The Life I’ve Been Given

Perhaps the most important question isn’t whether you’re living your purpose, but whether you’re fully living the life God has entrusted to you.

Last week, for the first time since I began writing these blogs, I didn’t publish one.

It wasn’t because I hadn’t planned ahead. I could have written it in advance and scheduled it as I usually do.

But this time I chose something different.

I gave myself permission not to write.

Not because I had nothing to say.

Or because I was tired.

But because I wanted to be fully present in celebrating a milestone that mattered deeply to me.

As I celebrated my 60th birthday, I made a conscious decision to simply enjoy being me. To laugh, to reflect, to celebrate, to receive the love around me and, perhaps for the first time in a long while, not feel the need to be producing something while I was doing it.

What surprised me wasn't that I enjoyed it.

What surprised me was how good it felt to give myself permission.

That one decision has stayed with me long after the celebrations ended.

Because I realised it wasn't really about taking a week away from writing.

It was about something much deeper.

For much of my life, like many of us, I've been focused on doing, achieving, serving, growing and making a difference. None of those things are wrong. In fact, they have shaped much of who I am.

But somewhere in the middle of all that doing, I found myself asking a different question.

Am I fully living the life I've been given?

Over the past year, one of the greatest gifts God has given me has been a new understanding of purpose.

For years I asked, Am I living my purpose?

It was a question that often left me wondering whether there was something more I should be doing or somewhere else I should be.

Gradually, God has changed my perspective.

I've come to realise that purpose isn't simply a destination waiting to be discovered. It isn't something I occasionally step into. It is woven into the everyday life God has given me. The conversations I have, the encouragement I offer, the people I serve, the work I do, the lessons I learn, the opportunities He places before me—all of these are part of the purpose he is unfolding.

That realisation has brought incredible freedom.

But it has also led me to another question.

If I believe I am already living my purpose, am I actually living my life?

Those two questions are not the same.

It is possible to spend your life doing meaningful things, serving faithfully, caring deeply and even achieving success, yet somehow lose sight of the life God has entrusted specifically to you.

Sometimes we become so busy meeting expectations that we forget to ask whether those expectations were ever ours to carry.

We can become experts at looking after everyone else while quietly drifting away from ourselves.

We can become so focused on building a legacy for tomorrow that we forget to inhabit today.

I wonder how many of us are living the life we thought we were supposed to live rather than the life God is inviting us to embrace.

As I reflected on this birthday, I realised that this next chapter isn't about striving for a different purpose.

It's about fully receiving the life I've already been given.

Not rushing through it.

Not constantly living for the next achievement.

Not allowing other people's expectations, opinions or demands to pull me away from being at peace within myself.

For me, that isn't selfishness.

It's stewardship.

God has graciously entrusted each of us with one life.

One personality.

One set of gifts.

One story.

One voice.

One unique way of reflecting His goodness in the world.

No one else can faithfully live the life He has entrusted to you.

That responsibility belongs to you.

Not as a burden.

But as a gift.

Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that "we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

I love that picture.

It reminds me that my life isn't an accident and neither is yours.

Long before I understood who I was becoming, God already knew.

Long before I questioned my purpose, he had already prepared the path.

Perhaps the invitation isn't to spend our lives searching for purpose as though it were hidden somewhere in the distance.

Perhaps the invitation is to faithfully inhabit the life he has already placed in our hands.

Pause & Reflect

Have you been so busy trying to live well that you've forgotten to fully live?

What I'm Learning

What I'm learning is that purpose isn't just about what I do.

It's about how I live.

It's about giving myself permission to celebrate the life God has given me without feeling guilty for slowing down.

It's about protecting the peace God has cultivated within me instead of allowing every circumstance or every opinion to determine how I feel about myself.

It's about remaining present instead of always preparing for what's next.

Most of all, I'm learning that legacy isn't something we begin building at the end of life.

We build it every ordinary day we choose to faithfully live the life God has entrusted to us.

A Small Step This Week

Set aside just one hour this week with no agenda beyond simply being present.

Not to achieve something.

Not to fix something.

Not to produce something.

Just to receive the gift of the life God has given you and notice what brings you peace, gratitude and joy.

Reflection Question

Am I living my life—or the life I thought I was supposed to live?

Faith Reflection

Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Perhaps living life to the full isn't about squeezing more into our days. Perhaps it's about becoming fully present in the life God has already entrusted to us.

The life he planned for us was never meant to be lived through comparison, constant striving or endless proving. It was always meant to be lived from the security of knowing that we are his workmanship, deeply loved, intentionally created and called to faithfully walk the path he has prepared.

Prayer

Lord, I pray for the person reading this today.

Thank you for the unique life you have graciously entrusted to them. Where they have become distracted by comparison, weighed down by expectations or lost themselves in striving, gently draw them back to the peace that comes from knowing they are yours.

Help them to receive this one life as a gift, to walk confidently in the purpose you have prepared for them and to find joy in becoming the person you created them to be.

May they have the courage to protect the peace you have placed within them, the wisdom to live intentionally and the confidence to faithfully embrace the life only they can live.

Amen.

Confidence Mantra

I will faithfully live the life God has entrusted to me.

Gentle Coaching Invitation

This week, don't ask yourself whether you're doing enough.

Instead, quietly ask yourself:

Am I fully present in the life God has already given me?

The answer may change more than your schedule.

It may change the way you live.

You are born to shine.

I. Arise & Shine | iarisenshine.com