Help! I don’t know what I want to do! (Part 1)

Four helpful questions for those who are unsure about their future

So exams are in your near future and you still have no idea what you want to study, let alone what you want to be.  Or maybe you’re looking at the endless list of University courses and trying desperately to find one that will work for you.  The pressure is coming from all sides.  Your parents want stability so they are constantly suggesting career choices, but nothing clicks with you.  Lots of things sound interesting, but how do you know if that’s what you want to do with the rest of your life?  There’s immense pressure to get it right.

Where is God in all this?

And then there’s God. Why doesn’t He just tell you what to do? Is there one career that He has in mind for you?  And if you don’t get it right will you spend the rest of your life in His bad books? Pressure from your parents is bad enough, but ticking off the Creator of the Universe has generally been something you want to avoid.

As you read your Bible it’s tempting to allow yourself to think that it was easier for the men and women you read about in the stories to figure out what God wanted them to do. Moses plainly got sent to Pharaoh, Nehemiah was told clearly to rebuild the city walls of Jerusalem, Mary was given clear direction to give birth to and raise Jesus, and God showed up and called Paul to carry the gospel to non- Jews.  The truth is most of those people were quite old by the time they received these clear and exacting instructions from God, and getting to that point certainly involved a lot of struggle and change.  

At Reign Ministries we spend a lot of time helping young leaders explore their future.  We talk about:

• How do we find God’s will for our lives? What have people taught you about this?  What do you think?
• Do you think God has one specific thing in mind for each of us or do we have the freedom to choose?

If you are wrestling with those questions, or know a young person who is, this series will raise four helpful questions that can help you evaluate what further training to pursue – no matter what field you are interested in.

Question 1: Who Am I Called to Be?

The idea of having a calling – or one specific thing you were put on the planet to do is talked about a lot in Christian books and blogs.  Frankly the idea that you have to find the one thing that you were created to do is completely overwhelming and really isn’t reflected in the Scriptures.

Calling is who I am called to be.  It’s not this one secret thing to try to figure out.  The Bible is very clear about who we are called to be.  Jesus gave us our first calling which is to love and obey the Father, and to love others as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).  

After the resurrection He gave us a clear call to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).  It’s not just the job of your Minister or youth leader. All of us who are disciples of Jesus are to be involved in making disciples.  Your calling in life is always based off of God’s general calling to make disiciples. 

Paul talks about who you are called to be when he repeatedly encourages us to walk in our new identity in Christ- you are a new creation, complete and able to live daily in this intimate relationship with God by keeping in step with the Spirit.  Add to that identity all of your unique personality, your strengths and your spiritual gifts and it’s not a mystery who you are called to be.  God doesn’t call you to one specific vocation.  It’s not a secret that you have to discover.  He’s calling you to join Him in his mission to rescue the world. He wants you to use your life to walk in the Spirit, love others and make disicples.  

Question 2: What does the world need?

Asking this question is a big switch because for most of us we’ve spent our growing up years wondering, “what am I good at?” and “what job would I enjoy?”

Scripture is clear that God does have good work for you to do in your life.

Since calling is fairly clear- in the sense of who God has called you to be, the real journey of discovery is unearthing your Vision.  Vision asks, what does the world really need? This vision could be a country, a city, a people group or an age group. Question number two helps us start to discover our Vision.

            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. 

Your story has the most significance when it is connected to His story- and God’s story is one of bringing healing, regeneration, beauty, compassion, mercy and grace as His Kingdom grows.  The world needs more of all of those things.  When you start to notice what the world (or your city, or school) needs, you are developing Vision.

God’s story is one of bringing healing, regeneration, beauty, compassion, mercy and grace as His Kingdom grows. The world needs more of all those things.  

Vision isn’t something that strikes you when you are flipping through Uni courses.  Vision is like a treasure buried underground – it has to be unearthed and discovering it may be a slow process.  It’s not about figuring out ‘should I be a youth minister or an architect? Should I be a missionary or a nurse?’  Being a young person of vision is about discovering:

• What gets me passionate and excited?  What in this world feels heavy and breaks my heart?

• How can I be a part of bringing healing, regeneration, beauty, compassion, mercy and grace to my world?

When you join together your calling – who am I called to be – and the needs you see in the world you are well on your way to developing vision.  Now we need to get more practical.

Read our second post in this series to grapple with the next question, what will it take to reach the people or the need I see?  

This is a 2-part series: Part 1: Who am I called to be? and What does the world need? >> Part 2: What will it take to reach those people or meet that need? and What training will it require?

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Categories: Youth Ministry Resources

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