Who am I and why am I here?

“Is this it?” “This cannot be “it” this cannot be what life is about?” “What is my purpose here?” “Who is this (my work) helping?” Streams of questions ran through my mind as I sat at my desk once again looking into space, bored, with no passion for my work, nothing to look forward to. I felt like my work had no real value or none that I cared much about.

“Hey Carly,” I blurted out to my colleague with who I shared office space. “What do you think I am great at?” I asked. I read somewhere that one way to identify what you were born to do, is by asking people close to you what they thought you did well.

“Are we still doing this?” she asked. “Well, again, you like fashion and going out (party),” she said. 

“Wow,” I thought to myself, “that sounds shallow.”

 “I liked those things but is that who I am?” “And how can I use that to help anybody?” I asked as I trailed off in thought again.

Seek and keep on seeking

These have been the same questions I have been asking everyone that could give me some insights into what to do to make my life more fulfilling. I worked for approximately nine years as a scientist at a well-established government agency when this sense of emptiness began. This job took me to many places, places I never dreamt that I would visit. I met many people. Yet, I felt unfulfilled. The emptiness was there all along, but it intensified before I returned from a six-month trip to Lima, Peru. Although it was a great trip, I dreaded going back to the job that took me there in the first place. 

The trips were fantastic, but I detested being at the office/lab back home. What could I do? I did not want to do just anything, I wanted to do “the thing” that thing that was going to change the entire trajectory of my life…in a meaningful way. And maybe just getting another job was not the answer. I was seeking purpose

I was lost. My soul was seeking and searching for an answer. The problem was, I was looking for that answer from people. People who probably did not know themselves, let alone know who I was. 

Perhaps you are feeling some form of emptiness or frustration too. You will never find the real you through your own or other peoples’ lenes. We are who we think we are at this moment because of beliefs, assumptions, thoughts, and emotions influenced by people, society, culture, and popular ideologies, not because of truth. Where then do you find the truth? Is there absolute truth?

The truth about you

The Bible is where you find absolute truth. Are you convinced of this?

Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life.” First, you need to seek God and His righteousness, and all things will be added unto you (Matt 6:33). All things include the truth about you.

The emptiness and frustration I felt were a call from God trying to get my attention. Possibly to let me know there is indeed more He had for my life. God told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jer 1:5 NIV). 

Knowing the truth about you will set you free. Free from any limitations, free from trying to please others, and free to do the things God wants you to do. Jesus did not come to only save you from something (darkness, yourself, the world); He saved you to do something, the thing you were born to do, your purpose here on earth. It is what you and I are searching for, and we will be unsatisfied until we find it.

Are you at that point in your life asking, “Is this it?” Do you know the truth about you? How will you respond?