In 2023, while talking with my friend during one of our coaching sessions, I shared what I had, at that moment, received from the Holy Spirit. It was not just knowledge but revelation, something I had been seeking from Him for years. For the first time, I began to receive insight and, with it, wisdom on how to apply that revelation to my life so that it could produce life.
What the Holy Spirit shared was not simply a deeper understanding of what I already knew; it was an invitation to walk it out. A gentle nudge to those who had heard the call yet felt burdened by its weight. Because we, myself included, had it wrong...
I believed I needed to do my part, because surely I could not sit still and do nothing. But here is the truth...we were never called to do first. We were created to BE first...
BEING is perhaps mankind’s greatest challenge.
To truly BE means you have accepted who you are in Him and what He has placed in you, without trying to prove it through what you do.
Acceptance leads to trust. Trust leads to assurance. And it is from that place that what we do can bring forth life instead of death. Doing still has its place, but it flows from being, from a heart that is surrendered and secure in Him.
So many of us are caught in trying to live out our callings and visions. Yet I sensed that God was speaking to those who are faithful, committed and sincere, those who are quietly weary from the weight of responsibility, expectation and perseverance.
What stood out so clearly was this truth: God does not give us vision so that we lose our hearts in the process. He gives us vision so that we may discover His heart for us.
Vision was never meant to drain us of faith, hope and love. It was meant to become the very place where our hearts are enlarged toward Him and toward others. As we walk with Him, our faith, which is trust, our hope and our love are meant to deepen, mature and grow stronger...not weaker.
When we do what we love, we will love through what we do.
Yet every path we choose comes with a cost. Nothing of lasting value is free of sacrifice. That is why we need to pause and ask ourselves an honest question: Is the price worth it?
Many times, we step into business, ministry, calling or even discipleship without fully considering what it may demand of us. Jesus never hid the cost of following Him. He spoke plainly about what it would require.
In Luke 14:25 to 35, Jesus lays out the weight of discipleship. Our love for God must surpass every other love. This does not mean neglecting or rejecting our families. It means that our devotion to God gives every other part of our lives its rightful place. Following Him may cost us comfort, reputation or security, but even in that surrender, our love for Him can deepen.
Jesus also says that whoever does not carry their own cross cannot be His disciple. The cross He carried was not symbolic or convenient. It was the place where He offered Himself fully for the sake of the world. When He invites us to carry our cross, He asks whether we are willing to surrender our lives and desires for the sake of His heart and His people.
This is why being first does not mean doing nothing. It means that our obedience flows from surrender instead of striving.
Discipleship is not passive belief. It is a consecrated life. We consent to being set apart, allowing God to shape our desires, reorder our priorities and redefine what faithfulness looks like. We no longer live primarily for our own will, comfort or personal success.
There is a difference between believing in God and surrendering our lives to being formed by Him. A disciple dedicates their life to becoming more like Christ, becoming a living expression of His heart, standing guard over His people and serving as salt and light.
This kind of calling requires more than passion.
Passion may ignite the journey, but surrender sustains it.
True discipleship requires that we continually return to the feet of Jesus. We lay down our timelines, our expectations, our striving and even our need to be seen or affirmed. Because in the pursuit of vision, it is easy to drift from abiding into performing, from intimacy into activity and from trust into pressure.
That is why I believe the Holy Spirit is gently reminding us not to lose our hearts while trying to fulfill His purposes. Vision was never meant to replace intimacy. God never asked us to exchange loving Him for working for Him. Our labor was always meant to flow from love.
It is in the secret place, in stillness and surrender, that God breathes life into vision again. Not through force or pressure, but through peace and presence.
My vision and heart have always been to see potential and to allow God to use me however He sees fit to bring that potential into fullness. I have always believed that I would be used like Joseph, Daniel and maybe even Elijah and/or Samuel.
