view of purpose and adventure is super different from the world's. The scales are entirely backward and ever-changing, and I believe they are different for each of us. Yes, I think He has specific plans for each of us, and in all of them, He matches our best path to us individually. These may even line up with our weaknesses just in case we ever get the impression that achieving purpose is our own doing.

Life as a Cumulative Journey

I have gone from being the kind of person who checks off the box of a goal accomplished and moves to the next to a person who sees life as one long cumulative directional goal that has milestones achieved or missed, obstacles to overcome, meaningful moments to celebrate, and grace and mercy to receive.

This is a gift from God.

The gift is to a.) know He has a personal path for you/me, each of us, b.) He won't force it on us, but if we follow it, it will bring purpose and passion to us uniquely. c.) I imagine it will be outward-focused on ways that the Lord can use us for His Kingdom and purposes.

This is a gift to be thankful for—a Thanksgiving-worthy life.

As we approach the time of year that we celebrate Thanksgiving, I want to challenge you to evaluate your life and purpose. Regardless of where you are in your journey, we give thanks that we have whatever time ahead of us; we give thanks for our relationship with Jesus, and I give thanks in advance for the path and plans He is providing coming up.

Reflection Needed

Earlier this year, I wrote a blog about intimacy with God. I believe we all have an innate need for this intimacy. To find it, we must relinquish self-protection, at least from Him. To be totally honest and open with God, we must risk leaning into our emotions and feelings. 

Are You Comfortable with Your Emotions?

If we can’t face ourselves, how can we truly share ourselves with the Lord? I get that he already knows what we think and feel, even without us acknowledging it. But, although possibly not theologically supported, I believe that if we keep it compartmentalized, as part of our free will choice, He chooses to relate with our conscious self. 

Who Is in Control Really?

If we try to control something in our own strength, He will let us. When we finally realize that our way isn't the best, He will be there, waiting patiently. And when we return to Him and say, "Lord, help!" He faithfully shows up in the way and timing we need most. 

I also feel this about our daily interactions with Him. If we are hiding from ourselves, He is going to interact with us in what we reveal. This circles back to the need to process our feelings and thoughts openly, at least with ourselves, to share them with Him.

God Will Help Us

To experience our feelings and thoughts sometimes requires an abundance of trust, faith, and belief that Jesus is who He says He is. Without it, we may open our heart's Pandora's box, and a messy explosion of overwhelming emotion might escape that we do not feel capable of handling on our own. But, if He is who He says, God will help us process, understand, heal if necessary, and lean into the plans He has for us.

Questions for Personal Reflection

So…..if you are up for it:

Do you feel like you have a purpose and calling for your life?

Do you feel like you have found and are following God's perfect path for you?

What areas of personal growth or healing do you need in order to be open to visualizing His path and taking the leap?

Is there anyone, including yourself, that keeps you from taking the chance to dream big dreams for your future?

Action Required

Dreams and plans reach our hearts as a disappointment if we never act. As we move forward in action, this disappointment can impact our relationship with the Lord and ourselves if we are not open to the Holy Spirit's navigation. Proverbs tells us that the Lord will make our paths straight. The visual I see in this verse and promise is me moving forward and implementing the plans as I see it. As I veer off track, the Holy Spirit nudges me back in the right direction.

Again, this requires an openness and faith. In our human nature, when we act and things don't work out, we believe it was a bad plan, path, and goal. We are disappointed in ourselves when our inner critic says, "I knew you couldn't do it."  

We thought our plan and actions were on point. But maybe they weren't. We will get there if we hold loosely to the exact tactics yet persevere into eternity with the direction and goals. At least we will get where we are supposed to be if we stay open to the Lord's leading.

Either way, if we don't act, nothing changes, which is great if you already feel like you are living out your vision of life and are on God's perfect path. As a counselor and coach, I have experienced most people don’t feel like this. 

Get Started on a Plan

Here are a few starter exercises:

• Define your vision and path in a short narrative paragraph.  Use creative description to bring your vision alive.
• Create a list of milestones that would indicate if achieved, you are on your way to your long-term vision.
• Create three short-term next steps that will get you moving to action.
• Pray for God to lead you and guide you to His perfect path for your life and work.

Enjoy the Journey

I know that is a cliche, but once we accept Christ as our Savior, we begin eternity and life with Him. We get to start now. Each day we live our life following Christ is a day of purpose.

If we don't look up to the resurrected Christ and instead continue trudging ahead, feeling like we are bearing our own cross, we will minimize the experience in this life to what the world has for us—the sin-infected world of other humans who have fallen.

Instead, we can follow God's path for us, enjoying the love of Christ each minute and looking ahead to the other sojourners we will come across and have an opportunity to bring along with us on this incredible journey.

Thanksgiving: A Time for Gratitude

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for Christ. He chose, saved, and continues to love and guide me. I try to show my gratitude by living my life for Him. And I am even more thankful that when I fall or get on the wrong trail, He cares enough to come after me and get me headed back in the right direction.

Thanks be to God.