Hi Friends,

Raise your hand if you have ever read a book about purpose. Heard a sermon on it. Taken a quiz.

There is no shortage of material about finding your purpose, and chances are you have already given yours a great deal of thought. And still, so many of us reach the end of all that searching unable to say clearly and succinctly what we were made for.

Proverbs 3:21 (TPT) says, "My child, never drift off course from these two goals for your life: to walk in wisdom and to discover your purpose. Don't ever forget how they empower you."

Discovery is named as a goal there, one we are told never to drift from. And God promises it will empower us.

Which is why I want to be bold with you today, and I hope you will forgive me for it. Do you truly have clarity in your purpose, or have you settled for a vague idea?

I ask because I have watched what happens when clarity finally comes, and I want it for you so much that I am willing to risk the question.

The verses that follow show us what that empowerment looks like. I treat Proverbs 3:22 through 26 as a picture of what is waiting.

You stop second-guessing. You know what you are called to give, whether that is your work, your time, or your money, and giving it energizes you. You watch it bring healing to people.

Obstacles stop stopping you. They still come, but you know what God made you to do, so you go through them instead of turning back.

Your sleep is sweet and secure. No dread waiting at three in the morning, and no stress about what tomorrow may bring.

Fear runs out of material. You know who you are, whose you are, and where you are going. The Lord is your confidence, and he keeps your heart at rest.

Two questions tell me whether I am living there. Am I moving forward in my purpose and seeing its fruit in other people's lives? And can I describe it in one sentence I trust enough to filter every yes and no?

Let yourself want that. It is not a reward for the especially gifted. It is what God intends for his sons and daughters, and it is what he designed you to have as you partner with him in helping others thrive.

Now please hear me, because this is the part I do not want you to miss. Discovering your purpose is a journey rather than a destination. If you do not have clarity yet, you have not failed at anything.

Proverbs 25:2 (TPT) tells us that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and that "the honor of kings is revealed by how they thoroughly search out the deeper meaning of all that God says." He hid your purpose on purpose, the way a father hides a gift he cannot wait to watch you open. The hiding was never to keep it from you. It was to bring you to him.

And here is why I believe it is possible for you. Proverbs 3:19 tells us that "the Lord laid the earth's foundations with wisdom's blueprints." He designed everything with specific details that matter for the specific purpose they carry out, and my friend, that includes you. Then verse 20 says that "by his divine revelation, he broke open the hidden fountains of the deep, bringing secret springs to the surface." That is exactly what he longs to do for you.

You have a blueprint. You can learn to see it.

If I could say one thing to you today, it is this. Do not let your hunger for clarity die. Please do not settle. What God has for you is more specific, more joyful, and more beautifully woven into the lives of others than you have dared to imagine.

So here is what I want to leave with you.

With joy and wonder,

Ashley Gordon

P.S. My new devotional on Proverbs 3 drops on the YouVersion Bible App on September 4th, and it walks you through how to begin the search, with one small step to take each of the five days. Keep your eyes peeled, and you can follow me here.

These letters are crafted through hours of prayer, research, and writing — and they will always be free. If one of them has added something to your life and you'd like to fuel the work, I receive that with deep gratitude. Fuel This Work