Are You Running from God's Calling? (Part 2)
It's been a minute since I've published a blog post. The last one I published was called, "Are You Running from God's Calling?" where I talked about when God places something heavily on your heart to do. I mentioned the discomfort of surrender, the danger of procrastination and the importance to be bold and courageous as we walk in faith to fulfill whatever God calls us to do.
As I'm writing this, this scripture in Hebrews 10:37-39 is coming to mind:
“In just a little while,
He who is coming will come and will not delay.
But My righteous one will live by faith;
and if he shrinks back,
I will take no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Geesh! I don't know about you, but one thing is for certain... I do not want to be a person who shrinks back, but one who perseveres. And so, with that said, I have to practice what I preach. Here is my confession:
I, too, was running.
At the time I wrote the blog, I was running from something God had shown me I would do since publishing The Single Heart book. I knew that the next steps He had in mind were towards some form of speaking or hosting a group session where I went further in depth about purity, singleness, preparing for marriage, and developing a relationship with God.
You see, I have had a prophetic word over my life since 2015 that this would happen, yet it has taken time to come to pass since I original received it. Also, if I did not stay the course and remain obedient to doing that I was instructed in previous seasons, I could have completely aborted those prophetic words and taken a different path. God gives us free will to choose His purpose, or, our own plans.
But here's the thing...
I have evolved into becoming a writer. I had not initial desires to ever write a book.
I am not much of a speaker or presenter. Therefore, there is no initial desire to speak publicly.
Regardless of what others may see or believe in me, I do not see these things naturally in myself. So, I often struggle with Mose's syndrome when God calls me out to do something.
Therefore, I have not been RUNNING after the calling.
Instead, over the last year or so I have been trying to make other things work. I had been investing energy and efforts to build a virtual assisting and marketing branch to my photography business. My vision was to assist other entrepreneurs in multiple aspects of running a successful business and enhancing their digital footprint. Yes, I did all kinds of HubSpot courses and even became a certified Virtual Assistant IAP College because that was MY plan...
But, it was not God's purpose.
How many of you have recognized that one of the enemies greatest tactic against us can be the distraction of WRONG FOCUS?
Divine Connections
It took a Holy Spirit filled, woman of God, to redirect me. I had reached out to her to learn and gain clarity on how to make this work, when she stopped me and asked,
"What happened to the course you were supposed to create?"
She then proceeded to spend the remainder of our hour together TALKING TO ME about the course. Like, what?! It took me a minute to recover from the whiplash and recognize the Holy Spirit SLAP that I had just received. It took me a second to process that God had just completely INTERRUPTED MY PLANS to bring me back to HIS PURPOSE.
It was a gentle, "Martha, Martha, Martha... you have been busy with many things, but Mary has chosen the good portion."
In other words, you've been busy, but my purpose for you is to come sit at my feet to learn from me about THIS… what I really want.
Divine Blocks
You would think that I learned my lesson. That after I repented for disobedience, I got laser focused. But, like the human that I am, who clearly why she needs a Savior, I went out and applied for a job.
My reasoning: The job position embodied the skills above that I could put to use + I'm open to new opportunities of employment where I can grow.
One thing I will confess is that, because I KNEW God was calling me to create this course, but this opportunity had presented, I remained extremely prayerful. I have discovered in my life and in learning how to walk by faith that sometimes God does not give you a straight up "NO". Sometimes, you have to take baby steps of faith WITH MUCH PRAYER to see if an opportunity is for you and will open up.
My prayer: God, this opportunity has presented itself and you have laid this course on my heart to do. I pray that if this is not for me then you will block it, and I will give my full 100% attention to solely working on the course. If it is for me, open the door wide.
Well, needless to say... they went with someone else. After 4 rounds of interviews, I made it to the final 2 candidates for the position. I walked it all the way out and stayed in God's face.
The rejection stung a little even WITH knowing I had been prayerful, but I recovered quickly and refocused.
Divine Equipping
Here's what I realized and why God allowed me to go so far through the process. The questions that they asked me in the interviews required me to have:
Knowledge of my identity - the ability to answer the questions "who are you" without saying what you do.
Awareness of my strengths and weaknesses - being able to state them honestly and transparently.
Humility
It was one of the most intense interviews that I have had in my adult career, and guess what...
It %1,000 present prepared me for the course. It showed me my heart. It showed me my resolve. It showed me that I am not easily shaken, and that comes from a strong awareness of who I am in Christ and what He's developed in me over the years. I may not have received the position with the company, but I received an equipping for the purpose!
The Launch
On Sunday, October 24th, I hosted a free webinar and first public overview introduction of The Single Heart Course - An 8-week course helping singles navigate singleness and level-up being "I do".
I yielded to what God had placed on my heart to do and I stepped into a new level of faith and grace.
What I love about God's purpose and a life of obedience is that it always produces something that is bigger than yourself and impacts people in ways that you could never imagine. When you abide in God, you produce fruit that is long-lasting. When it's God, you will lack the confidence in and of yourself, but that's that makes you completely dependent on Him to do it. You get the opportunity to partner with Him to bring His vision to fulfillment.
In the many testimonies and faith moves I have made in my little time of being a born again believer, I have never looked back and "regretted" being obedient to God and letting Him lead my life...
Even when at times it didn't make sense.
There is always an Abraham/Isaac experience where you show God you trust Him enough to walk by faith and the joy of seeing Him come through and provide once you move in faith.
My prayer is that not only that this testimony inspires you, but that it will motivate you to always be a woman or man of faith! I pray that you will be KNOWN by your faith, just like the heroes in the Bible who lived it and we now read about.
Until next time,
