If you know anything about how God works, you know He moves counter-cultural, counter-logical, and sometimes instructs you to move in what makes the least amount of sense, but I’m learning, that is when you know it’s a God thing.
Today's post is for anyone unsure about how to accomplish what God is leading them to do. It’s for those feeling unsure of whether to trust God’s direction for their purpose when the methods you see so many others use might be better and actually yield the success you know you should have.
If you read nothing else, just know:
Using methods that are popular in culture IS NOT bad. This post is an encouragement to look to God for strategies and guidance to accomplish what He has called you to do. Let His confirmation of the methods guide how you move. Don't operate independent of God's anointing.
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The exodus from Egypt. Crossing the Red Sea. The battle of Jericho. David slaying Goliath. A prophet preserved in the belly of a fish. A virgin birthing the Son of God. None of it makes logical sense, but if you know God, you know it makes perfect sense. He moves counter-cultural and counter-logical. Why? To keep our focus on Him instead of our selves.
God desires our total trust and dependence on Him, so if we use our own logic and ways to accomplish everything in our lives, we would not need Him nor a relationship with Him. We’d be in control.
So what am I even trying to say? Your next steps, when being led by God, may go against what makes sense logically. You have to be steadfast and resilient in continuing even when the methods you feel He’s leading you to use go against what makes sense in culture.
When I say culture, I mean, what is popular in society with group of people in this area. I.e. if you listen or follow podcasters or bloggers, etc., they often speak of how they plan content in advance, have everything set up, follow a regimented schedule, etc. This might make you think that to operate in the calling of podcaster, you have to utilize the same techniques to be successful. But you don’t.
I started my podcast a month ago with plans to post twice a week. I had tons of audio stored up and wrote a plan to automatically post everything for the next 2 months. Culture.
I am a planner by nature. What I’m often guilty of is knowing God has instructed me to do something, and unintentionally, I often am like, “Thank you, God, for your guidance, and I know what to do from here.”
I started my podcast a month ago with plans to post twice a week. I had tons of audio stored up and wrote a plan to automatically post everything for the next 2 months. Culture.
I am a planner by nature. What I’m often guilty of is knowing God has instructed me to do something, and unintentionally, I often am like, “Thank you, God, for your guidance, and I know what to do from here.”
*inserts face palm*
So here’s the thing...
So here’s the thing...
If what you feel purposed to do at this time is rooted in God having led you and called you to do it, you are FREE from having to figure it out all in your own or look to culture as your primary direction.
Here’s why- as humans, the calling may look the same, right? A person who feels God-called to blog produces something that externally looks the same as someone who may not have been God-called but feels passionate and capable to blog.
But there are individual expectations and differences that God wants us to capitalize on because of the uniqueness in which He created us. I have friends who write blogs and all of us utilize different methods to post... Same calling, different methods. What works for the other person may not be how God called you to do it. The methods that are being used by those popular in the field (I.e. culture) may not be what God has designed for YOU to use to accomplish what He called you to.
Philippians 4:6-7 reminds us “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Give yourself the freedom to be released from moving based on what everyone is telling you or what you’re seeing online. Instead, take that to God and see is that the method He wants you to use, or might He desire you use an unfamiliar path that will force you to trust Him over culture? I am constantly having to remind myself to run to Him when I’m feeling overwhelmed with how to get it all done, instead of running to culture for the plan.
I would LOVE to schedule my posts months in advance and just watch them release while I’m doing other things, but when I started trying that with my podcast (because that’s what I know people with a lot on their plate do), I didn’t fully feel God was endorsing my posting because I was pushing quantity and schedule over quality. I even had plans to do posts like book reviews and interviews because I know posts like those can generate high viewership and listener-ship.... but I didn’t feel that God was approving that for me, in this season. (And that’s something to also consider, sometimes God’s no’s are NOT RIGHT NOW’s. Every season serves different purposes, so it could be that God is not asking you to do it in this season, but He May give the grace and guidance for that to be the strategy in the next season).
What has worked for me for blogging is praying about what God truly wants me to say so that I’m really writing from a place of transparency and “in the trenches, right now, struggling with the topic I’m writing about” because that’s honestly what I feel called to do. My call of influencing is more so from the perspective of being in the trenches trying to figure this thing out more so than writing as if I’m giving advice because I’ve conquered the topic... and I think producing content from this place of transparency and vulnerability is what people expect from me. I want to walk in that and steward it well.
So far the episodes I’ve posted on my podcast are completely different than what I thought I would post about, but with each text message and DM from someone who told me it was exactly what they needed to hear, I am encouraged to continue to prioritize my calling and being led, in the moment, by what God has told me versus trying to keep up with culture for the sake of productivity and quantity.
Think about what you feel led to do right now, in this season... Are you truly being led in the exactness of what God has called you to do? Or do you find yourself teeter tottering in prioritizing what culture says to be done or how It should be done to accomplish your calling?
Let me just add. This, by no means, is an indictment on using methods that CLEARLY support you in efficiency. As I said earlier, sometimes God has different methods He wants you to use in different seasons. I use scheduling apps and analytics from IG to look at or promote content. There ABSOLUTELY is benefit in having a goal in mind for what you are doing and taking time to plan it out, as you are led. The emphasis here is AS YOU ARE LED.
Let me just add. This, by no means, is an indictment on using methods that CLEARLY support you in efficiency. As I said earlier, sometimes God has different methods He wants you to use in different seasons. I use scheduling apps and analytics from IG to look at or promote content. There ABSOLUTELY is benefit in having a goal in mind for what you are doing and taking time to plan it out, as you are led. The emphasis here is AS YOU ARE LED.
- I want to encourage anyone who feels led to blog about their story to not get intimidated at the methods of other bloggers, thus forfeiting their calling and choosing inauthenticity.
- I want to encourage anyone who knows God told them to write a book to not chicken out because they don’t have the backing of a major publishing company or because they don’t know big named people to promote their book for them.
- For anyone who feels called to lead but doesn’t have a massive following: choose calling over culture. Grow your character as a leader and God will provide you the quality of people to follow you to accomplish your mission.
- For anyone who feels called to use their musical talent to pen and sing songs for a market that doesn’t even yet exist: choose calling over culture.
God is a god who’s focused on obedience and surrender to what He calls you to do, not whether you have the talent and knowledge to figure out methods on your own. That’s why Christianity is about relationship, and not a set of rules of religion we ascribe to. God knows the purpose He intentionally placed in you, and through RELATIONSHIP, alongside you, He wants to see it accomplished on the earth.
Choosing calling over culture,
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