What Does God Want Me to Do With My Life?

What Does God Want Me to Do With My Life?
12/22/2025|Rodney Coe|, ,

“What does God want me to do with my life?” If you have asked that question recently, you are not alone. It is one of the oldest and most honest prayers a human being ever prays. Jesus answered it directly. He just answered it in a way most of us would rather skip. This devotional walks through Matthew 16:24 and the story of a young Tennessee mechanic named Bill Wallace, who heard that question on an ordinary day in his father’s garage in 1925 and gave God an answer that cost him everything.

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'” — Matthew 16:24

The Question Nobody Asks Anymore

It was 1925. A 17-year-old kid was lying under a car in his family’s garage in Tennessee, covered in grease, doing what he loved most—fixing engines.

His name was Bill Wallace, and he had no interest in following in his father’s footsteps as a doctor. Medicine bored him. But cars? Motorcycles? Anything mechanical? That was his passion.

But that day, while working on a carburetor, a question interrupted his thoughts.

At first, it was the question most teenagers ask: “What should I do with my life?”

Then something shifted. The question changed: “What would GOD have me do with my life?”

That second question isn’t asked much anymore.

Jesus Doesn’t Beat Around the Bush

Matthew 16:24 is one of those verses we like to skip over. It’s not comfortable. It doesn’t fit well on a motivational poster. It won’t go viral on Instagram with sunset filters and calligraphy fonts.

Jesus said: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Deny himself.
Take up his cross.
Follow me.

Not “discover yourself.” Not “express yourself.” Not “be true to yourself.”

Deny yourself.

That word “deny” means to utterly refuse, to reject completely, to say “no” to what you want in order to say “yes” to what God wants.

And the cross? In Jesus’ day, the cross wasn’t a piece of jewelry. It wasn’t a religious symbol. It was an execution device. When someone picked up a cross, they were walking toward their death.

So when Jesus calls us to take up our cross, He’s not talking about enduring a difficult boss or dealing with annoying in-laws.

He’s calling us to die.

To die to our agenda. To die to our comfort. To die to our plans. To die to the life we thought we wanted.

That’s not exactly the message you’ll find in most self-help books, is it?

A Life of Sacrifice

Let me paint the picture of what Bill Wallace chose:

While his medical school classmates were setting up practices in nice American towns, making good money, building comfortable lives—Bill was in rural China, working in primitive conditions, treating diseases most American doctors had only read about in textbooks.

He faced:

  • Severe hardships and unsanitary conditions
  • Political unrest and constant danger
  • Japan’s brutal invasion of China
  • The horrors of World War II
  • The Communist takeover

He could have come home at any point. But Bill Wallace had denied himself. He had taken up his cross. And he was following Jesus—no matter the cost.

The Ultimate Price

For over 20 years, Bill Wallace served in China. He started hospitals. He trained Chinese doctors. He treated thousands of patients. He loved people in Jesus’ name.

Then, on February 10, 1951, Communist authorities arrested him on false charges. They beat him. They tortured him. They demanded he renounce his faith and admit to being a spy.

He refused.

On February 12, 1951, they found Bill Wallace dead in his cell. He was only 43 years old.

He had given everything.

Your Cross Is Waiting

I don’t know what your cross looks like.

Maybe it’s a calling you’ve been running from.
Maybe it’s a comfort you need to release.
Maybe it’s a dream you need to surrender.
Maybe it’s a life you need to die to.

But I do know this: Jesus is asking you the same question He asked His disciples 2,000 years ago:

“Will you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me?”

Keep Looking Up!

Heaven is closer than you think.

May God bless your day.

Pastor Rodney

Related devotionals: Making the right choice · Does life have a purpose? · Peter Marshall’s calling

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If today’s devotional spoke to your heart, my books carry these same themes deeper. Stories of God moving in ordinary lives, scripture for tired pastors and weary parents, and steady reminders that heaven is closer than you think.

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