Finding God’s Will

In Mansfield Park, a 1999 British romantic comedy-drama film based on Jane Austen’s novel of the same name, written and directed by Patricia Rozema, the adult first son of a wealthy land owner had fallen ill, literally, at death’s door.

Stricken with worry, the father rushed home from his work in another state and was attentive at his son’s bedside. In the starring role, Frances O’Connor as Fanny Price is also there caring for her surrogate brother. The family had called back to the house after a strong disagreement about the arrangement of who she was to marry.

In an earlier scene, she had stumbled on a booklet of her brother’s drawings of the father’s sins and misdeeds against his fellow humans, his slaves. While in stunned horror she’s looking through the pages, the father snatches the drawings from her and throws them into the fire.

She runs out and he stays by his son’s bedside. (Stay with me now, it’s an important point I want to make with this. Given our social climate, at the time of this writing it’s probably not what you think.)

Later, the young woman is back in the room in daylight not saying anything about what she had seen. The father realizing, he must come clean if he is to have any hope of his son reviving. The father realized his sins had been exposed of how he had been treating his fellow humans, his slaves. He had been buying, selling, raping, treating them inhumanely.

He was compelled to confess the root of the matter of why in addition to his sins, he was almost certain his son was so frustrated with him as a father. And most importantly, why he had fallen into dire sickness.

He confessed, “From a very little boy, he only wanted one thing from me as his father. He would run up to me, “Father, give me a mission.” I would laugh and try to shrug him off.

Relentless, he would ask again, “Father, send me on a mission.” Just to appease him, I would say, “Go tell Mother, to fix lunch early.” He would finally say, “No, Father give me a worthy mission.” I would have to come up with something legitimate and worthy to commission him to do…

Which brings me to the principle, I’m discussing of finding God’s will. It’s the innate desire within us all. We want a worthy mission from Father God. We each want our life to have meaning and purpose.

We’re made in the image of God. So, it’s built within us to do good works, create beautiful things, to make our mark, so to speak. We see hints of it everywhere; like when we carve our names in a tree, in the fresh concrete on the sidewalk in front of our house. And even the fatherless gangs that make their mark of graffiti on someone else’s property. Yes, of course, it’s wrong but rooted from the same place.

In my research, for the first WOW! Women book, I discovered one of people’s greatest fears is to die having lived a meaningless life. So, it’s time you plugged into your God given purpose.

According to your age, you don’t have to die or live without knowing your purpose. You can be over the hill, reading this, no pun intended. As long as you’re alive and breathing, there’s still time for you to do the will of the Lord. Remember, the Colonel was in his 60s when he founded his first fried chicken business. Moses was said to be in his 80s when he was commissioned by God to lead the Israelites out of slavery. I’m just saying, I could go on. I am fifty-six at the time of this writing.

Or you could be just starting out, feeling like you’re going in circles trying to find God’s will. Either way, it’s a good season to find and do God’s will for your life. I discovered five little signs to finding God’s will and your God given purpose, at any age.

These little signs are excerpted from book two ‘WOW! Women of Destiny’ book. In chapter five, “Receiving Your Purpose From God: A Woman’s Wild Purpose Leads To Power’ the pioneer nurse, Florence Nightingale is the featured heroine.

During the unlikely season, that God called her to nursing, her mother described her as a wild swan among a family of ducks. She received her appointment from God at a precocious age and went on to live a purposeful life. How she did it and how we can do it, too is what I teach in this book.

You may be like Florence and you received your call at an early age. Or you may be like others who received their call later in life. Whichever you may be, now is the time to get connected and fulfil your purpose in life. Are you looking for your God given purpose? If nothing else, now is the time get started in the direction God’s calling you. For now, here are three of those five little signs to check for hints of your God given purpose along the way:

1. Check your thought life. What impressions are you getting? What thoughts keep popping up when you’re quiet or prayerful? This advice, helped me a lot, in the beginning. My life was so busy with activity that I didn’t have much time to look within. But different seasons came, where I had the opportunity to be quiet and examine what I enjoyed thinking about. Until, those seasons came, I would search for a quiet moment. And I asked God to show me the time. I learned to grab those unredeemed times, we talked about earlier. I found times, like doctor appointments, car wash, kids practice, lunch hour, wee early and way late times when my family was asleep and more. I would make notes. Those notes would turn into teachings that turned in classes that turned into books that turned into multiple series of books, courses and eventually events for women. So, just start. For the full teaching, click here to get the WOW! Women of Destiny book or set of books.
2. Check for a divine dissatisfaction. Are you feeling dissatisfied about what you are doing? Or do you continually look for more. If so, it’s a good place to be. Now, is an excellent time to make a change. There was a season in my life that I felt extremely dissatisfied with what I had accomplished. I kept feeling like there was more. And guess what, there was more. I kept searching; I kept knocking and eventually, the doors began to open. I started with the small. I started with where I was dissatisfied and kept pulling on the string…
3. Check what others are saying. I taught a WOW! Women of Worth class for a season, before I wrote the trilogy of WOW! Women books. My students kept saying, “Earma, you should write a book on this subject.” I would respond. I think I will but it has to be when God releases me to do so. I want to write what he says. Even with that said, I would store their words and encouragement in my heart, pondering the possibilities. Then one day, He (Father God) said, now it’s time; go now and write it down for the generations to come.

Pray and Ask God to show you what His purpose is for you. Notice the things that move you and make a list. And remember, Father God wants you to discover His purpose even more than you do.

Finally, think about it, your purpose is not just about you; it’s what God delights to do through you. It’s a lifelong partnership. Therefore, if you don’t notice your thoughts leaning in a certain direction, a divine dissatisfaction, what others say to you about your purpose, your gifts and your passions, you are not only missing out on a wonderful journey yourself, but you are missing God’s plan. Because, He has called you to fulfil his purpose and wants you to walk in it — for others and for your own enjoyment and fulfillment.

Also, consider this. Since God has called you, He is completely able to reveal your purpose to you. You can know that He, most assuredly, will as you diligently seek Him. He is no respecter of persons. He did it for Florence Nightingale; he did for me and he will do it for you. So, keep doing what’s before you along with the things you know to do. It will all come clear, soon. (Hebrews 11:6).

Helping people find God’s will,
Earma
WOW! Women Global Founder, 12 book Christian Author
http://wowontheweb.com

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Earma Brown, twelve book Christian author and founder of WOW! Women Global inspires women around the world to become women of destiny, purpose, and victory through speaking engagements, her books, Bible curriculum and studies. She is author of the trilogy of Wow! Women books: Women of Worth, Women of Destiny and Women of Legacy, the Armorbearer Training Series, Prayer Fulfilled Life book set and Writing A Book God’s Way book and course. She currently lives in Arkansas.