Photo by Devin Kennedy
What should I do with my life?
It's a question I ask myself and pray about a lot. What was I made to do? What are my gifts and talents? How can I find work that I enjoy and that is fulfilling? How should I use my free time? How can I have a happy life?
Maybe you are like me and wonder the same things.
Sometimes we feel like we just want someone (God, if you're a person of faith) to tell us what to do with our lives. I pray to hear God's voice directing my life, and I have friends who make the same prayer. Let me share how I have felt God's voice in my life, and how you can hear him speak in yours -- because no matter who you are or what you believe, God is seeking you and desires to walk with you in your life.
I call it "the stirring." I recognize it when it feels like my heart is leaping for joy and/or excitement and/or hopefulness when I'm doing certain tasks or reading something of interest. Do you know the feeling?
This is the voice of God speaking directly into you.
Even Jesus' disciples experienced the stirring and recognized it as the presence of Jesus. One time, on a walk to the village of Emmaus, they didn't recognize Jesus by sight, but they recognized him by what they felt: "The said to each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road?'..." Luke 24:32
Whatever is good, whatever is true, whatever is right, has the power to stir our hearts to help us to recognize the voice of truth in our lives.
And once you feel that stirring in your heart, know that God is revealing something to you personally. We can turn it into a prayer and ask him to speak more clearly, or to guide us, or to open doors for us, etc. Or, you can do one of my favorite short prayers and just say, "hi." God will respond -- he is always trying to make himself known to us. Even when we open the door just a tiny bit to him, he can do great things in our lives.
Feel the stirring; follow the stirring.
"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:6
