I, myself, am still on this journey. However, I am reminded of many figures in the Bible who also walked this path. God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush when Moses was 80 years old. One could say that Moses didn't begin to walk in his God-given destiny until the age of 80...that's a long time. In the case of King David, he is anointed King at age 17, but he doesn't become King of the totality of Israel until 20 years later. You could say that both David and Moses were doing nothing before their ascendant moment, but that wouldn't be true. They were being prepared mentally, emotionally, and physically for the moment where God would use them for what he created them to do.
The issue of people under-35 (you and I and our peers) is that we actually have too many choices of things that we COULD do. I wrestle with this as well, especially for people of high intelligence; this can be a nightmare. So, we start to reduce passion, purpose, and destiny to what we desire, but what we desire is flawed. I am the type to decide that I'm TOTALLY into something, buy all the stuff to do that thing, then decide a week later that it's not for me. In the past, I would frequently enter into cycles of anxiety and depression from never being able to "figure out" what my purpose is. The simple answer to this is to realize that God is the guardian of your purpose. He will tell you and lead you into your purpose, but you should also realize that he doesn't need to tell you. You already manifest aspects of the purpose that God created you for.
The question more often than not is, "what is in the way of helping you realize your purpose?"
By no means do I think that purpose is a one and done deal, but it sort of unveils itself overtime as you get used to being you (the "you" that God created you to be). For example, I realized that the number one thing that was stopping me was because I was caught in the rat-race. The financial system that we have insentivizes faster and faster production with no regard for taking a breath. So, I always had money on my mind; however, since I was young, I always saw myself like polymaths and philosophers of old. Like Kepler, Newton, Descartes, etc. I would look at how they all contributed ideas to multiple fields, and I would think that I would love to be like that.
But, in our day of specialization, that is something that our economic system doesn't even allow. So, I never seriously pursued that path because I thought it couldn't be an option. But somehow, I've ended up on the side of the internet that is filled with people who are just that: "autodidactic (autistic) polymath philosophers of divinity and science" (LOL!). I'm 28, but just last year, I finally consented that maybe if I ended up on the side of the internet filled with autodidactic polymath philosophers of divinity and science that maybe the "purpose" that was impossible was closer at hand than I thought. So, just recently, I've decided to actually purposely study western philosophy and just see where it leads me.
I can't get every idea out here, but hopefully, you'll see what I'm saying. I work in IT now, and I am incredibly bored with it; nevertheless, in my free time, I can look into things that I am personally interested in, and even if I never make a dime off of what I learn, I feel as though I'm closer now to hitting on my purpose than I have been before in the past. For me, making money was a thought that I had to cast out of my mind to realize that I just enjoy reading old books and thinking about the ideas that lie therein. I don't know if I'll ever use this knowledge for anything worthwhile, but I trust that God gave me this desire for good reason, and that he will use me in the right way at the right time in history as he did with Moses and King David.
Just as a sidebar on hearing the voice of God, you can certainly hear him, but it takes time to learn to be still in his presence. I hear the Lord much more today than I did even 5 years ago after consistently praying, worshiping, and reading his word for years. Back when I was in college, I could barely discern his voice at all. Walking with God and learning to hear him is a journey along with having God unveil your purpose. Also, God speaks in a multitude of ways. I wish that I had a list ready, but essentially, he can speak with a voice directly to you, most often times he does it in other ways. Some ways that God speaks to me: his written Word, internal inaudible voice (described often as a voice that cuts across your thoughts), audible voice (only heard this once or twice myself aftter 10 years of following him), through some dreams--which must be interpreted (think Joseph and Daniel in the Bible), through "dark speech" (old testament saying which means through "layered" language), through impression (a God led "feeling"--must be discerned in purity), through other people (must fellowship with body of Christ for this reason), and even more ways.
Hopefully, this helps you. Feel free to ask me more questions under this if you want some additional clarity.
