Latest / The Rooted Woman Podcast / The Rooted Woman: Episode 10: How Do I Know What God Is Calling Me to Do?
Transcript
- Courtney: Hello and welcome back to Hear Me Out. The Rooted Woman Podcast. I'm going to begin introducing it as that. I don't know if the website will be up and running by the time this episode comes out, but I am working on some glitches on the back end and we are almost there. So this is going to be the Rooted Woman Podcast, formerly known as the Mission for More podcast. Still your host, Courtney, here, who is now rooted with Courtney on social media. And I'm just telling you, the Lord is doing so much. I went on vacation. I am so refreshed. While Was there the Lord was downloading so much to me, I was journaling like crazy, and I am so excited as we enter into episode 10 of the Rooted Woman Audio series just to see what the Lord is doing and how he is moving in this way as we continue to build off of previous episodes through this progression that we've built together, really. and just continue into what the Lord is doing. So if you haven't already listened to the previous episodes, I do encourage you to go back just because, like I mentioned, they really do build off of each other, and I think it will be beneficial for you to hear what. is what have walked through before for you to reflect on what we reflected on in previous episodes and then kind of come back to episode 10 here to talk about how do I know what God is calling me to do. Okay, so I've shared a lot of my story here and there throughout these episodes and kind of things that I had struggled with. And I will just share a little bit more about this here. When I talk about what God is calling me to do, for years I was looking for like a specific thing. Like when people say they're calling, what do they mean? And how do I know what my calling is? And just really asking God like what is the next best thing, the next big thing that I am going to do. And I always thought that he would like give me a blueprint that I would see myself, you know, in this version of me that I was going to be becoming. And that is not what it looked like. For me. And I would ask questions like, Should I be doing this, Lord? Should I start this thing? And instead of coming to him and just humbly surrendering to him, I was asking questions about the things that I thought that would be coming next. And when we do that, we kind of create this like roadblock or speed bump, I would say, because we're getting in. our own way and really we're getting in God's way because we are trying to fill in the blank before we even surrender. And it makes it that much more confusing, that much more challenging, and that much more difficult to get to the place where God is bringing us. And I want to go through scripture several times throughout this podcast just because I do think that it's important to really root yourself in scripture when we talk about this because people can talk about calling and there's a lot of emotionalism that can get wrapped up in that. Your calling is not an emotional thing thing. Yes, you can feel emotional about the call on your life from the Lord, but when you're really looking at scripture, it's not this like emotional movement that we are walking into. It is truly a submission and a partnership. I'm going to say that again. A partnership with the Lord to get to where he is calling us to go. So Ephesians 2, 10, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So walking in your calling, walking in the good works that the Lord has created us for, walking in your gift set and your talents that the Lord has specifically given you, because we know that we don't all share the same gifts and the talents. And you know, somebody may have really, really strong discernment, and another person, you know, might be really, really, really creative and putting their heads together. Will help to, you know, flow really well and create this like beautiful thing. But if you don't put all these different gift sets and talents together, then you have one single set of gifts and one single set of talents. And we are all very different. And so just kind of partnering together, that's why he told us to come together as the body of Christ, because we are only a portion of that story. And so, yes, God knew ahead of time what your gifts and your talents would be. Yes, God created you for good works. Yes, he prepared everything before you were even. Even born, and yes, he wants us to walk in them. So, what does that look like as we continue to kind of seek out? what the Lord wants us to do. I want to go into Micah 6, 8. He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice and to do and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. And so when we do this, we I want to make sure that I'm doing everything in love. I want to make sure that I'm doing everything with a humble heart. I want to make sure that I'm doing everything for his glory and not my own. And so I want you to keep that in the back of your mind as we kind of talk about this. Yes, you have a call in your life. Yes, you were set out for good works for the Lord. But yes, we need to remain low and humble in order to do those things and glorify God versus glorifying our own flesh or fulfilling a fleshly desire that we think that we have that, you know, we we can slap the label of a calling on so easily. I think we can also so easily confuse calling with a career. I think a lot of women believe that calling equals a ministry platform, a business, speaking, social media, writing books, you know, going into the mission field, you know, having a career that