Are you frustrated about not knowing your purpose? Are you tired of hearing people tell you that God has a plan for your life, and yet, you don’t know what that plan is? If you don’t know your purpose, and you’ve been trying to find it, don’t freak out about it. Rest assured there are a lot of people in the same boat like you. Finding your purpose, however, is a master-key to finding everything else God has for you.

I can understand the frustration of hearing over and over again that God has a plan for your life, and yet not having a clue of what that plan is. Or, what those plans are. There are lots of books that address this subject. This is understandable because guiding people to their life’s purposes can be a daunting task. While there is a lot to say about finding God’s plan for your life, I’ll just share one tip that might help you find your life’s purpose.

The most important tip necessary to help you find your life’s mission is asking God for guidance. Under the umbrella of this guidance, I learned a tidbit that might help you find your purpose. This is it: your purpose might be found in the mouth of your critics. God’s call on your life might be discovered in the criticism of your critics. In other words, what people are saying about you negatively can be a clue to what you’re supposed to be doing.

For example, you might be familiar with the story of Moses trying to separate two of his Israelite brethren from fighting each other. When Moses did this, the man in the wrong asked Moses, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?” (Exodus 2:13-14) Bingo! Didn’t Moses turn out to be a ruler and a judge of Israel? This approach of listening to your doubters in order to find your purpose can also be seen in Joseph’s story. He had a dream and he told them to his brothers and father. In response to his dreams, his father echoed his brothers’ doubt by questioning him, “Will I, your mother, and your brothers bow down to you?” (Genesis 37:5-10) His brothers ended up bowing down to him, didn’t they? Did you notice that Joseph did not interpret his dreams? His brothers and father did.

Are you missing the clue that, by criticizing you, your haters might be interpreting your purpose for you? We have been told not to listen to critics. I agree. I preach this too. May I add an exception though? If you’re going to listen, listen with the intent of finding your purpose. Your mission might be discovered in their criticisms.

Hours prior to his crucifixion, the Roman soldiers taunted Jesus by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews.” (Mark 15:16-18) Duh! In jest, the soldiers went on their knees and bowed their heads. Little did they know that Jesus was not only the King of the Jews, but He is also the King of Kings … and so much more.

Let me use a modern day example to illustrate this truth further. Are you familiar with the late African American Actor, Michael Clarke Duncan? He played the role of “John Coffey,” alongside Tom Hanks in the Golden Globe nominated movie, Green Mile. He was the tall, huge, towering African American figure in the movie. Well, before he became a renowned actor, he dug ditches.

He told his coworkers that he was going to be an actor. They doubted him and made fun of his aspirations. They teased him by nicknaming him “Hollywood.” Often they taunted him by saying Bruce Willis was on the phone wanting to talk to him about being in a movie. Then they laughed at him. Did you remember what I said about finding your purpose: your purpose might be found in the mouth of your critics.

Thanks to their taunts, in 1990, he moved to Los Angeles. Isn’t it interesting that he ended up being an actor playing significant roles in a litany of movies? Not only this, he also starred with Bruce Willis in the movie, Armageddon? It was also Bruce Willis who put in a word for him to land the role in Green Mile, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe.[1] Yes, Duncan already had it in his heart to act. But he didn’t know that his coworkers where prophesying over him.

If people at different times in your life have criticized you about a “specific” undertaking, especially when you never shared your dreams with them in the first place, grab a pen and take note! It’s one thing for someone to tell you that you’ll never amount to anything, but it’s another thing when several people at different times in your life tell you that you’ll never be: promoted, a model, a manager, world renowned singer, talk show host, professional athlete, run a company or ministry; own a business or franchise; be an astronaut, author or commercial airline pilot … fill in the blank.

God has numerous ways to reveal our purposes to us. Little do we know that He even uses the devil to unknowingly tell us what we are called to do. The devil influences people to attack your dreams. The fool, however, doesn’t know that he is inadvertently exposing God’s plans to you. Perhaps this also explains why God wants us to pray for our enemies; because, by attacking us they’re unveiling secrets to us.