Do you find it easy or hard to delegate to other people? You’re like, “It depends on what it is and it depends on who it is.” Here’s one definition of the verb delegate:

delegate – entrust (a task or responsibility) to another person, typically one who is less senior than oneself

With this definition in mind, here’s what I think is one of the most outrageous ideas God ever had:

God decided it would be great to get his work done on earth through people like you and me.

Why would God delegate work to us when he could obviously do a better job than we can do? And how could Jesus have the audacity to say we would accomplish even greater things than he did during his time on earth?

John 14:12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

The very first words of the Bible tell us that in the beginning, God was working. The second chapter tells us there was no one to work the ground. How exactly was the work going to get done? Was God just going to do it all by himself? Here’s what he does.

Genesis 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

When God wanted to get work done on the earth, he gave an assignment to a human being. He is still getting his work accomplished in this way. What work are we meant to do with our lives? When we typically think about the word “work,” we often limit it to what we get paid to do. While this is a huge part of what most of us are to do with our lives, we want to expand our vision for what else might be included in this concept. The word “vocation” encompasses all of the assignments God has for us to do throughout our lives. It comes from the Latin word vocare, which means “to call.” So vocation is God-given, not self-appointed. I find great relief in knowing this:

We don’t have to call ourselves or come up with our own purpose in life.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

If the God of heaven prepared specific good works for you to do, then wouldn’t you want to do everything you can to discover what those works are? No matter how old or young you are. Regardless of whether you are male or female. Whether you have a past you’re proud of or one you’d like to forget. No matter how other people have tried to define you. Never lose sight of this as long as you live:

You have been given divine assignments for your life.

We all have days when we wonder, “Does God really have a plan for my life?” Listen to what God says to the prophet Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

When you were born into this world, God was not caught off guard. He did not have to go scrambling to find some kind of purpose for you to fulfill with your life. God was thinking about you before you were born. The word translated “formed” has to do with what a potter does with clay. The idea is that as a potter shapes his or her clay for its intended use or purpose, so God is forming us for our intended purpose too.

Your life has been set apart and appointed for a purpose.

How does God let us know the purpose he has for our lives? There’s one specific moment in history that lays out the pattern for how God tends to give us our purpose. The Israelites, God’s chosen people, had been enslaved for 400 years in Egypt, under the rule of Pharaoh. God has had enough. He wants to do something about it, so he shows up in a burning bush and speaks to Moses.

Exodus 3:7-10 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey – the home of the Canaanites, Hittites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

As God lets Moses know that he is going to get involved, this must have thrilled Moses. You can imagine him thinking, “This sounds wonderful, God…thank you for taking care of the oppression of our people.” Then God tells Moses that he is sending Moses to do God’s work in Egypt.

What can this conversation between God and Moses teach us about our divine assignments? We have a purpose because God has a purpose. We are called to act because God wants to act. We have work to do because God has work to do. Our specific purpose is what God wants to get accomplished in the world through our lives. The purpose for our lives originates in the heart of God. Our divine purpose will always be connected to God’s purpose for a certain thing at a specific time.

Does the purpose you’ve assumed for your life seem to have originated in the heart of God?

While we look to God to receive his purpose, we will also need his help and power to accomplish that purpose. I believe God wants to use you to change something about our world, but only through his strength and only for his glory. Whatever he wants to do through your life, you will be able to do it only through him.

To fulfill the divine purpose of your life, you will need the divine presence in your life.

So what are some practical ways we can begin to discern and decipher what God’s purpose is for our lives? How do you distinguish a good idea from an actual calling? How do you know what your thing is in life or even for this next season of life?

There’s a part of me that would love to tell you figuring out God’s purpose for your life is a simple formula. But if it was, you would miss out on so much of the beauty of discovering why God has put you here on this earth. It’s more of a dance than a formula. It’s more trial and error than an exact science. However, you haven’t been left in the dark. God isn’t just out there waiting for you to catch up. He is with you as you seek to discover what he wants from your life.

Here are a few things you can do in your search to understand the God-given purpose for your own life.

Increase your God-awareness.

If you want to know what God has sent you to this earth to do, it would help to get to know what this God is like. What does he value? What are his desires? How does he communicate with us? One of the best ways to discover what God is like is to have a consistent practice of reading, meditating on, and memorizing Scripture. As you see how he has revealed his purpose to individuals throughout history, you’ll get a sense of the possible ways he might do this in your own life.

Increase your self-awareness.

While it is crucial you get to know the God who made you, it is also essential you get to know the you this God has made. How has he wired you? What passions has he placed inside of you? What personality has he given you? What is your capacity? What makes you sad, happy, or angry? What talents and skills has God given you? These questions are helpful guides. Here is another freeing thought:

Know your passions.

