I’ve known Mitchell Thompson just about his whole life. He’s the son of one of our pastors at Eastridge; in fact, his dad Gary was my youth minister through most of my middle and high school years.

Mitchell was a good kid growing up, and he still is. He’s always been witty and personable, and he became a championship wrestler who still wrestles in college. Above all, he has answered the call into ministry.

A year ago, Mitchell started a podcast called The Mitch Mindset Podcast. The podcast started out as boilerplate motivational stuff, and even though it was good and helpful, you could tell Mitchell was trying to find his way as a podcaster.

Over the past few months, Mitchell has honed the focus of his podcast and has concentrated on the importance of a relationship with Jesus. And his podcast content has grown better and more compelling.

The way Mitchell has refined and improved his podcast serves as a great example of a believer who has found his voice by tapping into his God-given purpose.

When we find our purpose in God’s will, we’ll flourish. Henry Blackaby writes about this truth in his classic study Experiencing God:

Hear when God is speaking to you. Identify God’s unmistakable activity in your life. Believe Him to be and to do everything He promises. Adjust your beliefs, character, and behavior to Him and His ways. Identify a direction He is taking in your life, and recognize what He wants to do through you. Know clearly how to respond to what He shows you. Experience God doing through you what only He can do.

We can also see in scripture where God’s people have the encouragement to respond to God’s purpose for them.

The Apostle Paul reminds the Ephesian church, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV).

The Apostle Peter tells his readers, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9, ESV).

But the psalmist reminds us that it’s not our self-appointed purpose that matters; it’s God’s eternal purpose:

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Psalm 33:10-11 (ESV)

I can’t tell you how to find God’s purpose for your life. That’s up to you, but it takes a lot of Bible reading and prayer to discern what He wants for you. Pray specifically for the wisdom to learn and know. Trust Him to show you what he wants you to do.

There’s no better purpose than God’s purpose for you, and I pray that you can find it and flourish.

*****

Photo by geralt (Pixabay)