Does Life Require a Purpose and a Goal?
Mar 04, 2026Summary
Have you ever looked at your life and wondered if you are just meant to exist, or if there is something deeper calling you forward? We often get caught in the trap of thinking that goals are just for overachievers or corporate ladder-climbers. But for a Christian woman, having a direction isn't a personality trait—it's a divine blessing. In this deep-diving episode of the Arise, Women of God podcast, host Tamara K. Anderson and advisory board member Amanda Powell answer the fundamental question: Does life require a purpose and a goal?
We move from just "being" to intentionally "becoming" by exploring the spiritual DNA of progress. Amanda explains why the desire to move forward is actually a divine attribute inherited from our Heavenly Father (who is the ultimate goal-setter!). We discuss the frustration of the "Pause"—why sitting still in spiritual limbo is one of the hardest things for a growing soul to do—and why God cheers for your messy middle like a parent watching a toddler learn to walk. If you have been beating yourself up because your only goal right now is "survival," this episode will help you give yourself permission to let your purpose shift as your seasons change. Tune in to turn your frustration into fire!
Episode Takeaways
- The DNA of Progress: Why do even 5-year-olds have goals (like winning a race)? Because the desire to progress is divinely inherent in us. God has a goal ("to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man"), and we inherited that trait. You literally cannot help but reach for more.
- The Frustration of the Pause: If you hate being stuck in "limbo" or a waiting room of life, don't feel guilty. That frustration is proof that your spirit is hungry for growth. You were made for movement.
- The Parent Lens: God doesn't expect you to be perfect; He expects you to practice. Just as a mother cheers when a toddler stumbles while learning to walk, God cheers for your effort and capacity building. He wants you to grow in confidence.
- Survival is a Valid Purpose: Your purpose is not set in stone for 50 years. Tamara shares how her purpose shifted from career goals to pure "survival" while raising two children on the autism spectrum. If you have changed in the last 10 years, your purpose should change too.
Resources
Are you ready to stop existing and start becoming? Download our FREE Guide to Goal Setting. It features the "Sacred Brainstorm" worksheet to help you distinguish between the "shoulds" of the world and the specific purpose God has placed on your heart for this season. 👉 Download the Guide Here: https://www.womenwarriorsoflight.com/offers/WyaLn2gS/checkout
Need accountability? Check out our Women Warriors Accountability Group for free for two weeks! https://www.womenwarriorsoflight.com/join-now
Reflection Questions
- Have you ever wished you could just "stop" having goals? When you are forced to sit still (limbo), how does your spirit react?
- Do you view God as a harsh critic waiting for you to fail, or as a parent cheering for your first wobbly steps?
- Looking back 10 years, how has your purpose changed? Have you given yourself permission to let your purpose evolve?
- Is your current season one of "massive growth" or "pure survival"? How can you honor God in the season you are actually in?
Transcript
Tamara K. Anderson
00:00:00.400 - 00:02:14.160
Have you ever looked at your life and wondered if you're just meant to exist or if there's something deeper calling you forward? We often get caught in the trap of thinking that goals are just for overachievers.
But for a Christian woman, having a direction isn't a personality trait. It's a divine blessing. Today we are answering the fundamental question, does life require a person, purpose and a goal?
And by the end of today's episode, you'll understand how the drive to grow is actually a spiritual inheritance from God. And we're going to help you solve the pain of aimless existence by showing you how a single purposeful step can turn your frustration into fire.
We're moving from just being to intentionally becoming. Stay tuned. Ordinary women Extraordinary faith When God calls, we say yes.
The Arise Women of God Podcast hello, and welcome to another episode of the Arise Women of God Podcast.
I'm your host, Tamara K. Anderson, and joining me today is Amanda Powell from our Women warriors of Light Advisory Board, and she is also an expert in goal setting. And we are looking today at the very DNA of our human experience.
First, we're going to discuss why the desire to move forward is divinely inherent in each one of us. Second, we're going to talk about the frustration of the pause, why sitting still is one of the hardest things for our spirit to do.
Third, we're going to explore the parent lens of growth and why God cheers for your progress like a mother will watching her child learn to walk.
And finally, we'll look at why surviving is sometimes a valid purpose and how to know when it's time to move from survival to working towards a mission. But first, Amanda is going to help us dive into looking at this divinely inherent drive. Why do we do it? Can't we just live life without it?
I don't know. That's the question I feel like is kind of undertoning this. Thoughts?
Amanda Powell
00:02:14.160 - 00:02:19.160
Yeah, let's think about that for a minute. I would love to just go there. Could we live life without it?
Tamara K. Anderson
00:02:19.400 - 00:02:32.280
I don't think I could. I am too much of a doer. I have a little bit of ADHD in me.
And so the thought of sitting still and doing nothing would probably drive me absolutely batty. So I couldn't do it.
