I'm fighting, the light inside of me, of course it's all I see when I'm around, when I look in the mirror where it's back. You're listening to Women Infused Radio, where women in the marketplace connect with purpose and spirit, where the conversation covers all things women, business, and fascinating faith. And now, your host, Christy Lynn Olson. Hello and welcome to the Women Infused Radio Network.
Today I'm going to be talking all about stepping into purpose as women in the marketplace. A few years ago, I did one of those read-through-the-bible-in-a-year plans. I don't know if you've ever seen those, there are tons of them around. They also had a read-through-the-bible-in-three-year plan, but that was way too much of a commitment for me and I was worried I wouldn't do it if I spread it over three years, so I chose the one year.
And three women of the Old Testament really caught my attention in a new way for the first time as being ordinary women who, on a moment's notice, found themselves called into action by God in the midst of their daily life. Here's a brief snapshot of each of those three women that caught my attention. The first one, her name is Zipporah, and you can find this in Exodus chapter 4. I'm not going to read it from the Bible.
I'm just going to give you my Reader's Digest version of that, but I encourage you to actually read the scripture for yourself. But Zipporah found herself packing for the Promised Land, and Moses packed his wife and kids up, and they had headed back to Egypt, and on the way there, the Bible says that the Lord confronted Moses. Now, most likely, the Lord was confronting Moses of a sin, which was neglecting to circumcise his son before they left, and he was about to kill him. At least that's what the Bible said the Lord was about to kill him.
And Zipporah had spiritual perception. I think that's her gift. Zipporah sprang into action by taking a knife and circumcising her son. Boom, she did it.
She threw the foreskin at his feet and said, Now you are a bridegroom of blood to me. And the Bible says, After that, the Lord left him alone. So, Zipporah, definitely a woman of action, sprung into action using her spiritual perception. And believe me, what she did caught my attention, as I'm sure it would Moses and his son.
But for me, it was just definitely something I'd never read before. I'm like, wow, this woman really knew what to do when she had to do it. Now, the second woman is Abigail. And the story can be found in 1 Samuel chapter 25.
Abigail had to spring into action to undo what her husband Nabal did when he anchored David by refusing to feed David and his men after they had been protecting Nabal and his property. Now, Abigail was diplomatic and strategic. The Bible also says she was beautiful and intelligent. Taking the initiative, she was being polite and accommodating beyond what was required.
And Abigail saved the day. And she went on to end up marrying David because her first husband died. But that's a whole other story. But again, Abigail sprang into action to undo some things that had been done.
Now, Jael was the third woman. And I talk about her a lot if you've listened to some of my other podcasts. So I just briefly want to remind you about her. You can find her story in Judges chapter 4.
Jael kills an enemy general with a glass of warm milk and a tent peg. She didn't miss her moment. She took action with the tools that she had to work with, which in this case were not only a tent peg, but a weapon of opportunity. Now, when someone invaded her space, she did what she had to do.
And she also clearly had heard from the Lord. So I want to unpack those three stories together a little bit. What can we learn from these women? They were strong, wise women of God and were able to act decisively on a moment's notice with no hesitation.
They did what mattered to God because somewhere along the line, I believe that they were in the habit of stepping into his presence and finding contentment and joy in doing what mattered to God each and every day. And when the opportunity arose, they knew the heart of God and were able to stand up to his call and fulfill his purpose for their lives. They were called to be women warriors. And I believe we are also called to be women warriors.
Now, today as women, especially women in the marketplace, we sometimes stumble because we rush to pursue a more magnificent and profound purpose. We want to do it all. Perhaps we're too worn out to see sometimes that today's pressing roles are already filled with a purpose that will bring glory to our creator. We don't even realize that our day in and day out efforts are extremely precious to the heart of God.
Sometimes we may even beg for a more heroic role or a more visible position at work and miss out on the purposefulness of what is right before us every single day. Instead of asking, what remarkable task do I want to tackle for God today? Maybe a better question would be, what does God want me to be and do in my routine, in my ordinary world today? There is a strong connection between going today where you have been sent, no matter how difficult, incomprehensible, or unrewarding it may seem, and a future I was made for this assignment from God.
You see, all of our life experiences have value to God. Every day he considers our willingness and faithfulness in the ordinary to see if we can handle the challenging, unique assignments that he loves to entrust to those who are faithful. You were born to make a Christ-like difference in hundreds of ordinary ways, not to ignore or avoid the present opportunities while looking for a bigger, more noticeable project. Part of his plan is to prepare our character and faith so that he can entrust us with a greater responsibility in the future.
