You Don't Have to Figure It All Out

What if you're not waiting on purpose, and purpose is actually waiting on you?

In this episode, we're in Ephesians 2:10 and sitting with something that might shift everything. God didn't just create you with purpose in mind. He prepared specific works for you in advance. Which means the question isn't what am I supposed to do with my life. The question is what has He already placed in front of you that you keep stepping over because it doesn't feel significant enough.

We're also in Jeremiah 29:11, but not the version on the coffee mug. The version spoken to people in exile who couldn't see a way out. Because that context changes everything.

This one is for the woman who is already in the assignment and talking herself out of it.

Purpose is not a place you arrive at. It's a posture you walk in.

Girl, Pick Up is a podcast by EmpowerHER Spirit, created for the woman who's ready to answer the call — on faith, purpose, and the real conversations nobody else is having.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hey girl. Hey girl, it's me. And before you start running down your to-do list and calculating everything that you haven't done yet or everywhere that you thought you'd be by now, I need you to sit with me for a second. Because today we're talking about the one thing that's been keeping you stuck and calling it a spiritual discipline. Girl, pick up. Hey girl. Hey girl, what's up? Hey girl. Hey girl, what's up? Oh, that's the word. Okay, so I was talking to one of the women in our community a little while back, and she said something that I could not stop thinking about. She said, I feel like I'm already doing the good work, but I keep looking for the next thing because what I'm doing just feels too ordinary. And I felt that in my chest because I think that is one of the most common traps that women who are genuinely trying to walk with God fall into. We're already in the assignment, we're already doing the thing, but because it doesn't feel big enough or dramatic enough, we convince ourselves that that can't possibly be it. So we keep waiting, we want the clouds to part, we want to feel something that feels like undeniable, and we want God to show up in a way that is so obvious that we couldn't possibly second guess it. And meanwhile, the thing he's already placed in our hands is sitting right there, ordinary looking, unsexy as ever, but it is the assignment. And so that's what we're getting into today. We are in week five of our His Masterpiece series, Purpose and Calling. And if you haven't started the devotional yet, grab it on Amazon. That link will be in the show notes. But right now, we're going to get into this word. So Ephesians 2 and 10 says, For we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. I need us to read that again slowly because there are three things in that one verse that most people completely blow past. So the first thing is, you are God's handiwork, his masterpiece. Girl, you are not a rough draft or a work in progress that he's still deciding about, but you were made on purpose with intention and care. The same God who spoke the world into existence took his time on you. The second thing is you were created to do good works, not to earn good works or figure out what good works looks like for you, and then spend the next 10 years of your life auditioning for them, but to do them. That's already your assignment and it's already been written, girl. And then that last thing is, and this is the one that stopped me. God prepared those works in advance. That means before you knew what you were good at, or before you created your little five-year plan or made a single move towards purpose, God had already lined up the specific assignments that were designed to fit exactly who he made you to be. And so the question we should be asking is not God, what am I supposed to be doing with my life? The question is, what has he already placed in front of me that I keep stepping over because it doesn't feel significant enough? Because I think that's where most of us get stuck, not in a lack of purpose, but we get stuck in a failure to recognize that purpose is already in our hands. And truthfully, the thing that nobody tells us about purpose is like we talk about it like it's a destination. Like one day you're gonna arrive and the announcement will come on and they'll say, Congratulations, you have found your calling. Please collect your platform on the way out. But truthfully, that is not how it works. Purpose is not a place that you arrive at, it's a posture that you walk in. And what I've been learning is that God rarely gives us the full blueprint, he gives us a next step. And then when we're faithful to that and we actually do the thing that he put in our hands, even when it feels small, he shows us the next step after that. And I think he does it that way on purpose. Because if he showed us the whole picture all at once, we would get super overwhelmed. And if we're being honest, if we already had it all figured out, why would we need God? You know? So the question is, what is the next step in front of you right now that you keep walking past because it doesn't feel like it's enough? Because here's what I know happens, and I've done this