Finding your True Purpose in Life

As I was growing up I kept on changing my mind on what I really wanted to be in life. I had decided that I would be a hairdresser. However, during an educational trip that we made to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport I changed my mind and wanted to be a pilot. I was about 10years old at the time. When I finally got my high school results, my dad didn’t beat about the bush on the matter. He out rightly told me that he could not afford to pay the aviation school fees to the point of obtaining a commercial license. He suggested that I could make a good teacher. I rejected the idea because I believed that teaching doesn’t pay well. My heart was dying to be a pilot, and I couldn’t accept anything less.

A string of dashed hopes?

It was after re-sitting for my form four exams that I accepted that it’s my fault that I couldn’t get an A grade to get me a scholarship for aviation training. I finally graduated from USIU with a hotel management degree. It’s a common belief that we should work hard in school, graduate, and get a good job. I worked very passionately at a five star hotel where I got an opportunity for a few years. I loved events planning and embraced it. After three years of commitment, I couldn’t put up with office politics. I could also sense that unspoken demands were pressing on me and for sure I got demoted. The sudden demotion challenged me. I then decided to take a breather, and it was during this break that I saw another opportunity.

I joined my brother in his building and construction business. I decided that I am interested in interior design. I was to join a school and study interior design. To cut a long story short, I got very frustrated, and I could not continue working in the construction company. I came back home to my parents, and at this point, I was utterly jobless. I couldn’t determine what my purpose in life was. I was at the end of myself. I had thought that I had already began figuring out my life’s purpose, but it was not coming forth.

Understanding why I am here on earth.

Why do I exist? Why am I here on earth? Does my life matter? I could not move one more step without getting to terms with this. I realized that I have been running the rat race, and I had never really paused to understand why I am here on earth. I became frank with God about my situation. I was depressed, broken, frustrated, betrayed, and I had lost it completely. My mom thought that I had given up. I could tell this from a book she gave me to read called I can dream again. My dad would not insist on anything, but he was willing to listen.

I got to a daily routine of waking up doing the house chores. Then I would spend quality time on the Bible and praying. I also had some phone calls that I would make, to share what I had learned and pray along with some friends. One reason why I didn’t crash and break down was a ten weeks Discovery Bible Study series called NEW MAN

 (https://globalactivation.africa/newman/) that I had enrolled for. In this study, I discovered who I am in Christ.

Discovering a Purpose-Driven Career Life

My eyes opened, and my focus shifted from me to Christ. I found that my purpose is beyond my own fulfilment. My purpose was determined in Christ even before the world was created. In his Purpose and Power-Maximizing Destiny by Finding & Fulfilling Purpose, book, Ferdinand Nweke wrote that:

“The purpose of God for an individual or group can be divided into two broad categories, namely, general and specific. As you stay within the general will of God for all, He will ultimately lead you to His specific will for your life. The general component of God’s purpose is the revealed will of God in His Word, The Bible for all of His people. Whatever we can read as a plain teaching, doctrine or command of God in the Bible represents what He wants for His people.” 

I am not left to guess and gamble my way through life. Through the Scriptures, God has made His mind and heart open. I need to be wise and plan my life around God’s desires and plans. I need to stop running the rat race and set my life up for a purpose-driven career. I borrowed my dad’s laptop and began my life afresh. This time my purpose being to make the truth of Christ known, not to the reached but to the unreached.  I learnt that all humanity means all the religions of the world, all the professions and careers of the world, all races, and all tribes. In the very beginning, I didn’t care about other religions. But I discovered that the more I focus on Christ as I read His Word, the more I become compassionate.

 Finding Your Biblical Purpose

All across the Old Testament into the New Testament God is seeking to be known and worshiped by all the nations of the world. So, the value that I have for Muslims and other religions is on the basis that Jesus has died for them on the cross. He desires that the Muslims should receive forgiveness and be free from the nature of sin. God needs the Muslims to understand that they cannot obtain acceptance from God through their works but only by the work of Jesus Christ. This reality awakened in me the urgency to pray for them sincerely. During Ramadan I set myself to pray along with Muslims. We have a guide that directs us to pray for the salvation of their souls. I reach out to willing friends and request them to join me. I have grown to understand that deep in God’s heart, He wants every Christian to get involved in global missions. Because He has died for all men, our part in response is to let all men know their place in Christ (2 Cor 5:14-15).

This discovery completely set me free to see all other religions as valuable people in God’s eyes. It’s now been more than two years since I began working online. I chose online work so that I can control my time and be able to commit to Christ’s agenda in my everyday life. On attending a month of training facilitated by Activate, I learned how to effectively be a blessing to the unreached people within the online world and also encourage them to do the same. Now I am alert. I have learned to prayer walk online and seek conversations that will translate to spiritual talks. I am now practicing it. I am determined that committed disciples of Christ who will make other disciples will come out of this. I am excited to live for an eternal purpose and serve an eternal master. My perspective about life, work, and money has changed.

Hilda and I walked a journey where she was determined to have a relationship with Christ. We used a resource book called FOLLOW, and this gave us a framework that guided us to achieve the objective. She is continuing in a life of obedience and is also having a similar relationship with a friend whom God led her to. I am also continuing on a similar journey with Mercy now using the UNDEFILED resource guide. These resources are available at https://globalactivation.africa/ebooks/

How do I find my true life’s purpose?

In answer to this question lies the reasons for your actions or inactions. Consciously or unconsciously, what we want out of life dictates the paths we tread in our life’s journey. And until we carefully define what we are about in life – our life purpose – life will be hazy and blurred, a game of chance.

In his book, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren describes the flawed approach to defining life’s purpose:

“The mystical approach, philosophical approach and “Self-help books, even Christian ones, usually offer the same predictable steps to finding your life’s purpose: “Consider your dreams. Clarify your values. Set some goals. Figure out what you are good at. Aim high. Go for it! Be disciplined. Believe you can achieve your goals. Involve others. Never give up.” The problem with this approach is that it is like asking a product to figure out its purpose. The purpose of a product lies outside the product; only the manufacturer can accurately reveal the true potentials and purpose of a product.”

I invite you to register for the Ready2Run online mentoring program by Activate. It’s free. Here you will get exposed to a Bible-based guide to unveiling The Great Manufacturer who works out everything according to His eternal purpose and the provisions He has made for us to live on target and not beat about the bush with one life. See you there.

Joy Minayo is part of ACTIVATE’S Disciple Making Community in Kenya