I used to think God’s purpose for my life was probably one big thing. One big calling. One door I had to find. And if I walked past it, chose wrong, got scared, messed up too much, wasted too many years, or took the wrong road, then that was it. I’d missed it. Somewhere out there was the life God had meant for me, and I had somehow taken a wrong turn twenty miles back. But I don’t believe that anymore. Because the longer I walk with God, the more I realize His purpose ain’t usually hiding behind one mysterious door waiting to see if I’m smart enough to find it. God’s purpose starts much closer than that. Love Him. Love people. Tell the truth. Forgive. Pray. Help somebody. Use what He put in your hands. Be faithful where your feet are standing today. Sometimes we’re looking toward the horizon asking God to show us our purpose while He’s pointing toward the person sitting right beside us. We want a burning bush. God may give us a telephone call we need to make. We want a great ministry. He may give us one hurting person. We want to know what we were put on this earth to accomplish. And sometimes God says, “Start with today.” I think about all the people in the Bible who probably didn’t understand what God was doing while they were living it. Joseph had a purpose, but for a while it looked like a pit. Moses had a purpose, but for forty years it looked like sheep. David had a purpose, but first it looked like being overlooked by his own family. Peter had a purpose, but there were days when it looked like failure. Paul had a purpose, but before he understood it, he was walking in the completely wrong direction. And still God found him. That comforts me. Because if God could reach Paul while Paul was literally headed down the wrong road, I reckon God knows how to find us too. Maybe you’re afraid you’ve wasted too much time. Maybe you’re thinking, “What if my purpose was twenty years ago?” “What if I was supposed to do something and didn’t?” “What if I made the wrong choices?” “What if I missed God?” But God is not standing twenty years behind you yelling for you to come back. He is here. Right now. And as long as there is breath in your body, there is still something you can give Him. Maybe purpose isn’t one assignment anyway. Maybe it’s a lifetime of little obediences that only make sense when God finally lets us see the whole picture. A prayer you prayed over somebody. A child you encouraged. A stranger you treated kindly. A testimony you finally told. A person you forgave. A meal you carried. A Bible verse you shared. A lonely person you sat beside. A broken person who watched you survive and thought, “If God carried her through it, maybe He’ll carry me too.” You may never know how many times God used you. And that might be part of the beauty of it. We spend so much time asking, “God, what great thing am I supposed to do?” Maybe heaven measures greatness differently. Maybe one day we’ll discover that some of the most important things we ever did were things we barely remember doing. So how do you know God’s purpose? Stay close to Him. Read His Word. Pray. Pay attention to what breaks your heart. Pay attention to what He has placed in your hands. Pay attention to the people He keeps putting in your path. And take the next faithful step. You don’t have to see the whole road. God does. And what if you mess up? Then turn around. What if you waste some years? Give Him the years you have left. What if you walk down the wrong road? God knows where roads lead. What if you miss a door? He knows how to open another one. God’s plan is bigger than one mistake. His mercy is bigger than your confusion. His ability to guide you is bigger than your ability to get lost. Maybe the question isn’t, “What if I miss my purpose?” Maybe the better question is, “Lord, what can You do with me from right here?” And then give Him your yes. Not tomorrow’s yes