I have this dear friend whose hair loss, an idea of being unattractive with multiple expectations squashed, countless failed romantic relationships, unrequited love, and a host of other ills and mistakes made her sincerely sure that life has no point. 

Constantly making comments like ‘Why put these desires here when it almost feels inappropriate?’ ‘Can we all just go to heaven already?’ ‘What’s the point of living? Death seems better.

“When life doesn’t unfold the way we hoped, it’s common to find ourselves lost in a maze of unanswered questions. As we contemplate the repetitive cycles of our existence – waking up, working to support ourselves and our families, and ultimately facing our mortality – we can’t help but question the significance of it all and whether our daily triumphs and struggles have any lasting impact.”

While I try to encourage my friend, telling her that God has a plan and his plans are good (Jer 29:11), I’m often caught in the web of questioning my purpose on earth, too, and questioning the purpose of creation itself, considering how God knows it all yet all creation seems to be suffering. I realized this questioning paralyzed my ability to do meaningful things, find happiness in the mundane, and even see the greater good; I’m not alone.

This question of purpose will plague every man at some point, and for thousands of years, people of different ages and times have attempted to answer this question; however, more often than not, they start from the wrong place: man. They try to define their purpose and how to walk in it from the standpoint of man (the creation), when, in essence, it should start from the creator of creation (God).

Without seeing and acknowledging the creator, we would never understand God’s purpose in creating man or any other creation. We often turn to self-help books to find out our purpose when, in reality, we are to turn to the creator. We don’t ask a computer why it doesn’t work; we look at the creator’s manual or technician to figure out why his computer doesn’t work, and that is what we should be doing: looking to the creator for answers.

I’m reminded of the story of George Washington Carver, a man who discovered over 300 uses of peanuts by simply asking the peanut’s creator, even when he was an agriculturist and agronomist. This saved the looming economic crisis of the rural South in America at the time. 

This taught me that we often look at the wrong things to define our purpose – ourselves, our fulfillment, our happiness, others, and their walks – everything outside the creator (God). In fact, we must look at God to understand Him and his purposes. Even renowned Atheist & philosopher Bertrand Russell admits that ‘Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless,’ which leaves us with God as our focal point in understanding the purpose of creation, man inclusive – you.

While the purpose of creation is a broad topic that tends to brew controversy, I want to narrow our search to finding out our personal and collective purposes for being on earth.

Start from here. 

In our journey of figuring out why we are here, asking God is a good place to start. 

In asking God, we learn to have a walking & living relationship with Him, which often leads us to see his hands in our lives from birth until we see the fuller picture of our purpose. 

Just like the manual that comes with an IKEA product helps you easily put the pieces together, so is the Bible the ‘manual’ that helps you put the pieces of your life and purpose together.In fact, it is better than a manual. 

The Bible is beyond the compilation of the captivating history it holds, it’s more of a living testimony of a person – Christ Jesus.  (John 1:1-3).

‘In Him (the word made flesh and vice versa) we find out who we are and what we are living for (Eph 1:11)’. So you have to start by walking with Him.

Give it time.

The problem is usually our inability to wait on God. We see it in our dying haste to figure out what we ought to do with our lives now, the urge to take the next steps for that giant leap; we want to know it now. However, God is not in a hurry and cannot be tricked, bribed, or cajoled into hurrying. 

When we understand that our destination isn’t an end point but the journey of life itself, it becomes easier to take it one step and one day at a time. This helps us value every day or time we spend with God and His word. 

In fact, man’s purpose is to know God, and knowing God goes beyond having knowledge of Him; it is more about experiencing, seeing, and revealing Him to what’s around you. 

It’s not enough to carve a career for ourselves and stop there. Your walk with God sums up the reason for your purpose, ultimately answering the question of why you need to use math, numbers, serving people, and connection to animals to make an impact that will please him, the world around you, and yourself.

In summary, discovering why you are here is dependent on finding God.