Discovering God’s Plan For Your Life

“God doesn’t want you to barely survive. He wants you to know that you have a reason to live and a great purpose in doing so.” Stormie Omartian

I heard the most amazing testimony recently. Kristen Jane Anderson shared how at 17, she attempted suicide by laying down on the train tracks near her home. Although a 33 car freight train ran over her at 55 mph causing her to lose both of her legs, God miraculously saved her life.

Kristen tried killing herself because she was depressed and felt she didn’t have a sense of purpose for being alive. I believe many can relate to her. Here’s her testimony for you to hear it for yourself.

The first step in understanding why you exist is to know the One that created you-God.

God sent His one and only son, Jesus, to be the bridge between you and Himself. Without faith in Jesus Christ, you will always live in a state of hopelessness. This is because you will not comprehend that God brought you into being with a precise plan and purpose.

Before you were born, God placed certain gifts within you so that He could use you for His Kingdom cause. But you won’t come to this realization until you know Him personally. Pinpointing these gifts helps you to discover God’s plans for your life.

How do you identify your spiritual gifts?

[Please keep in mind that there are natural God-given gifts (your talents), but there are also spiritual gifts that are given to you from the Holy Spirit. The spiritual gifts are explained in Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, and 1 Corinthians 12:28.]

There are four different sources you can go to to figure out what your spiritual gifts are.

1. Ask the Holy Spirit.

Simply ask God to reveal to you what your spiritual gifts are.

It may take some time for you to have the confidence to know His answer, but eventually, if you walk by faith, you will become more assured of His calling on your life.

In James 1:5 we are encouraged to ask God for wisdom; “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”

 2. Ask your friends and family.

God will often use people to speak His truths to you directly. Proverbs 15:22 encourages us to seek the counsel of other godly people in our live; “Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.” 

Keep an open heart and ears to hear what others are saying about you. Ask them directly what they think your spiritual gifts might be.

For example, ever since I gave my life over to Jesus, I have enjoyed my prayer life. In fact, the first thing I think about doing in any situation is to pray. I had always assumed that every Christian was wired this way until one day, through a conversation with some sisters in the faith, our discussion turned to the topic of spiritual gifts. Through that discussion, I discovered my gifting of being an intercessory prayer warrior. I never realized this was a calling from God. There are many nights the Lord wakes me up in the middle of the night to pray for a person or a situation. It is a gift of mine, but also something that I enjoy doing. [Note; all Christians are called to pray for one another, but being an intercessory prayer warrior is a spiritual gift.]

3. Ask yourself.

Think about what comes easy, or “naturally” for you. What do you love doing? What makes you feel the most alive and invigorated? If you pay attention to the passions and interests you have, it will further help you understand what you spiritual gifts are.

4. Take a spiritual gifts test

There are many spiritual gifts test out there that you can take. Here are two you can try:

http://mintools.com/spiritual-gifts-test.htm

http://www.northpointministries.org/gameplan/my-gifts

I encourage you to read the Scriptures and learn about the spiritual gifts given to us from God. Once you distinguish what yours are, you can start serving the Lord with them. Doing this will help you to discover God’s plan for your life.

You are alive for a reason. Once you discover what this is and how the Lord wants to use you to advance His kingdom on earth, you will feel a new motivation to live your life with purpose.  As Stormie Omartian puts it, “God doesn’t want you to barely survive. He wants you to know that you have a reason to live and a great purpose in doing so.”  

May the gifts that God has placed in you be used to their fullest to glorify the Lord, so that your life would be like a sweet fragrant bouquet rising up to bless Him.

What are your spiritual gifts and how did they help you understand your purpose in life? Please share how you came to understand them by leaving a comment below.

“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.” ~ Ephesians 4:1