Why Did God Make Me? 10 Reasons You Are Here
At some point, most of us will step back to look at our lives and ask hard questions, including: Why am I here? Do I have a purpose? Why did God make me?
Today, we’ll consider these questions by looking at a list of life-changing truths about God’s purpose for us. I’ll also share a list of 11 questions to help you find God’s purpose for your life.
First, I invite you to travel back in time with me as we reflect on God’s design.
Also, be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to help you grow closer to God as you seek his vision for your life.
Why Did God Make Me?
I was 21 years old and full of intrepidity when I boarded a plane and flew to Alaska. I had accepted a summer job working in a deli outside Denali National Part.
“Are you sure your want to do this? Aren’t you worried about the fact that you don’t know a single person in Alaska? Do you realize how far Alaska is from your home in Pennsylvania?” friends and family members asked.
“It’ll be a great adventure! I’ll be fine!” I assured them.
I was just a year from graduating from college with a teaching degree, and I knew teachers were needed in Alaska. I also loved the idea of a grand adventure, a fresh start in a place where I could pursue my love for backpacking.
My plan was to work in the deli full-time. In my off time, I’d backpack into the wilderness and travel throughout the state. It would be epic!
Created for Shared Adventures
After arriving in Alaska, I quickly developed friendships with other college students and nomadic souls who were working in the small village of hotels and restaurants outside the national park. I was thankful for this comradery and excited to have hiking friends, but something was missing.
I was surprised by how much I missed my closest friend at home. She knew everything about me. Together, we’d endured hard breakups, mistakes, and the many struggles that go with transitioning from childhood into adulthood.
We decided that the best way to endure the summer apart was to write detailed letters to each other daily.
Every day, writing to my friend became a lifeline. I shared every detail of every day, everything from solo backpacking trips to crushes on boys. My friend wrote about her summer at home in Pennsylvania with just as much detail.
We mailed our journal-style letters about once a week, and it took over a week for the letters to travel across the continent. But it didn’t matter. We were sharing our lives, and the letters helped us feel less alone than we would have otherwise felt.
Why Did God Make Me: God’s Design for Our Lives
Genesis 1, the first chapter of the Bible, offers our first glimpse into the answer to our question, Why did God make me?
The answer is similar to the reason why I wrote letters to my friend while I lived in Alaska: Love longs to be shared.
God is love, and he created a world filled with people because he wanted to share his love. Every person on earth was created with the same purpose: God wants to share his love with each of us.
Once we understand this, we can turn to Scripture and identify additional reasons within this umbrella of God’s love to answer why God made us. Let’s look at some more truths about why God created us.
Why Did God Make Me? Bible Verses
1. God made us to do good works he planned for us before we were born.
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
2. God made us to care for the earth.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26
3. God made us to proclaim his name throughout the earth.
But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. Exodus 9:16
4. God made us to know him.
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17:3
5. God made us to become members of his family.
He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. Ephesians 1:5
6. God made us to abide in him in a loving, dependent relationship.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
7. God made us for his pleasure.
For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13
8. God made us to love us.
We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19
9. God made us to rejoice over us, to sing over us.
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17
10. God made you to be the apple of his eye.
“He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.” Deuteronomy 32:10
Why did God make me? Read here for 10 truths about God's purpose for you. #faith #purpose Share on X~~~
As we reflect on the question, Why did God make me? perhaps the question we are really asking is, What is God’s purpose for me?
God has a plan and a purpose for each of his children. We find this purpose by first drawing near to God in a loving relationship. The closer we move toward God, the greater clarity he gives in finding purpose.
If you are seeking God’s purpose for your life, here are some questions to ask to help you find God’s calling.
Why Did God Make Me? 11 Questions About Purpose
1. God, what would it look like for me to embrace my calling for this day?
You can find God’s will for tomorrow by giving your best effort in today’s work. This work might not feel like the sweet spot of your calling in life, but God will use it to prepare your heart for what lies ahead.
When you do what you know God is calling you to do today, he will give you the direction you need for tomorrow.
2. Lord, am I failing to obey you in any way right now?
A few years ago, I had a big decision to make. I was hashing it out with a friend, and she said something like this: “It sounds like you already know what God is leading you to do. God hasn’t gone silent. He already told you what to do, and now he’s waiting for you to do it.”
