A Lamp To My Feet

I think one of the most common questions that people ask is, "What is God's will for my life?" As humans, we want to know what our purpose in life is. We want to know who to marry, where to go to college, which car to buy, what job to apply for, where to go to church, and all sorts of other big life questions. And at the root of all these questions is a desire to know what my purpose in life is. At some time, everyone asks questions like, "What did God create me for? What does He want me to do? What is God's will for my life?"

But there is also the question, "Can I even know what God's will is?" Could God be so big and huge that He doesn't care about me? Did He create me just for the sake of creating me or did He create me with a direct and specific purpose? Does He really care that much about me? The answer is yes. God cares so much about us that He is willing to share His purpose with those who are willing to listen. So the answer is yes, you can know what God's purpose is for your life.

And what is that purpose, you might ask? The Bible says that our purpose in life is to bring glory and attention to God. Our ultimate purpose is to live a life of praise and worship, which glorifies God and calls others to pay attention to His goodness and greatness. God created us to worship Him. And if we live a life of worship, people will notice. They will notice and begin to wonder how they can have the joy and peace and satisfaction and contentment that we have, and they may even decide to follow Christ themselves.

So the ultimate purpose in life is to bring glory and attention to God. But what does that look like on a practical level? How does that play out in a real-life situation?

You see, I believe that God reveals your purpose to you step by step. He doesn't reveal it all to you; instead, throughout your life, He reveals bits and pieces of it. For me, it all comes down to Psalms 119:105. It says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." The way I see it is that imagine being in the woods alone in the dark. You have a flashlight that is enough to see where to take a step or two. But the flashlight doesn't illuminate the entire pathway. You have to take it step by step. And I believe that life is the same way. You can't see the end of the path. God only gives you enough to take a few steps.

So why doesn't He just reveal it all to you at once? Well, think about it this way. If you sat down to play a board game with your friends, and you knew exactly who would win and how they would win, it wouldn't be much fun, would it? If you know from the start that Col. Mustard killed Mrs. Peacock in the Kitchen with the Knife, then Clue suddenly just lost all the fun. It's boring and mundane. And life would be the same way. If you knew who you would marry, how you would make a living, what you would study in college, what score you would get on the ACT, who you went to prom with, and what church you would go to, then what do you have to look forward to? How would life be exciting or fun or worth even living?

So don't even try to figure it all out. God will reveal to you what He needs you to know in His timing. Trust God with your life. Trust in His guidance and His timing. Let His word and His wisdom be a lamp for your feet and a light to your path.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"