Amanda Powell
00:02:32.840 - 00:03:41.890
I don't know if any of us could do it. Like, that's why I asked you that. Because even my young, young adult children, right, they have always had a goal.
Mom, I'm going to hit the ball over the fence. I'm going to have my first home run hit, right? Oh, I'm going to run and I'm going to run so fast, I'm going to run this mile in four minutes, right?
Like, so at the age of little, like even my grandson, I'm looking at my grandson, who's five and even he has goals. I'm going to come in first place when I play this game with my dad, right?
So I'm kind of looking at that and I think, is it because it's divinely inherent in us? I mean, even our father has a goal, right? To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
Maybe it's something that is within us and you remove the goal, right? You remove us from being goal seekers and goal doers and goal achievers to not having goals. Then what are we doing?
So I almost feel like there is a purpose to having goals. It's something inside of us that makes us want to become something better. You don't become without a goal, we
Tamara K. Anderson
00:03:41.890 - 00:06:50.450
literally cannot help but reach for more because we are patterned after a God who is constantly creating and progressing. But because the drive is so strong, when we can't move forward, it sometimes feels like we're stuck in a waiting room.
And you know how frustrating that feels? Feels like our soul is kind of being pinched. That limbo is actually proof that you are made for movement.
And I, I look back on the times in my life where we.
We all have times in life when it's like we're on pause and we're in limbo and we're waiting for something to happen so that we can take that next step. And I will say those are some of the most frustrating points in my life. I look back and I just, I'm like on, hurry up already.
It's like holding still, even metaphysically, is so hard. It's so hard. So I think the purpose of setting goals is growth. Our growth.
Whether it's spiritually, physically, emotionally, whether it's financially. I mean, there are so many different areas in which you can set goals. So the purpose of goals is growth. It's experience, it's knowledge.
It's becoming better than we are right at this point in our lives, right? Growth is the purpose. But remember that God doesn't expect you to be done yet. He looks at you through the parent lens.
Just like you aren't disappointed when a toddler stumbles while learning to walk. God isn't disappointed in your messy middle. He is honored by, by your effort and excited for your growth.
And I think as a parent, I can See, just little snippets of that in myself.
God talks so beautifully in the New Testament about if we as parents know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more does he know how to give good gifts to his children? And so I have to kind of put that lens on goals as well. Do I want my kids to grow and progress? Absolutely.
And if I, in my imperfect parenting practices, do my best to give my children good gifts, opportunities to grow, helping them, coaching them through struggles that they have, doesn't God want the same thing for me? Doesn't he want me to grow in my confidence? Doesn't he want me to grow in my capacity?
Life requires a goal, because without one, we stop growing, we stop becoming. However, sometimes life is so hard that our goal is simply to survive.
I've been in seasons of my life where my only goal was making sure my kids and I made it to bedtime. We need to give ourselves permission, let our purpose shift as our lives shift.
And I'm going to also pause and say, just because you have one purpose at one point of life doesn't mean you can't change to something else. Right?
Amanda Powell
00:06:50.850 - 00:06:51.210
Right.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:06:51.210 - 00:07:14.120
Because I think of, like a young Tamra. For a while, my purpose was I'm going to graduate from high school. You know what I mean? And then it was like, oh, I'm going to graduate from college.
And then it was, I was got married and I had kids. And my purpose, honestly, especially with four littles and two of them on the autism spectrum for a while, my purpose was I'm going to survive.
Amanda Powell
00:07:15.240 - 00:07:15.720
Yes.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:07:17.640 - 00:08:05.500
And I'm going to survive, and my kids are going to survive, and we're going to make it through them. Growing up and all this stuff, it was seriously, it was survival. Just barely scraping through every single day.
And now that they're all adults, that purpose has changed again. And so I think purpose can change throughout life. And we are growing throughout life. So it's okay for a purpose to change.
You don't have to have it set in stone and, oh, that's never, ever, ever going to change. Pause and think. Have you changed in the last 10 years? Yeah, I sure have. You know what I mean?
And so it's logical that if you have changed in the last 10 years, then your purpose has changed who you are. The goals that you have in front of you are going to change. Right?
Amanda Powell
00:08:05.980 - 00:08:06.380
Right.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:08:07.420 - 00:09:12.790
So, my friends, does life require a purpose and a goal? Yes. Because your soul was designed for the stretch, whether you're in a season of survival or a season of massive growth.
Progressing toward a Divine Mission Having the next Right stick step inspired by God is what keeps your light burning and your motivation moving you forward.
If you feel like you've lost your direction or you're ready to reignite your divine drive, go check out our Free A Guide to Goal Setting for Christian Women. It features the sacred brainstorm to help you distinguish between the shoulds of the world and the purposes God has placed on your heart.
And if you need a community of women to help you through the limbo phase, join our Women warriors of Light Accountability Group. We will help you find your fire again. The links for both are in the notes below.
Find one thing you can do today to move you forward, and it can even be something small and until next time, may you arise. Do it God's way. God Strong.