But to be used like Joseph or Daniel, I need a surrendered heart. A heart that trusts that I can be set apart even within the “worldly system” and that God can use me to make a difference from within, through the way I live and love those He has placed in my sphere.
I also know that He has placed in me a heart for our nation. A burden to make a difference far beyond myself...to leave a lasting legacy that carries a message of hope to the people I live among. His people, who are also my people.
Yet today I write this not knowing how...how do I do this? How do I do that which my heart and mind cannot even fathom?
I do not have the answer. I am still figuring this out for myself. All that I do know is that I need a surrendered heart. Pride cannot lead me. Humility is key. Humility to recognize what He has placed in me, while knowing that it is in Him that all things that are good and noble are possible, regardless of how great the obstacles or adversaries may be.
I am but a simple person, finding myself in a place where I feel completely overwhelmed and unsure whether I am truly contributing to the sphere I am in.
But I also know that we make our plans and God guides our footsteps. Where I currently am, He has led me, even though it was not the path I had seen or selected for myself.
So I choose to believe that there is purpose here. That I am carrying out His heart and making a difference, even when I cannot feel or see it.
At the end of the day, what we do and what God permits us to walk through can be a two-edged sword...carrying an outward effect whilst forming inward character. As He works through us, He also works within us.
The refining of the disciple is not meant to disqualify you. It is meant to prepare you. God’s pruning is not punishment. It is positioning. You are being positioned not only to carry the vision, but to become a living expression of it. Not only to do the work, but to be the message.
The season that feels restrictive is often the season that is most formative.
So I urge you today, even as I remind myself, to return. Go back to what stirred your heart in the beginning. Go back to the simplicity of loving Jesus and people. Return to the quiet place where the vision was first born, before expectations, deadlines and demands crowded it.
Let Him remind you why He gave it to you in the first place...
Because when we do what we love, we will love through what we do.
And that is where Heaven touches Earth.
Let those who have ears to hear, listen.
Let those who are weary, rest.
Let those who have lost heart, return.
You are not disqualified.
You are being refined.
You are being called back to the secret place, where vision is born again, this time not by your strength, but by His heart.
What the Holy Spirit shared was not simply a deeper understanding of what I already knew; it was an invitation to walk it out. A gentle nudge to those who had heard the call yet felt burdened by its weight. Because we, myself included, had it wrong...
I believed I needed to do my part, because surely I could not sit still and do nothing. But here is the truth...we were never called to do first. We were created to BE first...
BEING is perhaps mankind’s greatest challenge.
To truly BE means you have accepted who you are in Him and what He has placed in you, without trying to prove it through what you do.
Acceptance leads to trust. Trust leads to assurance. And it is from that place that what we do can bring forth life instead of death. Doing still has its place, but it flows from being, from a heart that is surrendered and secure in Him.
So many of us are caught in trying to live out our callings and visions. Yet I sensed that God was speaking to those who are faithful, committed and sincere, those who are quietly weary from the weight of responsibility, expectation and perseverance.
What stood out so clearly was this truth: God does not give us vision so that we lose our hearts in the process. He gives us vision so that we may discover His heart for us.
Vision was never meant to drain us of faith, hope and love. It was meant to become the very place where our hearts are enlarged toward Him and toward others. As we walk with Him, our faith, which is trust, our hope and our love are meant to deepen, mature and grow stronger...not weaker.
When we do what we love, we will love through what we do.
Yet every path we choose comes with a cost. Nothing of lasting value is free of sacrifice. That is why we need to pause and ask ourselves an honest question: Is the price worth it?
Many times, we step into business, ministry, calling or even discipleship without fully considering what it may demand of us. Jesus never hid the cost of following Him. He spoke plainly about what it would require.
In Luke 14:25 to 35, Jesus lays out the weight of discipleship. Our love for God must surpass every other love. This does not mean neglecting or rejecting our families. It means that our devotion to God gives every other part of our lives its rightful place. Following Him may cost us comfort, reputation or security, but even in that surrender, our love for Him can deepen.
