What does God want me to do with my life?

I get asked that question a lot. We probably spend too much wasted energy trying to figure that out. God gives each of us skills, knowledge, and abilities but he doesn’t necessarily tell us exactly what we are supposed to do with what He gives us, at least not in a human capacity. We each have a spiritual side, (a soul) and a corporal side (a body). Most of us have a desire to do the right thing, to behave in such a manner as to make God proud of us. But if we are truly honest with ourselves, do we include God in our conversations about what our profession should be, or do we save such discussions for our spiritual wellbeing?

We find ourselves telling God, “Lord, please make me a good person, but I really don’t need your help to be a good electrician, a good plumber, a good teacher, a good doctor, a good truck driver, or anything else in regarding what I do for a living.”

Why do we insist on keeping our spiritual self-separated from our physical self? Why do we have such a difficult time seeing ourselves as whole persons, with both physical and spiritual natures? Do we believe that God only uses us when are doing things related to the church?

Have we ever considered how God uses our gifts to place us in places and jobs that will meet the needs of others and that we need to constantly be looking for those opportunities?

In the 18th Chapter of Acts, we hear about how Paul was a tentmaker. Be- cause he was a tentmaker, Paul was drawn into a deeper relationship with Aquila and Priscilla who were also tentmakers. Through that relationship, God was able to speak into this couple and hone their gifts for service in the early church. This could only happen because Paul was a tentmaker, not because he was a missionary.

We cannot always see how God uses our work lives to speak into the lives of the people around us. We don’t always see our professions as divine callings. But we are Christians before we are anything else. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthian 7:17 that “each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord as assigned to them.” Whatever that situation is that God has led us into is an opportunity for us to serve God’s children and meet their needs. To make that happen, we need to drop our egos at the foot of the cross, open our hearts to God’s opportunities, and open our ears to hear what he is telling us. Our purpose is embedded in those opportunities as we serve as the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.