"Help, I'm aimless!"
We are needy people before a God who meets us in our struggles.
It's okay to ask for help in our aimlessness.
Have you seen the Video?
Introducing the Resource.
Handling Stress.
God meets us in our situations and internal heart struggles.
From the Bible:
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”
— Ephesians 2:10
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”
— Proverbs 16:9
Steps for handling aimlessness:
Many of us face decisions in life but can feel frozen in indecision. Part of the problem is that we don’t know where we’re going. We feel aimless.
Yet God has given us each a unique and purposeful place in his plan. We’re the handiwork of the Master Craftsman (Eph. 2:10). He doesn’t leave anything to chance. Our suffering, joys, personality, temptations, abilities and limitations are details that he has shaped. “So each day, in each situation, you have the opportunity to do and say constructive things that no other human being could do or say. In the loving hands of God, your life is custom-designed and custom-built… This is your calling.”1
Working out our calling can bring clarity to the big things that really matter. Other decisions can be made within this broader grid.
Where do you currently feel aimless? What does it feel like? Confusion? Uncertainty? Being stuck? Put your experience into words.
What are the particular decisions you’re facing where you feel aimless? Write them down too.
God knows your sense of aimlessness. He knows when you feel paralysed in your decision making. He knows your confusion. So tell him about it. He invites you to share your heart with him.“Cast your anxieties on him because he cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). Ask him for help as you work out his calling on your life.
a. What are your gifts/abilities/strengths?
b. What is your life experience/learning/ background?
c. What are your opportunities/ responsibilities/challenges?
d. How have you grown wiser in knowing God?
e. What do you thrive doing?
David Powlison’s, ‘What is Your Calling?’ article is a wonderful guide to walk you through this process. (Only $1.99USD.)
a. Who around you needs help?
b. Who are you drawn to?
c. What kind of people and problems do you work well with?
d. Are there people and problems you don’t work so well with?
Pick 2 or 3 people who know you well. Involve them in this process. Share your current thoughts about your calling and opportunities. What do they think? Ask them to pray with you.
How can you summarise your understanding of your calling? Distill it down into a few short paragraphs. What are some small next steps to live out your calling?
Take comfort in God’s oversight as you put steps into action. It’s the LORD who establishes your steps (Prov. 16:9).
Jeremy works as a Pastoral Counsellor at The Joshua Tree and Ashfield Presbyterian Church.