Jesus also says that whoever does not carry their own cross cannot be His disciple. The cross He carried was not symbolic or convenient. It was the place where He offered Himself fully for the sake of the world. When He invites us to carry our cross, He asks whether we are willing to surrender our lives and desires for the sake of His heart and His people.
This is why being first does not mean doing nothing. It means that our obedience flows from surrender instead of striving.
Discipleship is not passive belief. It is a consecrated life. We consent to being set apart, allowing God to shape our desires, reorder our priorities and redefine what faithfulness looks like. We no longer live primarily for our own will, comfort or personal success.
There is a difference between believing in God and surrendering our lives to being formed by Him. A disciple dedicates their life to becoming more like Christ, becoming a living expression of His heart, standing guard over His people and serving as salt and light.
This kind of calling requires more than passion.
Passion may ignite the journey, but surrender sustains it.
True discipleship requires that we continually return to the feet of Jesus. We lay down our timelines, our expectations, our striving and even our need to be seen or affirmed. Because in the pursuit of vision, it is easy to drift from abiding into performing, from intimacy into activity and from trust into pressure.
That is why I believe the Holy Spirit is gently reminding us not to lose our hearts while trying to fulfill His purposes. Vision was never meant to replace intimacy. God never asked us to exchange loving Him for working for Him. Our labor was always meant to flow from love.
It is in the secret place, in stillness and surrender, that God breathes life into vision again. Not through force or pressure, but through peace and presence.
My vision and heart have always been to see potential and to allow God to use me however He sees fit to bring that potential into fullness. I have always believed that I would be used like Joseph, Daniel and maybe even Elijah and/or Samuel.
But to be used like Joseph or Daniel, I need a surrendered heart. A heart that trusts that I can be set apart even within the “worldly system” and that God can use me to make a difference from within, through the way I live and love those He has placed in my sphere.
I also know that He has placed in me a heart for our nation. A burden to make a difference far beyond myself...to leave a lasting legacy that carries a message of hope to the people I live among. His people, who are also my people.
Yet today I write this not knowing how...how do I do this? How do I do that which my heart and mind cannot even fathom?
I do not have the answer. I am still figuring this out for myself. All that I do know is that I need a surrendered heart. Pride cannot lead me. Humility is key. Humility to recognize what He has placed in me, while knowing that it is in Him that all things that are good and noble are possible, regardless of how great the obstacles or adversaries may be.
I am but a simple person, finding myself in a place where I feel completely overwhelmed and unsure whether I am truly contributing to the sphere I am in.
But I also know that we make our plans and God guides our footsteps. Where I currently am, He has led me, even though it was not the path I had seen or selected for myself.
So I choose to believe that there is purpose here. That I am carrying out His heart and making a difference, even when I cannot feel or see it.
At the end of the day, what we do and what God permits us to walk through can be a two-edged sword...carrying an outward effect whilst forming inward character. As He works through us, He also works within us.
The refining of the disciple is not meant to disqualify you. It is meant to prepare you. God’s pruning is not punishment. It is positioning. You are being positioned not only to carry the vision, but to become a living expression of it. Not only to do the work, but to be the message.
The season that feels restrictive is often the season that is most formative.
So I urge you today, even as I remind myself, to return. Go back to what stirred your heart in the beginning. Go back to the simplicity of loving Jesus and people. Return to the quiet place where the vision was first born, before expectations, deadlines and demands crowded it.
Let Him remind you why He gave it to you in the first place...
Because when we do what we love, we will love through what we do.
And that is where Heaven touches Earth.
Let those who have ears to hear, listen.
Let those who are weary, rest.
Let those who have lost heart, return.
You are not disqualified.
You are being refined.
You are being called back to the secret place, where vision is born again, this time not by your strength, but by His heart.
Comments
Post a Comment