When Purpose Feels Quiet

You may have already caught on to something about me... I’m a big Justin Bieber fan. You can roll your eyes, it’s fine. I know, I know. But hear me out. What’s always fascinated me about Justin Bieber isn’t the fame, the success, or the fact that he seemingly “has it all.” It’s the reality that even someone at the top—money, influence, platform, everything—still wrestled with the same question so many of us do, what is my purpose? So much so that he released an entire album called Purpose. And not only that, there’s a song on the album titled Purpose. That alone says something.

The song isn’t flashy. It’s reflective. It’s honest. It’s about redemption, forgiveness, and waking up to the realization that you’ve been living on autopilot. He’s acknowledging that he lost his way, hurt people, and drifted from who he was meant to be. When he sings, “I put my heart into your hands,” it’s ownership and surrender. It’s choosing to stop running from mistakes and instead face them. At its core, the song speaks to a few things we all wrestle with... owning past mistakes, seeking forgiveness, rediscovering faith, and choosing transformation over staying stuck. Whether you’re famous or not, we’ve all had moments where we look at our lives and think, I don’t want to be who I was—I want to be better.

And that brings me to this. There’s a kind of restlessness that doesn’t come from being busy—it comes from feeling unanchored.

You can have a routine, a calendar full of commitments, even a life that looks good from the outside… and still feel like something is missing. Not wrong. Just incomplete. Like you’re moving, but not necessarily forward. I know that feeling, and I know you do too. For a long time, I thought that feeling meant I was doing something wrong. Like maybe I hadn’t prayed hard enough. Or listened closely enough. Or made the “right” choice when I had the chance. I assumed purpose was something you either found early—or spent your life trying to catch up to if you missed it. I WAS WRONG. I've learned purpose rarely shows up when we’re searching for it. It tends to meet us while we’re being faithful in the mundane. It shows up in the in-between seasons. The waiting rooms. The ordinary Wednesdays. The moments that don’t feel big enough to matter.

We live in a world that celebrates clarity. Five-year plans. Vision boards. Clear callings. And if you don’t have those things, it can feel like you’re behind—or worse, spiritually immature. But Scripture paints a different picture. Over and over again, God calls people while they’re already in the middle of something else. Moses was tending sheep. David was watching flocks. Peter was fishing. None of them woke up that morning knowing their purpose was about to collide with their ordinary routine. Purpose didn’t arrive with a neatly packaged explanation. It unfolded through obedience—often one uncomfortable, inconvenient step at a time.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “God has made everything beautiful for its own time.” Not early. Not rushed. Not according to our urgency. In its time. That verse used to frustrate me (and if I'm honest, some days it still does), because I wanted God’s time to look a lot more like my time. I wanted confirmation before commitment. Assurance before action. But faith doesn’t work that way, and guess what purpose doesn’t either. Sometimes God asks us to remain faithful in places that don’t feel permanent. To serve without knowing how long. To stay present even when we’re unsure what’s next. And that can make you feel like you're not doing enough—especially when everyone around you seems to be moving faster, settling sooner, or finding their “thing.”

But purpose isn’t a race. It’s a relationship. And if you’re walking with God—truly walking with Him—you are never off course, you've already found your purpose. If you feel restless right now, that doesn’t mean you’re lost. It may simply mean God is stretching your trust. Teaching you how to rely on Him instead of outcomes. Inviting you to stop striving for clarity and start leaning into faithfulness. Purpose isn’t hiding from you. It’s unfolding in you. And when the time is right—God will make it clear.

SHE Walks in Faith

Where have you been searching for purpose in outcomes instead of obedience? Pause today and ask God to reveal purpose not in the next big thing, but in the next faithful step. Trust that your calling is unfolding, even if it doesn’t look how you expected yet (after all, sometimes life's biggest blessing are in the unexpected). 😏

🩷 Prayer

God, when I feel restless and unsure, remind me that You are not late. Help me release the pressure to have it all figured out. Teach me to be faithful where I am, trusting that You are shaping my purpose even when I can’t see it yet. I place my timing—and my plans—in Your hands. Amen.