John chapter 17, verses 17 through 18 say, Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth. As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. In this prayer, Jesus asks God the Father to sanctify or set apart his followers to do his Father's will in the world today by helping them believe and obey the truth of the Word of God. And women of God, I believe that some of us have really distanced ourselves from the Word.
Perhaps it's because we've been wounded in a church or we've been wounded by other Christians, and so we've kind of thrown everything out, including the Word of God. And I want to challenge you to get back into the Word of God on a daily basis. That is where we're going to find the key strategies that we need. That is where we're going to find the wisdom that we need.
And that is where we're going to understand the value of our calling. Now, Jesus knows we won't be able to value our roles through our own efforts. And this is where I start seeing competition among women rear its ugly head. Insecurity in our own value or position or project brings about competition, and not in a healthy way.
We lose our focus on our passion and calling, and we start to obsessively focus on what everyone else is doing. Now, the antidote for this competition thing is finding your true identity in Christ Jesus. Again, part of his plan to prepare our character and faith so that we can be found ready and able to step into greater responsibility when the time is right. And only by applying God's Word to our everyday routine circumstances can we purify our heart and our mind on a daily basis.
God's Word reveals sin, it motivates us to forgive, it causes us to repent, and it helps us desire to be pure and holy like Christ. His Word consecrates, or another meaning to that is to dedicate yourself to a divine purpose. I love that definition. So if His Word consecrates or dedicates us to a divine purpose, it is our day-to-day roles and God's future roles for us in the world to play in the marketplace as women of faith that matter.
When you finally see yourself through God's eyes, you realize you are in way over your head. You're going to see your limits, and it is going to cause you to run to God for help. Not to your neighbor, not to who you perceive as your competition, but to God, who through the help of His Holy Spirit is where you will find true wisdom. We then know, in order to be genuinely on task in a demanding world, that we must always be focused on God's great eternal purpose, which is to make you more Christ-like in your mindset and in your behavior towards one another.
You need to live in partnership with Jesus Christ and desire to worship the only one who can see you through the daily challenges you face. Ladies, we can get so caught up in the stuff of everyday business tasks and routines that we forget what our kingdom purpose really is. Our primary role as a leader in the workplace, in the community, or even the church is to always lead women to the living water of Jesus Christ, into that wide-reaching arms of a Heavenly Father who is longing to lavish His daughters with love and grace and mercy and peace so that they will thirst no more. Isn't that beautiful?
If you just think of that as being your sole purpose, I think it takes a lot of pressure off. Now, God is going to give you a lot of opportunities to walk out kingdom purposes, but this really is the key. We have to love these other women that we come in contact with, women and men, but for our discussion here, I really want to talk about what it's like to be in a community of women. Now, I believe God is calling His daughters as never before to step into His presence and to know Him so that we can stand up together and answer His call.
As women, we play so many different roles in our everyday, ordinary lives. Think about all the roles you play. It might be daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, spouse, mother, grandmother, boss, employee, friend, neighbor, student, community volunteer, minister, team leader, all of those things. Each of these roles makes you a valuable missionary for Christ in the marketplace.
We can get overwhelmed with all those roles that we try to play, but we need to enjoy each season. Don't ever feel like you will be left out or left behind if you need to step up for a season and take on a different role. I believe that we can do it all as women, but perhaps not all at the same time, and I don't believe God intended us to do all these things at the same time. So I want to challenge you to immerse yourself in the experience and the role of today.
Enjoy it for what it is, because you can never get those precious moments back. And at the right time, I promise you, God will lead you forward, and you will be able to see the importance of today's ordinary in the total extraordinary of God's purpose for you. No matter what your current roles in life may be, God will use them for good in the future. The Holy Spirit has just impressed on my heart recently that maybe some of you women need to hear this.
God loves you, and it's not too late. It will never be too late. Continue or get to know God intimately and learn that you have value and worth just because of the simple fact that He created you, not because of what you can do, not because of any position you hold, not because of any business that you're trying to build, but because He created you. Daughters of the King, we are His image bearers, the crown of His creation, and we are a force to be reckoned with in God's eternal purposes.
God designed each and every one of you a designer's original, priceless in His sight, and He has also assigned a distinct purpose in each of your roles and life events. Even those tough experiences will give you substance and character that you will later need to minister to others, perhaps. I guarantee He is not leaving you behind. His word declares it in Jeremiah 29, 11, for I know the plans I have for you.
See, nothing surprises Him. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, so don't feel left out. Plans to give you the future you hope for. I was reminded recently of a past season that had been one of the most difficult and character-building seasons of life that I have ever experienced.