maybe you are the only Christian in the workforce. And I do think that that can be a calling, but your calling is not equivalent with the career that you hold. Your first calling is always to love God, to become like Christ, to love people. And to steward well what God has entrusted to you and everything else should flow from that. So if I believe that yes, the Lord has called me to have this podcast, this is a dream and a vision that was planted in my heart about eight to ten years ago. I really started speaking it out around six to eight years ago, and now I'm walking it out. Like this is really cool. I have spent so much time being humbled in this area. I have spent so much time submitting this area of my heart's desires and prayer, and I've asked God several times. times to take the desire away if it did not align with his will and his call on my life. And I think it's so important to be able to do that and then first and foremost look at the reasoning why we want to do something. Why did I want to have a podcast? Well because I love God and I want to become more like Christ in everything that I'm doing, but I also want to invite other women into that Christ likeness. I want to love other women through the hardships that they're going through. I want to encourage women to move out of survival mode and to be able to steward what God has entrusted them In the season that they are in without the overwhelm. And that is such an overflowing passion of my heart. And I do believe that yes, the Lord has called me to this. But if I was missing those pieces of loving God, of submitting to him, of becoming Christ-like, of inviting other people to know him, to hear about him, and to steward it well, I would be missing the whole point. And so ask yourself, what what do I think that my calling is? And how does this align with scripture? How does this align with the things that I'm praying for? And am I praying that God will get me to that desire or get me to that goal or dream or vision that I have for myself? Or am I praying like, God, take it away. Take it away if it's not from you. Take it away if it if this is not something that I'm supposed to walk into or grow the desire, Father, if it is from you. Show me the way, Lord. Continue to light the path so that I can walk in this thing. And asking him those questions. it's really going to reveal to you over due time whether or not you're supposed to be walking into that thing. I also want to talk about God revealing really just the next step and not always having this whole staircase in front of us. Yes, God could give us the whole picture of it all right there, then and there. He can give us every single puzzle piece. But there is something about trusting him and taking one next faithful step. What's the next right thing, the next best choice that honors and glorifies the Lord to be able to move in that direction of the call that you feel like you have on your life, right? I think that so many times we get into planning mode, especially if you are type A or even type B people, I know. that have gone into that like okay I think that I'm supposed to be doing this so let me like try to figure it out and then you spend so much time trying to figure it out and sometimes you're wandering through it. Sometimes you're wasting time in it and oftentimes we can create confusion because we are trying to figure it out versus surrendering to just the next step. The next step, not the whole staircase in the story. And this happened with Abraham, it happened with Moses, it happened with Ruth. It happened with Esther. It happened with the disciples. None of them received like a five-year, a 10-year plan. That is something that the American culture has implanted into our head. Where do you want to be in five years? What is your 10-year goals? Like that is something from the American dream, not the dreams that the Lord has planted in our heart. And it's not bad to want to know the direction that you're going in. And I think that desire to know comes all the way back. From the garden, right? If Eve didn't have a desire to know, she wouldn't have eaten the apple, right? So this is a desire that we have had as humans for all of history. And that's okay to have that desire. It's okay to actually take steps to try to be organized because I do believe that's part of stewarding it well. But we don't have to have the entire plan to move in the direction that God is calling us to go. It really looks like obedience one step at a time. When I felt like the Lord was prompting me to move in the direction of the podcast, I was like, okay, I have To figure out a podcast platform. And I started researching and I quickly got overwhelmed. And I was like, no, the Lord has literally put a couple of people who are so specific in my life in this area of podcasting. I'm just going to talk to them about the platforms that they use. I talked to them, every single one of them use the same platform. So it made the decision so easy because I was like, literally, they are all using the platform that I chose to use. And I didn't have to go through okay, well, this person said this thing, and this person said this one. And so which one is best? Do I trust more? No, God put these people in my life who I could trust, who I could look up to, and all of them pointed me in that same direction. It made it easy. And I asked the Lord for that. God, if you want me to do this as I have gone back to work full-time, as I'm homeschooling my children, as I'm spinning these plates, and as I'm I'm begging the Lord, do not let me get back to a place of survival mode. Do not let me get back to a