I, myself, am still on this journey. However, I am reminded of many figures in the Bible who also walked this path. God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush when Moses was 80 years old. One could say that Moses didn't begin to walk in his God-given destiny until the age of 80...that's a long time. In the case of King David, he is anointed King at age 17, but he doesn't become King of the totality of Israel until 20 years later. You could say that both David and Moses were doing nothing before their ascendant moment, but that wouldn't be true. They were being prepared mentally, emotionally, and physically for the moment where God would use them for what he created them to do.
The issue of people under-35 (you and I and our peers) is that we actually have too many choices of things that we COULD do. I wrestle with this as well, especially for people of high intelligence; this can be a nightmare. So, we start to reduce passion, purpose, and destiny to what we desire, but what we desire is flawed. I am the type to decide that I'm TOTALLY into something, buy all the stuff to do that thing, then decide a week later that it's not for me. In the past, I would frequently enter into cycles of anxiety and depression from never being able to "figure out" what my purpose is. The simple answer to this is to realize that God is the guardian of your purpose. He will tell you and lead you into your purpose, but you should also realize that he doesn't need to tell you. You already manifest aspects of the purpose that God created you for.
The question more often than not is, "what is in the way of helping you realize your purpose?"
By no means do I think that purpose is a one and done deal, but it sort of unveils itself overtime as you get used to being you (the "you" that God created you to be). For example, I realized that the number one thing that was stopping me was because I was caught in the rat-race. The financial system that we have insentivizes faster and faster production with no regard for taking a breath. So, I always had money on my mind; however, since I was young, I always saw myself like polymaths and philosophers of old. Like Kepler, Newton, Descartes, etc. I would look at how they all contributed ideas to multiple fields, and I would think that I would love to be like that.
But, in our day of specialization, that is something that our economic system doesn't even allow. So, I never seriously pursued that path because I thought it couldn't be an option. But somehow, I've ended up on the side of the internet that is filled with people who are just that: "autodidactic (autistic) polymath philosophers of divinity and science" (LOL!). I'm 28, but just last year, I finally consented that maybe if I ended up on the side of the internet filled with autodidactic polymath philosophers of divinity and science that maybe the "purpose" that was impossible was closer at hand than I thought. So, just recently, I've decided to actually purposely study western philosophy and just see where it leads me.
I can't get every idea out here, but hopefully, you'll see what I'm saying. I work in IT now, and I am incredibly bored with it; nevertheless, in my free time, I can look into things that I am personally interested in, and even if I never make a dime off of what I learn, I feel as though I'm closer now to hitting on my purpose than I have been before in the past. For me, making money was a thought that I had to cast out of my mind to realize that I just enjoy reading old books and thinking about the ideas that lie therein. I don't know if I'll ever use this knowledge for anything worthwhile, but I trust that God gave me this desire for good reason, and that he will use me in the right way at the right time in history as he did with Moses and King David.
Just as a sidebar on hearing the voice of God, you can certainly hear him, but it takes time to learn to be still in his presence. I hear the Lord much more today than I did even 5 years ago after consistently praying, worshiping, and reading his word for years. Back when I was in college, I could barely discern his voice at all. Walking with God and learning to hear him is a journey along with having God unveil your purpose. Also, God speaks in a multitude of ways. I wish that I had a list ready, but essentially, he can speak with a voice directly to you, most often times he does it in other ways. Some ways that God speaks to me: his written Word, internal inaudible voice (described often as a voice that cuts across your thoughts), audible voice (only heard this once or twice myself aftter 10 years of following him), through some dreams--which must be interpreted (think Joseph and Daniel in the Bible), through "dark speech" (old testament saying which means through "layered" language), through impression (a God led "feeling"--must be discerned in purity), through other people (must fellowship with body of Christ for this reason), and even more ways.
Hopefully, this helps you. Feel free to ask me more questions under this if you want some additional clarity.