Many of us pray for guidance about what to do with our lives. We are desperate for direction. We want God to paint answers in the sky, speak to us in a dream, manipulate our circumstances in such a way that we have no other alternative than to take the path clearly marked. We want the blueprint for our lives mailed to us from heaven. Like generations past, we anxiously seek for a sign.

… Yet, if you’re like me, you usually don’t read books where you already know the plot or care for stories all that much when you already know the ending. Recognize this: to some degree, you enjoy mystery, revelation, discovery! Why then, when it comes to our lives, do we so desperately desire a message from the future informing us of the path we should take? Fear certainly has something to do with it. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of going it alone. Thus we seek affirmation from God, from friends, from “inner peace.”

It may well be that if we realized our delight in discovery we’d approach our futures with a bit less stress and a bit more wonder. Truly, how incredible it is that we have the opportunity to discover our destinies! Even more, we have the audacity to determine them! So, take your yearnings for guidance and direction to their fullest extent and you will have the blueprint of your life in an envelope postmarked from the Pearly Gates. Yet as you sit there eyeing the envelope, pacing, debating whether you should open it, I suspect you will feel some curiosity, yes … but also some disenchantment.

Thank God He doesn’t always give precise answers.

Yes, seek wise counsel. Yes, pray for wisdom and discernment. But don’t sit idle waiting for a sign. Go discover your destiny—we were made to do so.