423. Celebrating God's Grace, Accept Your Assignment

Have you ever wondered, "What is my purpose?" Many of us do. God's Word tells us He has given us gifts and talents which He will use to fulfill His purpose in our lives.  Join Kelly Williams Hale as she shares a message about acceptance and our assignment. **** Hi there, and welcome to the Women World Leaders Podcast.  My name is Kelly Williams Hale and I'm your host today on Celebrating God's Grace.  I'm an author, speaker and mentor helping women discover the purpose God has for them and embrace their divine destiny.  Today we're going to talk about Accept your Assignment. For context, we – as Christian women - we know what the Bible teaches us. We know what God says in His Word about who we are.   Ps. 139:13-16 For you created my inmost being;     you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;     your works are wonderful,     I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you     when I was made in the secret place,     when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;     all the days ordained for me were written in your book     before one of them came to be.    God will also speak to us through other people.  We can also hear a voice or a thought, and we know that it's from the Holy Spirit.   And so being aware of those things, and also knowing that there's always opportunity for growth, I want to talk about Acceptance. Specifically ACCEPTING who God says we are. For years, I didn't quite BELIEVE who God said I was.  I sought validation from other people – and what THEY saw in me. Anybody else? We may feel like we know God loves us. We know Jesus died for us. But because of our experiences, our choices, our family and what we may – or may not – have been told growing up, we struggle with self-doubt and truly knowing the value of who we are. God showed me very recently – a fresh revelation to what Jeremiah 29:11 REALLY says. 11 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  God KNEW us. His eyes saw our unformed body; We were with God before we were born and he KNEW US. Looking at who we are from that perspective made Jeremiah 29:11, just kind of come to life for me in a whole new way.  It bear repeating. God says he know the plans he has for each of us. Plans not to harm us. But plans to prosper us. Plans for hope AND a future. God knows the plans he has for us. And the way that hit me is that even before I was born, he knew what that plan would look like. But because of our past, our mistakes or again, what others say about us… we often count ourselves out.  Or discount the desire he's put on our hearts. We can feel like what we want can't be part of his plan. We're being selfish if we want more. Or we're just not sure how what we want will compare to the plan he has for us.  Truly – we just want to know "what is his plan"?!?!? But he tells us. We were created to glorify Him, his purpose for us is to bring Him glory. To love. To model our lives after what Jesus did. WHO Jesus accepted. That sure sounds easier said than done! We are human after all, and we have lives, we have families, we've got to pay our bills.  But I believe that the desire in our heart comes from God. Maybe it's to pursue art, or pursue singing, or maybe we want to start a ministry, or serve and support another ministry, or we want to help people as a nurse, or we want to be a teacher I believe God gives us those desires because he KNOWS US. My encouragement today is that we learn to ACCEPT our assignment. The gifts we have – came from God. He's given us everything we need to have that prosperous, abundant life he promises in Jer. 29:11. Our hope comes from ACCEPTING that who we are is exactly who we need to be to FIND SUCCESS in our assignment, using our gifts for his purpose. 1 peter 4:10 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.  God is asking us to trust him. And BELIEVE. Psalm 106:12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise. When we believe, we can then ACCEPT the unique person he created us to be. We will stop comparing ourselves to other people. How easy it is to find ourselves lacking when we compare our situation or circumstances to somebody else. Social media has made this so easy – because most people are posting their highlight reel. Very rarely will we see behind the curtain so to speak and the REAL picture. We must identify and ACCEPT that God gave us all unique gifts and talents. The gift of hospitality, gift of mercy, gifts of encouragement, gift of prophecy, healing, etc. He's designed us so that some of us have beautiful voices, or we are extraordinary organizers (yes, that IS a gift!) 1 Peter 4:11 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. When we can IDENTIFY, value and FULLY ACCEPT the gifts we were given came from God for his purpose, then we will find fulfillment because we're aligned with HIS PLANS FOR US. If you're unsure what your gifts are, the Bible tells us to cry out to God. Psalm 57:2 I cry out to God Most High,[a]     to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.  Ask him. He WILL reveal to you the gifts he's given you. I'll even challenge you to get out a piece of paper and pen and begin to write down what you are good at. What you enjoy. What others see in you. Everything. From being a good cook to helping your 3rd grader with his science project. Every little thing about us was KNOWN to God before we were born. So the word acceptance is truly accepting who He created us to be… all the weirdness, quirks, creativeness, our unique personality, our humor, the way we love.  It's all on purpose. These is peace and joy to be found when we accept that.