Called: Wondering What Do I Do With My Life?
What do I do with my life? It’s a deeply important question, one that deserves more than a quick answer.
Like anything that really matters, it requires honest conversation and thoughtful reflection. It’s a question that’s stayed with me well into my 30s. Most people wrestle with it at some point, some more visibly than others. But just because someone seems confident doesn’t mean they have it all figured out. Maybe they haven’t stopped long enough to ask the deeper questions, or maybe they’ve just learned to ignore them.
For too long, I misunderstood both the Bible and the world. I searched for a calling in a way that mostly served my own desires. Maybe you’re a student with no idea what your future should look like. Or maybe you’re an adult who’s walked through life in quiet, muddled confusion, unsure if you’ve ever really found your purpose, wondering, what do I do with my life?
Over the course of my life, the way I walk through the world has changed significantly. I’ve often pivoted, changed directions, and re-evaluated my path. None of it was wasted, just growth, and a collection of experiences that have shaped me.
Along the way, I studied the patterns of people who seemed successful or lost, and I read books that gradually shifted my mindset. All of that was helpful. But when I laid those insights beside the Bible, I found deeper roots and a profound layer of truth that only Scripture can provide.
But before we get to that, can God’s truth be found woven into everyday life? Lets look at humanities patterns and lay scripture over it. So, what does the research tell us? What patterns does human experience reveal? Let’s begin with a look at humanity. In their influential 2012 study, psychologists Bryan Dik and Ryan Duffy analyzed several career-calling frameworks and found that perceiving a calling; defined as a transcendent summons toward purpose, was a stronger predictor of job satisfaction, life engagement, and personal fulfillment than simply identifying with a job title or vocation.
One of the most powerful voices in this area, Viktor Frankl, wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning that the primary human drive is not pleasure, as Freud claimed, or power, as Nietzsche believed, but meaning. Drawing from his experience surviving Nazi concentration camps, Frankl observed that those who endured weren’t always the strongest physically, they were those who had a reason to live, a purpose beyond their suffering. His insights affirm the idea that identity anchored in lasting purpose, rather than external success or comfort, offers the resilience needed to face life’s hardest challenges.
Both of these studies highlight the importance of having a transcendent purpose of finding meaning beyond suffering and rooting identity in something lasting. The point isn’t to fixate on our circumstances but to focus on something greater than them.
So where did my perspective begin to shift? It happened when I started seeking a vision instead of a vocation.
I began looking for a transcendent purpose and rooting into something lasting, like a vision. Vocations are specific, they shift and change over time. If I focused only on becoming a kindergarten teacher, for example, I could easily box myself in. And because it's so specific, I might mistakenly build my entire identity around it. But after much reflection, I realized I wanted to cast a broader vision. One that wasn’t stuck in a specific vocation, but had many different avenues I could take. In short, I wanted to focus on the core of who I was created to be, rather than get stuck in the external labels we often place on ourselves.
I stopped asking, “What job do I want?” and instead began asking deeper questions: What topics or conversations make me come alive? Who or what do I feel drawn to help, even if I don’t fully understand why? What problems in the world make me angry or deeply sad in a way that lingers? When I hear someone’s story and can’t stop thinking about it, what kind of person or situation is it usually? I wanted to explore what gifts or interests I might carry and how I could contribute to the world through them.
I asked myself these questions to discover what truly stirred my heart. Then I listed my interests and skills, looking for where practicality met passion, where hope, calling, and ability overlapped, and where certain areas still needed growth
What began to emerge in me was a clear and compelling vision: I felt deeply drawn to creatively help people be heard, especially those whose voices often go unnoticed. As a Christian, I wanted to pursue this in a Christ-like way. With that vision in mind and my current interests, I began to see many possible paths: I could work with children, the elderly, or people with disabilities; I could be a stay-at-home parent, develop websites for underserved communities, support immigrants, engage in project-based photography, work with animals, teach, serve the less fortunate, or work in the nonprofit world. The list went on and on.
That vision gave me flexibility. It wasn’t tied to a specific job, title, or age group. Instead, I could carry that vision into almost any vocation, because it gave me a mission. I wasn’t confined by a role or defined by a label; rather, I had the freedom to shape the job around the vision, not the other way around.
WHEN WISDOM ENCOUNTERS SCRIPTURE
Searching for a purpose beyond myself was a meaningful starting point; it revealed a clear way that God has woven Himself into humanity. The universal human need for transcendent purpose points to something greater. The fact that studies and research consistently show this pattern across humanity speaks volumes.
But human intellect and reflection can only take us so far. It wasn’t until I laid this pattern in humanity with Scripture that I discovered something truly lasting, a vision anchored in eternity. When I tried to cast a vision on my own, and wondered what do I do with my life, it felt ungrounded, lacking real depth or permanence. Even human insight suggests that we need a purpose that rises above our circumstances, a mission greater than any job title or role. That longing for something eternal is woven into who we are. And Jesus is the one who meets that need, offering Himself as the foundation of a purpose that endures.
The lives of Joseph, Job, and Paul show us that true purpose isn’t tied to comfort or career, but to a vision grounded in God. Joseph endured betrayal, slavery, and prison, yet came to see God’s hand using his pain for a greater purpose, to save many lives. Job lost everything, but his hope remained because he trusted not in circumstances, but in a living Redeemer.
Paul suffered imprisonment, beatings, and constant hardship, yet found deep meaning in proclaiming Christ, saying, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Each of their lives reveals that when our identity and purpose are rooted in God, we can face change and suffering without losing our sense of direction. Their vision wasn't circumstantial, it was eternal.Their stories remind us that lasting purpose isn’t found in what we do, but in who we’re rooted in. When our vision is grounded in God, it holds steady through anything life brings.
Colossians 3:23–24 says,
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
So maybe you’re wondering, "What do I do with my life?" And as you set out to shape a good vision for yourself, even using the resources we provide below to help guide you, remember this: while human wisdom may remind us that having a vision is better than clinging to just a specific vocation, only Jesus truly satisfies the deep, eternal longing within us. He is the One who anchors our lives and gives lasting, transcendent meaning to any vision we pursue.
We, in turn, need to remember that our interests, gifts, and skills, all the pieces that make up a good vision, are blessings from God, but they are not the point. They are tools and glimpses of His goodness that we get to enjoy and use to reflect Him. So may we always shape our sense of calling and purpose around the greatest gift, Christ Himself, for He is the foundation of it all. Because of His death, the eternity our hearts naturally long for is now truly possible