What do you find yourself daydreaming about? What makes your heart start beating faster? What do you wish was different in our world? What brings tears to your eyes? What causes you to get excited? What are you doing when you experience a deep sense of fulfillment? What is it that breaks your heart? Oftentimes God gives us a passion for what he wants to accomplish in our lives.

I love the story of Nehemiah. It’s fascinating to read about how he became laser-focused on what his God-given assignment was. When we’re first introduced to him, we don’t read anything about God telling him to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall around the city. We simply read that one of his brothers reports to him all that had happened in Jerusalem. His response will tell you how powerful our passions can be when it comes to our purpose.

Nehemiah 1:4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

One fascinating thing I’ve noticed is how most of us want the rest of the world to be as passionate about the things we feel so passionate about. Let me encourage you to stop wishing everyone cared as much about the things you care deeply about. That’s not the way God intends for it to work. If you have a passion for something and it’s a purpose that honors God, chances are he is wanting to use you to do something about it. Find a few others who share your passion and go make a difference in the world together.

Know your natural abilities.

What have you discovered that comes easy to you but not to everyone else? What are you able to do that could make the most amount of difference in the world? This likely won’t give you the entire answer to God’s purpose for your life, but it will give you some things to consider.

Know your spiritual gifts.

Scripture teaches that every Christian has at least one spiritual gift. There are online assessments you can take that will help you discover these. Here are a few Bible references to read more about these gifts: Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4:11-13. As you learn what these are for you, begin to develop and deploy them in your life. And remember, a spiritual gift is operating properly only when God is producing something in and through us (by way of the Holy Spirit) that we could never manufacture on our own.

Here's one last encouragement as you begin to think about discovering God’s purpose for your life.

Stop waiting for permission or certainty.

So many of us are waiting for God to give us permission to act, while others of us refuse to move forward without having 100 % certainty that we’re doing the right thing. Paul knew his mission was to spread the message of Jesus. He believed he should do that in the most strategic places. I love how he didn’t sit around waiting on God to tell him which city he should go to next. He knew his general purpose form God and he just went for it. He believed God could shut any door Paul wasn’t supposed to be opening and was able to redirect him to the place he actually wanted him to go. This happens in Acts 16 where the Holy Spirit keeps Paul from preaching in the province of Asia. The same thing happens as Paul tries to go into Bithynia. During the night, Paul has a vision of a Macedonian man asking for help. He concludes God is calling him to go share the message of Jesus in Macedonia.

I see too many of us sitting on the sidelines until we are certain of what God is calling us to do. What if we allowed our current understanding of God’s will for our lives to lead us forward? I’m afraid we’ve put so much pressure on ourselves to not get this wrong that oftentimes we do nothing…which is wrong. I know waiting on God is part of the process, but so is moving forward with God when it’s time to go.

As you seek to discern your divine assignments, what should you start leaning into more: increasing your God-awareness or self-awareness, understanding your passions or natural abilities or spiritual gifts?

Phase 1: Exploring

This is where we all begin, because we are young or because we’re venturing into new territory we’ve never been to before. How to navigate the Exploring phase:

• Give yourself permission to try all kinds of new things.

• Stay curious. Curiosity and judgment cannot exist at the same time.

• Give yourself grace in this phase, not a grade.

Phase 2: Discovering

This is where we grow in self-awareness. We begin to understand our gifts, talents, and passions. Here are some questions to ask as you work through the Discovering phase:

• What did you do that brought you joy?

• What were you doing when you started thinking, “I think I might be good at this”?

• What did you realize you probably shouldn’t do anymore?  

Phase 3: Narrowing

This is where we start getting more focused on the kinds of things that actually fit the calling on our lives. Here is how you can start walking through the Narrowing phase:

• To gain focus, be at peace eliminating options. Don’t worry that you can’t do everything; be grateful that you’ll get to do the things God uniquely made you to do.

• What do you do that tends to produce the most amount of fruit in your life? Once you realize what these few things are, you want to give more time and energy to these things.

• Ask this question to a few people who know you really well: What do you see as my strengths or superpowers?

Phase 4: Mastering

This is where we seek to become the best we can be and make our highest contribution in the world. Here is how you can maximize the Mastering phase:

• Remember that the best individuals in their field still have coaches. The best executives hire coaches. The best athletes do the same and so do the best singers in the world. If you don’t have someone coaching you because you’re “already so good at this”, you’re really missing out.

• Concentrate on your strengths. Delegate what you aren’t good at, but still needs to be done. Let everything else go. What are the things that you alone can do? Who can you delegate the other actions to? What can you start letting go of because it’s just not producing fruit in your life?