place of overwhelm. And he made it so easy for me. I know that the Lord was opening a door. And so pray those prayers and ask for that next step, but try not to. get fully ahead of where the Lord is at and what he's doing that you are trying to un unveil, is that the word unveil the picture of the entire staircase right? What is one simple act of obedience that maybe you have been delaying because it feels like it's not big enough? It's not big enough to get you to where you want to be. What is that one thing that you know that the Lord has asked you? But like I said, it doesn't feel big enough to do the thing that the Lord is calling you to do. Think when you identify that, you need to go back and you need to be obedient in that area and watch what the Lord does with that small, faithful step. It's like Luke 16, 10. One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and one who's dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much. So will you be faithful with that very little step that doesn't feel like much to you and trust that the Lord is going to grow that and increase you and change your capacity and make things easy when it's time for doors to open and trust that he's going before you that you don't have to step ahead of him. My last main point that I want to make on this topic, and you can see that I'm not spending too much time on any one part of this podcast because I really want to get to the practical application and encourage you to sit with the Lord. This Podcast episode is not meant to explain to you what your calling is. I'm talking to a couple thousand of people here who have been tuning into the podcast every week. And if I am talking to a thousand of you, I cannot make one episode about the call on your specific life with specific details and instruction, but I can encourage you to go to the Lord with that and that He will give each and every one of you an individualized step to take or conviction to lean into or act of obedience that will glorify him and that will move you in that direction. Maybe one prayer to prayer, one thing to journal, to kind of remove some block that you have felt in your heart or in your spirit, in your mind to move in that direction and watch what the Lord does with that. That's the main point of today's episode, not for me to give you the plan or for me to tell you what your calling is or for me to make sense of it for you, but for you to really go to the Lord with that and keep these things in mind as you do it. So last point here: faithfulness will create the clarity. Yep. Like I said, and pointing you to Jesus. I think that many women wait until they feel qualified, until they have the whole plan in front of them, until they feel confident in what they're doing. I've been talking with a couple of women about how to get started on social media. And I've done this for years now, coached women behind the scenes on how to get started, how to take the first step, how to build up consistency in their content. And there are all these different gurus that are out there that say, Okay, if you want to grow on social media, do this. Now if you want to grow on social media, post it this time. I'm telling them, hey, all All you need to do is be confident in what the Lord has called you to do and do that one thing. Do you need to do the whole thing all at once? No, you're gonna burn out, you're gonna be overwhelmed. It's gonna be stressful. You don't want to get into survival mode trying to walk into your calling. But what you can do is say, okay, I'm gonna do this one thing, I'm gonna try to do it with excellence. I want to steward it well, and then it becomes easy. And I got that message, I think it was yesterday morning, like, hey, this has been really easy, and I found a way to like batch content and I didn't even realize it would be like that. I love that so much. much because this is not about creating the perfect, you know, curated feed or writing a bestseller book or any of that. It's like if the Lord called you to write a book, write the book. If he called you to social media, stay firm on the things that he's called you to and don't waver when people get, you know, frustrated with you because of the way that you view things or the beliefs that you have and move forward in that direction. And maybe for you it is just being at home as a stay-at-home mom and you've left the career field and you're trying to figure out how do I move forward when I used to receive monetary rewards and verbal praise and feedback throughout my my day at work. And then I get home and I'm at home with these kids that are crying or fighting or I have to entertain them and clean up messes and the accolades are no longer there for me to achieve but this is like the greater thing. How do I do this? Learn how to steward it well. Just do that next best thing and watch what the Lord does when you are faithful. It will create clarity in the call that you have on your life in the season that you are in. And there is no season that is too small for the Lord to use in a big way. I'm going to say that again, I have not written this down. So I want to even remember it for myself. There is no season that is too small for the Lord to use in a big way. So trust that the Lord is going to do something big with the season that you are in if you are faithful with the little things. That he is giving you right now. And throughout scripture, we see that God uses ordinary people, that God uses those little things, and God uses people who say yes to change the trajectory of history, to be a testimony for years and years and years to come for people to increase their