I can just tell you that the hurt and the pain ran so deep in my soul and dug up some old wounds that I thought I had dealt with years ago when I had healed from an abusive marriage and a divorce and was thrown into single parenthood. And yet, God was faithful in that time, and He had spent that time maturing me and preparing me for yet another season of purpose by allowing me to recycle my pain and sense of loss in order to offer hope and healing to other women in a variety of circumstances. I was reminded that God never wasted a hurt and that He will use all of our hurts and prepare our hearts, minds, body, and soul to receive healing and to worship Him. That's the beauty of holiness that we hear about in Scripture so often.
No matter what your life roles are today, learn to listen to God's small, step-by-step instructions for your life. Now, some of you might be asking, well, how do we do this? Let me give you another Scripture. Galatians 5, 25.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. We at all times want that big, neon-lit billboard to majestically descend down from Heaven with our life purpose stamped on it in bold letters. God knows we are smarter than that. He knows that if we just fulfill our daily purposes guided by the Holy Spirit, He will direct our steps and that we will keep in step with the Spirit if we do that.
Your daily roles are incredible opportunities for you to use your natural and spiritual giftedness to help your coworkers, family, friends, even neighbors learn more about and become more Christ-like. God breathed those traits into you and He purposely gave those to you to help you share His message in the world in a way that only you can do with His help, empowered by the Holy Spirit. One of my favorite verses is not by might, not by power, but by your Spirit, Lord. That's from Zechariah 4, verse 6.
We have to remember that even though God breathed those traits into us, it is not by might, not by our own power, but by His Spirit that we can walk that out. And He will reveal His plan to you as you read, study, and meditate on His Word. As well as when you pray, become active in your church and your community and connect with other Christians, men and women, who are sold out to kingdom purposes. We are all in this together and as far as I know, there is one heaven and one name at which one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and we have to connect for kingdom purposes.
Connecting with other believers is the key. Women are natural connectors. We do this all naturally and we're relational at our core. That's one way that we bear His image.
So this is part of the vision that God has impressed on my heart. To network and share and intentionally hold each other up in prayer. Rick Warren in his book, Purpose Driven Life, talks about that being part of God's fellowship purpose, which is for us to connect with others. That's why I started Women Infused, a community of purpose and spirit-filled women in the marketplace, so that we could connect and bear His image together.
There is strength and beauty in numbers and as we link arm in arm and take back territory together, we are releasing the vision that God has for His kingdom. One of my favorite commercials was for the Verizon cell phone network. I don't know if you remember it. It's been a couple of years, but it said, we've got you covered and a whole network of people apparently come with their service.
Now, can you imagine our strength if we had that kind of network of support when we stepped out into our calling or did battle for the kingdom? If 10 can set 100 to flight and 100 can set 10,000 to flight, imagine the kingdom potential here on earth just with women of influence. No matter what roles you feel or difficulties you face today, know this, God will not abandon you. And together with our sisters beside us to guide us, nurture us and hold up our arms when we weary from the battle, He will be right there with you and we will be right there with you.
Let me ask you this, will you take this next step toward God and His purpose for your life? Will you do today what God sent you into the world to do? Will you commit to step into His presence right where you are today so that you can connect with others and stand up to His call at a moment's notice? Remember our three examples of ordinary women who knew His voice and were ready to act when He called.
They just did what they knew to do and probably never even knew the greater kingdom impact it would have or the legacy that they would leave. Let's promise to step into purpose, hold each other up as we battle together and leave no woman left behind. This has been Women Infused Radio, connecting women around the globe with purpose and spirit and we want to connect with you. Get your free gift, Unveiled Voices, Six Things You Need to Do to Define Your Value, Voice and Vision.
For more information on the free gift and links to join the conversation on social media, visit us at christielinolson.com. Hey everyone, this is Christi Lynn Olson. Have you downloaded the new Women Infused app? It's available both on the Apple Store and Google Play.
My passion is to see God's daughters take back territory stolen by the enemy and empower them to live healed and whole in every area of their life. I'm gathering the most amazing women in this community of broadcasters to help teach marketplace women what they need to know about living out their best life in health and in wellness and in their faith in the workplace. More networks are going to be added as we grow. You see, our goal is to reach one million women around the globe through this free app and you can help by telling all your friends about the app and downloading it yourself.
So go to your favorite app store, either Apple Store or Google Play and download our free app today. Make sure you tell your friends and join the sisterhood of spirit-filled women of influence. Thank you so much and we look forward to seeing you on the app.