Sometimes God graciously confirms our decisions and sends miraculous signs. More often, he waits for us to do what he already asked us to do.
Have you been putting off a step of obedience? Until you obey God in this area, he won’t show you what step to take next.
3. God, which decision is wise?
At times, I’ve tried to determine God’s calling by asking for miraculous signs. As I’ve grown in faith, I’ve learned that God rarely gives me these signs. Instead, he gives wisdom.
More often than not, a simple, three-word question will lead to the best answer when it comes to finding direction. The question is this: “Is it wise?”
God gave us common sense for making decisions. Ask God for wisdom. Talk to wise people. God always leads us in wisdom.
4. God, what is your written Word revealing to me?
Your calling from God will align with Scripture.
God will lead you as you encounter him in his written Word.
Make Bible reading a part of your everyday routine, and God will use this practice to guide you.
God will never lead you to do something that does not align with Scripture. For this reason, spend time in the Word. Connect with God and learn who he is. In the process, he will align your heart with his heart and give you his vision.
5. God, what are you trying to reveal to me through other people?
Conversations with others can guide our lives.
Spend time with people who know you well. Ask them to help you discern where God might be leading you. Ask them for wisdom. These people can help you find ways to use your passions to help others.
6. God, how can I use my greatest gifts and passions to help others?
Your calling will use your greatest passions to help others.
What fills you with life and makes you feel purposeful?
Ask God to show you how to use this passion to help others. He wants to lead you down a path that is wholly fulfilling, a path that brings him glory. Keep seeking this path and trust that he will show you the way in his perfect timing.
7. God, what do you want me to know about my calling right now?
God wants to show you things you do not know. He wants to give you his heart for your family, friends, coworkers, and community.
Ask him to show you what he wants you to know about your calling. He will reveal himself to you.
8. God, does my life exude the love, joy, and peace with which you have called me to live?
Assess whether you feel joyful, loving, fulfilled, and peaceful. If not, talk to God about it. What does he want to show you? Where is he leading?
God wants you to bear fruit.
Maybe you notice that some areas of your life are joyful and peaceful, while other areas lack these characteristics. Ask God to show you what you need to know (or change) so that his peace, joy, and love might permeate every realm of your life.
9. In which areas of my life have I become complacent?
Ask God to show you if you have become apathetic or complacent in any realm of your life.
Have you stopped praying for your coworkers or seeing your job as a ministry?
Have you forgotten your “why” or lost sight of your calling? What does God want you to know?
10. God, are you calling me to step out in faith in any areas right now?
Perhaps you’ve grown too comfortable in your life. I regularly ask God to show me if he is calling me to step out and follow him into new endeavors.
He often shows me new ventures into which he is calling me.
It’s easy to ignore these nudges when I let myself become too comfortable.
11. What longings are welling up within me?
Our longings and desires can be sinful, but they can also be seeds planted by God. I regularly step back to assess my longings. At times, I recognize longings such as the longing for deeper connection in my friendships, the longing for more playful fun, the longing for time with my husband, or the longing for solitude.
Listen to these longings. If they are biblical longings and seem to be from God, ask him to help you follow them.
A Reflection on These Prayers
I’ve spent much of my life grappling with the idea of a calling. Meanwhile, God’s calling is often less complicated than we make it. His calling is about how we live more than what we spend our time doing.
God's calling is often less complicated than we make it. His calling is about how we live more than what we spend our time doing. #calling #Godscalling Share on XIf this post has blessed you, I invite you to explore our library of family devotionals and free devotional eBooks below. May you experience God’s love and find the answer to the question, “Why did God make me?” God made you for a purpose, and he wants to reveal it to you.
Calling All Parents (and Grandparents)!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 15, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love. You can find all three books here or read more below.
Calling All Boy Moms (and Dads)!
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world. I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven! You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
Find Our Family Devotionals Here
Find all three books right here. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
Learn Why Willpower Doesn’t Work and Experience God’s Deliverance and Healing
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
A Free Devotional to Help You Find Peace in God’s Presence
I invite you to create space for God to transform your life by downloading a free copy of my devotional eBook, The Lean Into Grace Devotional: An 8-Day Devotional for Healing, Deliverance, and Replenishment. Find it for free here. I also offer a library of free online devotional eBooks for free. I invite you to explore the collection right here!
