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How to Discover Where God is Leading You

How to Discover Where God is Leading You

Last updated on: July 29, 2026 at 10:24 pm by Lee Ann B. Marino

How to Discover Where God is Leading You 2026-07-29T22:24:45-04:00 Lee Ann B. Marino

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It’s easy enough to say that our life’s purpose is to know, love, and serve God. Every person on earth has this same life purpose. From the oldest to the youngest, our ultimate goal in life is to discover our Creator and come to a place where we know best how to engage with Him throughout our lives. This, in large part, is where complication enters the picture. How do we best serve God? How can we best show God we love Him? The answer: We come to discover where God is leading you.

Contrary to what some might think, God doesn’t leave us to figure out how to best serve Him by ourselves. The Bible speaks of “acceptable service” in Romans 12:1-2:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV)

This passage confirms for us that the will of God for us is good, pleasing, and perfect. It brings benefit, wholeness, and completeness. Discovering this will comes into play as we come into deeper relationship with God.

Person in a field with arms extended upward

Photo by Hanny Naibaho on Unsplash

The meaning of life

“What am I meant to do in this life?” is one of the major questions most people ask themselves at some point in their lives. It’s not a question that is asked once or twice, but often comes up repeatedly throughout life, with the advance of changes, questions, or new circumstances. Sometimes something major causes the question of purpose to arise, but much of the time, it isn’t the major changes of life that bring forth questions: it’s the little things that make us wonder about what we are supposed to do and what is next.

We often miss the meaning of life because we think we must do something big for life to be meaningful. We assume that those who followed God and changed lives did huge, extraordinary things all the time. No doubt, the Bible is filled with extraordinary circumstances, miracles, and encounters. It’s also important to note the Bible is also filled with many ordinary experiences that became extraordinary. Nobody walks in the supernatural 24-7. Those who did incredible things also did ordinary things like cook, clean, household repairs, laundry, and the ever-popular, work.

Their ordinary became extraordinary because they put God at the center of everything they did. When God was the center, the rest fell into place. Sometimes incredible signs followed; sometimes they didn’t. Some great things happened immediately; other times, it took a long time to materialize. No matter where they were or what they did, they knew God was leading them. Thus, they followed.

Finding God in simple things

If we always look for God to show up in a big way, we will miss Him. Where God is leading you may come about in very subtle, knowing signs. You may very well be the only person who fully understands them. In 1 Kings 19:11-13, we find an example of such:

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (NIV)

Most of us would expect God to show up in the huge wind, great earthquake, or fire. The idea that God appeared not with a roar, but a gentle whisper, speaks much to the way we must seek God to discover where God is leading you.

It’s a revelation, not a conference call

I’m all for accountability in our calls from God. At the same time, you won’t discover where God is leading you by asking everyone else you know. Yes, sometimes people have great advice for us. Some even lead us in a sensible direction. There is one problem with this, however: none of these people are God. They don’t see the end from the beginning, and they don’t know you like God does. Finding where God is leading you is often a private journey, one then confirmed in different ways as you step out into your destiny.

Listening for circumstantial trials

This next point is one I advise with caution, for one reason: God can speak many different things to us through our circumstances. It might be difficult to use them to discover where God is leading you in and of themselves. Sometimes adversary is a sign you’re doing something right; sometimes it’s a sign you’re not going in the right direction. At other times, it’s nothing more than difficult times. I do believe, however, that sometimes God uses our circumstances to direct us as to where He is leading us.

Do you have a job you love, or one you hate? Do you feel an inward stirring that it’s time to do something different, even if you aren’t sure what that is? Are you in Elijah’s situation, where you’re running away from something? Are you dealing with different physical or emotional issues? Whatever the situation you face, there’s likely a spiritual lesson afloat. It might not be something that tells you everything you should do from this point out, but it might just be enough to point you in the right direction.

God asks us questions

God told Elijah He was about to manifest Himself to him. While appearing in a small voice, God greets Elijah with a question: What are you doing here? By this time in his life, Elijah knew what God called him to do. He was afraid of Jezebel, and hiding in response. It was more relevant for Elijah to answer God’s question so he could get back on track. Same is true for us. Sometimes God comes with questions rather than answers to help us find our way to Him and through Him.

Moving away from things

Whether through a retreat, daily meditation or prayer, consecration, regular Scripture reading, or general obedience, God often calls us to move away from things in life to discover where God is leading you. Not everything that glitters is gold, as they say. While some things are obviously a draw away from God, other seemingly innocuous things might keep us away from our purpose the most.

Are you too busy all the time? Does your job take up so much of your energy, you have nothing left to give at the end of the day? Are there people in your life that suck the very life out of you? Do you find yourself knowing there’s more, but not knowing how to get there? Spending less time on the energy suckers and more focused on the things of God will bring purpose into focus.

Where is God leading you?

Where is God leading you? If you aren’t sure, maybe it’s time to move away from some things in your life so you can find Him and His call upon your life. If we want to move higher and on to better things, we must make the choice to move ourselves in alignment with God’s promise. Start walking toward God today!

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About Lee Ann B. Marino

Dr. Lee Ann B. Marino, Ph.D., D.Min., D.D. (”The Spitfire”) is “everyone’s favorite theologian” leading Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z as apostle of SAFE Ministries. Her work encompasses study and instruction on leadership training and development, typology, Pneumatology, conceptual theology, Ephesians 4:11 ministry, and apostolic theology. She is author of over thirty-five books, host of the top twenty percentile podcast Kingdom Now, and serves as founder and overseer of Sanctuary International Fellowship Tabernacle - SIFT and Chancellor of Apostolic Covenant Theological Seminary. Dr. Marino has over twenty-five years of experience in ministry, leadership, counseling, mentoring, education, and business. You can read more about the author here.

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