Have you ever found yourself walking along, thinking about something and realize you forgot where you’re going? One day recently I was trying to recall what I had been up to in my life and found a strange lack of ability to name anything specific.
As usual, it sent me spiraling into an internal analysis of who I was and what I was doing with my life.

I’m not unfamiliar with this process, it usually involves me approaching the same points I always do and evaluating them to make sure they make sense for my life.
I want to tell you this helps, but usually it only makes things worse. You see, I have this fantastic habit of rationalizing God’s plans and building my will around how I interpret them.

Here are some examples for you:

When we are in the right frame of mind, we are able to look clearly at this list and acknowledge it’s a bit dramatic. However, when you’re in the midst of it all and struggling to remember where you’re going, this list will often blow up in your face.

Here’s the point: let’s focus less on defining direction and more on training ourselves to keep on track with the direction God gives us.

We could decide every day what we will prioritize, but then every day we will struggle with our plans versus God’s, creating walls of will around plans that move.
This life is about learning to live in a way that daily lives like He would. Our actions usually reflect our priorities, our priorities typically reflect our heart, and our heart is just a big mess of emotion most of the time.
This is why we read in scripture:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Reading this verse can be a bit stark compared to how society calls us to live. It urges you to follow your heart and live life your own way. It sounds amazing upon first glance, but it leaves you bogged down with the weight of failures and pressure to be something. In John we find a verse urging us to find our life and our purpose in Him because without Him, we are nothing.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” ( John 15:5).

The beauty of Scripture is that it is both comforting and scary, often at the same time. Your heart isn’t trustworthy. If you listen to it for any period of time, you’ll learn this lesson. But we know that “God heals the brokenhearted and binds the wounds” (Psalms 147:3).

We know that He is the life supply. If we are in Him, we are filled with purpose. This refers to those moments when we are thinking back and trying to account for our days and our reasons. If we don’t have a connection with Him, we lose our purpose.
That last sentence is the entire reason for writing this article.

Without a connection with Him, we have no purpose.

We will do things, help people, and maybe even be successful, but this will never satisfy your natural need to be connected with the “Vine.”

Make sure you take the time to establish yourself daily with the direction of God. Let Him truly be the source of peace and contentment and the giver of direction and wisdom. You will never find yourself regretting a “God” move.

Olivia Dummer is a student in Blue Springs, Missouri where Jason Huckaby is her pastor. She writes and keeps an inspirational blog hoping to encourage others and share what she’s learned about God.