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Living and Working
on Purpose: Finding God's Calling for Your LIfe |
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Article by Bradley Davidson
(Coach Brad), © 2008
Reprinted by permission of the author
In a recent newsletter I wrote
for my coaching clients, I profiled the life
of Truett Cathy, the founder of "Chick-Fil-A",
and how his vision of giving kids a chance has
transformed countless lives. As I was thinking
about the individual I would like to feature
in the next month's article, I thought of several
highly recognizable individuals whose lives have
been lived with purpose and passion. As I asked
myself which of these individuals' stories would
have the greatest impact on my clients, something
occurred to me. My brilliant and gifted readers
have a story of life purpose that will be more
meaningful that any story I can tell. I now extend
that sentence to include you. YOU have a wonderfully
compelling story of life purpose just waiting
to be told.
When you read the last sentence I just wrote, many of you probably
agreed. Many of you have found your life's vision and purpose and
are living it with great joy. However, some of you read that sentence
and said, "What is he talking about? Me? Brilliant and Gifted?
I have a story to tell about what?" To those of you who have
found your life's calling and purpose, congratulations! To those
of you who are still seeking, I am EXCITED for you. What a joyous
journey to begin! Let's do it together. How? Read on.
Discovering and living your life purpose is a process...a journey.
You have a divinely inspired purpose, a purpose for which you were
specially created, just waiting to be discovered and played out.
By following a few simple steps (the process is simple, but not always
easy to do), you can be on your way to living out this special calling.
In this series of articles, I will be sharing these life-purpose
steps with you. In this article, we will focus on what I call Step
1: Discernment and Discovery.
The Purpose Steps
Step 1: Discernment and Discovery
"Discern" simply means "to perceive" or "to
recognize". The first step to understanding your
life purpose is "to perceive"; to make a conscious
effort to be looking and listening to life and to God.
Here are some ways to put yourself into a place in which
you can discern and discover your purpose:
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Pray and meditate
Create a time and place of "quietness" each
day for yourself. Spend time meditating, being still,
being quiet, asking God to show you the divine purpose
for which He created you. Listen and observe your thoughts.
The key to this step is to let go of your natural desire
to direct your thinking. Simply ask God to speak to you.
Then be still, be quiet, and observe.
Explore yourself
Work on gaining a better understanding of the gifts,
interests, and passions you were given. What really excites
you? What do you enjoy doing? When was the last time
you were "in the flow"? ("In the flow" is
the state we've all been in at one time or another in
which the task or work we were doing consumed us, in
joy, to the point that we lost track of the time we had
spent on the task.) What are you really good at doing?
What work have you been complimented on in the past?
Exploring these aspects of yourself will give you insight
into the brilliant knowledge, skills, or passions you
were naturally given to live out your purpose. A life
purpose coach can also provide you with assessments or
inventories to complete that will help you clarify these
interests, skills, and passions.
What is the world's deepest need that you can provide?
One of my favorite quotes comes from Frederick Buechner,
a twentieth-century Presbyterian minister and American
author, which says, "The place where God calls you
is the place where your deep gladness and the world's
deep hunger meet." In other words, often God's call
for your life is to use the skills, talents, and passion
he gives you to meet a deep need in the world, society,
your family, or your church. What knowledge, skills,
passions, or interests that you have identified in yourself
are deeply needed in your world or your community?
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Pray and meditate
Notice that we started this discernment
and discovery process with prayer and meditation. Part
of our job of finding our purpose is to think about ourselves
(our skills, passions, interests) and what parts of ourselves
are most needed by God in the world, but this entire
process should start, end, and be woven together by our
calling to God for his guidance and our listening for
His call for our lives.
Step 1 Fieldwork
If you'd like to being this journey together to live
your life purpose and calling, here is some fieldwork (or homework)
for you to work on during the month:
Create daily discernment time
Set an appointment with yourself and God each day to
ask for His guidance and to listen, without your intervention,
to what His purpose is for your life. Some people find
early morning the best time to have your daily time.
Others do it just before bedtime. The important point
is that you do it. And you do it at a time during which
you can have quiet and uninterrupted listening time.
Inventory your skills, interests, and passions
Start a list of skills, interests, and passions that
get you excited. Whenever you are doing something that
you find especially rewarding, exciting, or energizing,
write it down. Do this exercise for the entire month.
Consider reaching out to a coach to complete an assessment
to help you identify your skills, interests, and passions.
In my practice, I use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI) and the Strong Interest Inventory to help my clients
with this step. However, simply keeping a list is often
equally effective.
Keep a journal
Keep a journal for the next month. Make a note of any
situation you see or hear about which makes you think, "This
is a need of the world (or my family, or my church, or
my community)." If you are watching the news and
hear of youth in your community who are having difficulties
entering the workforce, write it down. If a friend tells
you about a neighborhood in your city that is struggling
with crime, write it down. Simply journal each time you
hear about a need.
Put it all together
At the end of a month, spend some time connecting the
dots. What did you learn about your skills, abilities,
interests, and passions? What needs of people in the
world did you hear of? What did you hear from God in
your quiet listening time? What is the common thread
that is woven throughout all your discernment and discovery?
Sometimes, you may have to spend several days identifying
this thread. What is it?
Tune into my next article and we will discover Step 2.
Article Source:/www.articles.narrowisthepath.com
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Bradley Davidson is a Christian Life Coach specializing
in partnering with God's people who want to understand
their life's purpose and calling. He welcomes comments
and would love to hear your stories. You may connect
with Brad through his website: www.liveandworkonpurpose.com.
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Scripture taken from
the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of
International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for the offering
of goods or services requires the prior written consent of International
Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All rights
reserved.
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The Full
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"But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
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(NIV)
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