myself. We decide that our purpose has to look a certain way. We have to have a ministry with a name or a platform with numbers, or our purpose has to be something that people can see and point to and applaud. So we hold out for the big thing while God is standing right there pointing at the small thing, saying that one, that one right there, just start there. But Ephesians 2 and 10 doesn't say God prepared impressive things for you or applauseworthy things for you, it says good works, good, faithful, obedient works done with the right heart. That is our standard, y'all. And I want to say something here because I don't want you to hear this wrong. I'm not telling you to shrink your vision, girl. God absolutely has big things for you, and I fully, fully, fully believe that. But the big thing, it gets built on the back of a lot of small, faithful things. The woman who is going to stand on stage and speak to thousands is first the woman who shows up with something real to say in a room of 12. The woman who is going to build something that changes lives is first the woman who answers the email that nobody else thought was worth their time. And the woman who is going to lead whatever that looks like for her, is first the woman who is faithful in the season that feels like it's not going anywhere. Because purpose is built in the ordinary. That is the process. Okay, I want to bring us to one more scripture here because I think it speaks directly to the woman who is in a season that doesn't look like what she planned. So Jeremiah 29 and 11, and I know we've heard this all over, we've seen it on Instagram. Um, but it says, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Now I want us to hear the context because I feel like the context changes everything. God spoke those words to people in exile, people who had lost their homes, their temple, their freedom, people who were living somewhere they never asked to be and they could not see a way out. So this isn't just a moment they were having on a mountain or of if they were in the valley wondering if God had forgotten them. But even in those moments, God says, I know the plans that I have for you. He doesn't say I had plans and you messed them up or I had plans, but right now this delay is disqualifying you. He says, I know the plans. That is present tense and it is certain. He knows the plans. So if you are in a season right now where things are not going the way that you thought they would, where your career feels stalled, or something didn't work out the way that you planned, or you genuinely thought that you'd just be further along in life by now, listen to me, sis. God is not scrambling on your behalf, he is not surprised by your detour or up there trying to figure out a plan B. He already factored in everything that you're walking through, and his plans for you are still good. They are still full of hope and they are still a future. And this means that your job in this season is not to have it all figured out. Your job is to trust the one who does and to take the next step he's showing you, even when you can't see where it's leading. And I'm gonna say this one more time because I know somebody listening needs to hear this today. You do not have to have it all figured out right now. You just have to take the next step and trust that God will meet you there every single time. So here's your one thing for this week. I want you to look at what's already in your hands, not something that you're waiting on or the version of your life that feels ready, but I want you to take a moment to take a look at what is actually in your hands right now. And I want you to do one thing with it this week that you've been putting off because it felt too small to matter. Send the email, start the project, write the first page, make the call, show up to the thing, just take one obedient step. That's the whole excitement this week. And if you still want to go deeper on purpose and calling, grab the his masterpiece devotional on Amazon. The journal prompts alone will shift something in you, girl. Like I said before, that link is in the show notes. But before I let you go, you know I want to pray over you. Father, I thank you for the woman on the other end of this. I thank you that she is not an accident, that she was created on purpose for purpose, and that you already have prepared the works that are going to fit exactly who she is. God, I ask that you quiet the voice that tells her she's too late or too behind, or even that she's too ordinary for what you've called her to. Lord, help her see the assignment that's already in her hands. Give her the courage to start there, even when it feels small, and remind her that small and faithful is exactly how you build something that lasts. Remind her that you are not surprised by anything she is walking through right now, and that your plans for her are still good, still full of hope, and still a future. In Jesus' name. Amen. If this episode hit you, come tell me over on Instagram at empowerher.spirit. I read every message and I want to hear what God is doing in your life right now. Also, our next Bible study group just kicked off. It's not too late to join us. That link is also in the show notes. I'll talk to you next week, girl. Please pick up.