01 | Struggling to Find Your Purpose in Midlife? 3 Steps to Gain Clarity and Direction

If you’ve been struggling to find your purpose in midlife and wondering why it feels so hard to know what God is calling you to do, today we’re going to talk about what can help bring real clarity. 

I’m sharing three practical steps to help you find direction by shifting the way you may be searching for your purpose, because what you’re looking for, or even waiting for, may not be what finally gives you the answers you’ve been longing for. So let’s dive in.

Do you want clarity and confidence to walk in your unique life purpose, but find yourself struggling because you don’t know what God is calling you to do, or because doubt is holding you back? Then you’re in the right place. 

Hi, I’m Arris, wife, mom, writer, and life purpose coach. I walked the path to find clarity about my purpose, overcome doubt, and step into my calling, and now God has called me to help you find yours and walk in it.

If you’re ready to find clarity about your purpose, grow more confident in who you are, and live out your calling in the middle of real life, join the conversation, and let’s get Candid on Calling. 

Before we start, if you’re a Christian woman seeking clarity about your purpose and to walk more confidently in what God is calling you to do, I’d love to invite you to join my free Christian Woman Life Purpose Community on Facebook. It’s a place to connect with other women who are navigating many of the same questions about purpose and calling.

You can learn more at liveinspiredbypurpose.com/community or find the link to join us in the show notes. 

Years ago, I walked away from my corporate job without knowing exactly what God was calling me to do next. The department I worked in was being outsourced, and they were having layoffs.

My supervisor actually offered me another role, but I didn’t take it. I’ve been trying to find God’s purpose for my life, and I decided to stay home, start a family, and wait on God for direction. 

He eventually made it clear that He was leading me to become a life coach, something I didn’t know much about and I’d never thought about doing.

But even then I didn’t fully understand the bigger picture. It wasn’t until years later, when I looked more closely at who I am and the patterns throughout my life, that I found real clarity about my life purpose and began to see how God was calling me to live it out in different ways in different seasons.

And what I learned is that gaining clarity and direction about your purpose often starts with changing what you’re looking for. 

And the first step is to stop looking for just one thing. 

We tend to look for clarity about our unique purpose in one gift, one ability, one passion, or one experience, or expect it to be lived out through one role, one job, or one type of ministry or service.

And God can absolutely use one moment or one clear encounter to reveal a specific calling, and it may center on one particular role, assignment, or way of serving.

But when we’re trying to understand our broader life purpose, one clue or one expression of it often doesn’t tell the whole story. 

Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works He prepared in advance for us to do. And if God has been intentional about both how He created us and the work He’s prepared for us, it makes sense to look for patterns and connections between who we are, how He shaped us, and how He’s been at work throughout our lives.

Stop looking to one gift, role, passion, or experience for the whole answer. Instead, start paying attention to who you are and what keeps showing up and standing out across your life. 

Begin asking yourself: What keeps resurfacing in who I am, what I care deeply about, and how God has been working both in and through my life? 

And the second step is… start looking for all the things that repeat and connect.

Look within yourself and across different parts of your life for clues. You don’t have to know what any of it means yet, but here are some things to pay attention to:

• First, consider the ways that are unique that God designed you, like your personality, your strengths, your gifts.
• Then, reflect on how you usually make a difference in other people’s lives, what comes naturally to you that helps others, and how you often feel led to make an impact. 
• Also, think about experiences that have shaped you and the ways God has worked in your life. 
• Passions that keep stirring in your heart and burdens or problems that affect other people or the world that deeply move you.

One piece may reveal very little or might not really seem as significant at all, but when you place several pieces side by side and start looking at them, you can begin to see patterns and connections. 

So, use a journal, a notebook, a document, or an app to write down everything that comes to mind without trying to interpret it yet, and ask yourself what keeps repeating, even if it shows up in different ways. What seems connected directly or indirectly, and what common themes do I notice? Simply notice what’s there, making lists and grouping things together.

And then, the third step is discern what the patterns may be pointing toward. 

Once you’ve identified patterns, bring them before God and prayerfully consider what they may reveal about how He created you to contribute. 

As you reflect and seek God’s guidance, you might start to discern both your overall life purpose and a more focused calling for your current season. Your purpose can be expressed through different roles or different assignments in different seasons of your life. 

For me, coaching has been one role to express what God created me to do, but looking back, I can see that I had already been living out parts of that purpose in other ways. And as my life has changed, God has continued to show me how to express it in ways that fit the season I’m in.

Start by focusing on the clearest patterns you see. Bring them to God in prayer and ask what they may reveal about how He created you to contribute. He might be preparing you for something in the future or leading you to step into something right now.

Ask yourself: What do these patterns seem to reveal about the kind of impact I’m created to make? 

How might God be calling me to express that purpose in this season of my life? 

You don’t have to have it all figured out right now. Just start with the direction that’s becoming clear and continue seeking God’s guidance for what’s next. 

I hope this encourages you because finding clarity about your purpose doesn’t require waiting for one perfect thing to reveal itself. And right now, there are clues right in front of you and within you. Simply start by looking for what repeats and connects across your life, then bring those patterns to God and prayerfully discern what they may reveal about your broader purpose and how He may be calling you to live it out in this season. 

You don’t have to understand the whole picture right now. Just begin paying attention to what God may have already placed within you and throughout your life because the clarity you’re looking for may be closer than you think. 

And remember, if you’d like to continue the conversation about purpose and calling with other Christian women, I’d love to welcome you into the Christian Woman Life Purpose Community. 

You can learn more at liveinspiredbypurpose.com/community or find the link to join us in the show notes.  

I’m so glad you joined me today. If you know someone who could benefit from this conversation, I hope you’ll share this episode with her. And if Candid On Calling is helpful to you, I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a review.

Your words can help this podcast reach more women.

Until next time, keep living inspired by purpose.