Many people I know are trying to discern where God is calling them to love, lead, live and serve in the future. When I talk to leaders young and old it is not uncommon to hear the refrain …

• I’m just not sure where God is calling me to lead.
• I wish I knew where God wanted me to serve.
• I’m confused as to which path to take in this unique season of life.

Here are three questions I often ask people who are trying to determine where God is leading them.

1. What makes you excited?

Take inventory of the things that always make you smile.

Don’t quickly brush by the moments where you often end up laughing.

Consider the activities in your life where time just seems to fly by.

These things that excite and make your heart race are indicative of where your passion and gifts likely reside.

Your direction and purpose in the future might be found in things you have laughed and smiled about in the past.

What I am saying is one way to find your calling and what you might love to do in the future is to spend some time examining what you loved to do in the past.

2. What makes you angry?

Just as excitement illuminates your heart and ignites your passion … so does anger. You should pay careful attention to the things in life that anger you because one of these areas could be where you are called to give your energy and make a difference.

For instance…

• You are angry by the trafficking of human beings for sex. If your heart races when you hear those stories this might be an area where God is calling you to employ your gifts and energy. You have the emotional fuel to make a difference in the world of human trafficking.
• You are upset by the teenage drug use in your city. You may be the one God is calling to take a stand, start a campaign and make a difference right in your own town.
• You are furious about the children who die every year around the world simply because they do not have clean water to drink. Maybe God is calling you to partner with Charity Water or Blood Water or even begin your own journey to discover and build your own organization to fight this infuriating truth.

Realize that anger itself if not a sin.

The Bible says in Ephesians 4:26 – “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,”

Being angry is not a sin. It’s possible to be angry about something and allow it to actually lead you towards some very good and even noble purposes.

Anger often asks why things have to be the way they are and then changes the way things are! For the good of others. For the good of this world.

Taking inventory of the things that upset you in the past could provide a window into where God wants to use you in the future.

3. Where does your mind go when it wanders?

Where your mind goes when it wanders is perhaps the greatest indication of where you should deploy your gifts and energy in the coming months and years.

Oftentimes your mind will leave a place before your heart does.

It’s often hard for a heart to let go but conversely it’s easy for a mind to wander.

And where your mind wanders is telling.

It is after all the place you dream of being and belonging.

Taking time to journal your thoughts and past experiences often shines a bright light on possible future endeavors.

There is obviously wisdom that must accompany the wandering mind. A mind that is left to wander without constraint will never root itself and grow anywhere. There must be a healthy balance between letting your mind go and reeling it in.

A mind that is left to constantly wander will achieve no great things.

Your mind must be on a leash. It can only wander so far. And you can decide if it is good and wise to follow where it is pulling.

[Tweet “”Not all those who wander are lost.” J. R. R. Tolkien”]

So, there you go … answering these three questions will give you great insight into your possible calling in life.

Live curiously friends.