faith. Think about the boy with the fishes and the loaves, the woman with the oil, David with the sling, Mary with her surrender, all those stories in the Bible that. That can look back on and be like, wow, this was one prayer that was prayed. This was a boy that thought, I don't know how I'm going to defeat Goliath, but here I am with this sling, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna do what I can. And it's like, no, you can take down the giants and you can overcome the big things, the things that feel like a big mountain in your life. Like this mountain's never gonna move. I'm never gonna be there. I was even this morning myself, yes, me, who has the podcast, who's on social media, who's talking about all this. I even have doubts in the back of my mind, and I shared my Outs to my husband this morning. And as soon as I spoke them out loud, he was like, Those are the biggest lies. And you need to shift your mindset and look at this instead of focusing on that thing, because that thing will hold you back. But if you shift it and you look at this, like you are going to be a trailblazer, Courtney. And will you just focus on that? And I'm like, wow, what good encouragement, even for me, if I'm just faithful with this little thing. I can trust that the Lord is going to reveal to me the next step that I need to take. And I know that my faithfulness is going to encourage somebody else's the same way that your faithfulness is going to stir up the faith in somebody else. And like I always say, it's a domino effect for the kingdom. But if we don't take that first step, If the oil was never poured out, if the fish was never brought, if the sling was never there and never used, then where would we be? What would the Bible stories look like? It all took one step of obedience in the right direction for the bigger thing, for what maybe we some of us would call like a grand finale, for the big show, for the victory, for the testimony to be born out of or birthed out of that place, right? multiplication is not gonna happen through how. Multiplication is going to happen through obedience and surrender. And when we are surrendered and we are obedient and we just show up and we're like, okay, God, I am trusting you and I come with this one thing and I'm surrendering this one thing that I feel like you're asking me to surrender. I'm giving it to you. Watch what he does. Like I said, he increases your capacity, he increases your faith, he increases the resources that you have, and he just does it. And it just happens. And you look back and you're like, that makes no sense, but God. And so I'm gonna pray that that's what's happening in. Your life, but God, moments everywhere you look, but God. There's no way that this could have happened, but God. For me and my story, there's no way that I could have gotten over having five to six panic attacks a day, but God. There's no way that I could have ever looked back and said, said, I have lived now years and years without any anxiety, but God. It is all God. And when you can point it back to Him, again, it doesn't just increase your faith, it increases the faith of others. And that is the mission field. And that is your call on your life, is to just be faithful. To be obedient, to stay surrendered and submitted, and watch what the Lord does as you just take one step in the right direction. Says in 30, Psalm 37, 23. The steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way. Delight in the Lord, delight in the path that he has, delight in what he has given you, and don't be afraid to take a step on a path that feels too big for you, that you don't feel confident in yet, that you don't feel qualified for yet, or that you feel like is too small because I'm just a stay-at-home mom. You are a stay-at-home mom, and it's a huge calling. You are going to become qualified as you. Continue to listen to what the Lord is asking you to do, and you surrender and you submit, right? Nobody starts off as the top dog and the biggest and the best in their field or whatever they do. People start small, but we don't always see that because the American dream has been flooded into our minds that we need to have this overnight transformation and success, but it doesn't happen that way. And I think when we become real with ourselves and real with the Lord, we can see that He wants us to grow in these small pockets, right? So that we can point it all back to Him. Because if it was overnight, how much glory would he really get? I mean I'm sure people we could still say yeah that was the Lord the Lord is amazing but how much do we really learn and how much can we give him glory if we're like whoa that was super easy it's the hardest things in my life that I'm like I can't believe that I got through that that truly only was the Lord. So let's talk about the practical application. I want you to write down three things, okay? Number one, what gifts has God already given me? Think about like what comes naturally, what encourages others, maybe the burden that you have on your heart. I love that. Like, break my heart for what breaks yours, Lord, and write those down. Number two, what responsibilities has God already entrusted to you? Maybe it's family, work, a church position, ministry, serving, volunteering, friendship. Something in your community, write those things down. What responsibilities has God already entrusted to you? And then number three, what is one act of obedience that you can take this week to move in the direction of the thing that the Lord is calling you to? And this doesn't mean that you have to have your calling mapped out, okay? Are you waiting for certainty before you're going to obey? Because if you are, then that's disobedience. are you mistaking again like career for calling? Really reevaluate that in your heart and your mind and with the The Lord in your quiet time and ask yourself, is there this opportunity that the Lord has given me that I even feel like is too small? And this is not one of those three things that I'm telling you to write down, but I'm just kind of prompting you in and poking a little bit further because I do think that if we overcome some of those limiting thoughts that we put in our own minds, we can get closer to what the Lord is calling us to do. And as a closing statement, We're talking about the rooted woman, right? The rooted woman is the one who makes the greatest kingdom impact, but that doesn't mean that she has the biggest influence, the biggest profit, the biggest whatever, fill in the blank, or the most qualified. It's usually the women who are just saying, yes, yes, yes, over and over again. And I think about even the women that I look up to in my own life. They are not people who have this like gigantic platform. They are not people who have a ton of awards. They are these media. And gentle and spirit-led, amazing women of God who pray prayers that make hell shake, who give encouragement that was needed before I even spoke a word that it was needed. They are people who are the ones that say yes in their quiet time, are the ones that are surrendering in their quiet time. And they are who they say that they are behind closed doors, the way that they are who they say that they are when other people are watching. And that's who we want to be. We want to make great kingdom impact. as rooted woman and we want to be truly a rooted woman, not for show, but because that's who we are in the moments when nobody but God can see. So let's pray. Father God, I thank you for creating us on purpose for purpose, Lord, and that you have put a calling on the listeners' lives, that you've put a calling on my life, Lord, that the woman who's listening is just waiting for the next step. And Lord, I just pray that you make it so apparent what the next step is and that she will be encouraged by that just the idea of being obedient that she'll be encouraged by the idea of of leaning into conviction that she will be encouraged by walking closer to you and that it's not because of performance. It's not because of trying to get ten steps ahead of where she thinks that she needs to be. It's not because of feeling like she might fail and fall behind. But it is because her heart is so humbled and so surrendered to you, Father, and that she is just being faithful in the little things, that she is being faithful and obedient in the next right step. And God, that her life is going to point to you in so many ways and that it's going to help other people take a next faithful step too, Father. And I just pray, Lord, that That in her quiet time you are revealing, that you are revealing doors that are open and doors that are closed, that you are revealing the things that feel gross in her spirit and the things that feel like, yes, I need a chase after this, that you are breaking her heart for what breaks yours, Father, that you are revealing what she is passionate about, where she encourages people and where she is really just using her gifts and her her talents and her passion in the best way to glorify you, Father, and that you reveal her calling to her in this season, Lord, on mission for you and your kingdom, Father. We just pray, Lord, that you make the path straight, that you are a lamp unto our feet with your word, Father, and that it's just so apparent in the direction that you would have us go, not the direction that we think that we need to go in, Lord. And that we could just be encouraged. And just pray for the woman that's listening today to be encouraged and to not feel like she has to figure it out, but that she just needs to take that next best step, Lord, and that you will continue to reveal the step after that and the step after that and the step after that. And we can just trust you, that we can trust you, just as Proverbs 3 says. Five through six says to trust in you with all of our heart and not lean on our own understanding, but that we acknowledge you and that you will make our path straight. So Father, we just surrender all of our ideas, all of our desires, all of our dreams, all of the visions to you, Father. And we just ask for it to be aligned with your will for our lives. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Thank you so much for tuning in to the Rooted Woman, formerly known as the Mission for More podcast. I cannot wait to just reveal all of what the Lord is doing. We are going to be doing another holy habits challenge. So make sure that you are tuning in on social media. I will be sending out an email. I literally cannot wait. I cannot handle all the things that the Lord is doing. And so I'm trying to go at a pace that I have the grace for and praying for the Lord to continue to reveal to me the next thing without me feeling stressed out about it. So I thank you that you have been invested here. That you have been walking this with me, that you've been excited for the little hints that I've been giving, and that you've been patient with me as I have navigated it all. I know some of you are like, I need the next holy habits challenge. It's coming, sister. It is coming. I cannot wait for next week's episode. It's gonna be a good one. It's gonna be a challenging one. And I think that it will be encouraging to you all in all. So I will see you back here next Thursday.