Why Knowing Your Purpose Doesn't Mean You Are Ready
It can be frustrating listening to a talk or message on God’s great purpose and dream for our lives when we feel confused as to what our purpose even is. We may have a faint vision of what we want to be, but nothing in our life, not even our own skill set is ready for it yet.
Perhaps you can relate to my story.
It was hard for me to narrow down exactly what I was made for because I have skill sets and interests in several areas. I love performing in musical theatre, singing, politics, and acting. One of the reasons my dream of becoming Miss USA remained so consistent was because I could combine almost all of my interests into that job. I figured I could be Miss USA for a year and that would help me decide what I wanted to do.
When I moved to LA, I still didn’t have a clear career direction so I set my sights on TV hosting. I took hosting classes, got a hosting agent, made a reel, took film/TV classes for acting, got a theatrical manager, went on auditions, and booked a few jobs in those first few years.
I was modeling and doing commercials, which were great, but it didn’t fulfill me. The feeling of emptiness and frustration began to set in because I wasn’t operating in my purpose. I felt a bit aimless.
In the meantime, I started pursuing a deeper relationship with God again. The more God revealed Himself to me, the more I felt the burning desire to share His love with other women.
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One day, I had an “aha” moment when I saw all my life events, strengths, passions, and interests flash across my mind. And I felt a longing to inspire women in the same way God had inspired me.
God had finally revealed to me that my calling was to combine my love of performing and communicating with my love for God and women. I agreed in my heart.
Three years after being Miss USA I had figured it out, I knew my purpose! Now what?
I comprised a plan of how I was going to do this, and it started with writing through my personal blog. I sat down at the computer and readied my fingers over the keyboard. Nothing came. There was a block-- like a wall. Nothing was flowing.
I felt so discouraged and confused. I knew what my purpose was, but now I needed to do it! Why couldn’t I?
Can you relate? Do you feel like you know what you were made for, do you have that desire, but you feel like you don’t know where to begin? And even when you do, it feels like there is resistance?
Joyce Meyer, the well-known speaker and author, has had a huge impact on my life. I love how candidly she speaks, how unapologetically opinionated she is, how she operates in her ministry, and travels the world. The women who wore the Miss USA crown were my childhood role-models, and now Joyce Meyer had become my new role-model.
In my despair, I read one of her devotionals. It talked about seasons, specifically seasons of preparation. I had never heard of that before. There are seasons where we have to go “under-cover” so God can grow us, teach us, prune us, and prepare us for the next step. He loves us too much to let us launch too quickly into something we aren’t ready for.
We may think we are ready, but God knows best. Of course, we will never fully “arrive” until the day we meet Jesus, but there are certain things that needs to be in place before God graduates us from the training ground.
God says that He will “hide us in the shadow of His wings” to protect us. He may be hiding you right now, just like a flower hides in the winter for protection so it can bloom again in the spring.
It is crucial for our success and well-being to understand there are different seasons we go through. The book of Ecclesiastes says there is a “time for everything under the sun.” You may be in a season of preparation right now. If not, there will be a time that you go into one.
God couldn’t launch me into speaking and writing in His name until my character was refined to match the task. I still had a lot of preparing to do, not only on my character, but in my knowledge and understanding of the Bible.
God took me into a long season of studying the Word, journaling, reading Christian books, and doing Bible studies with wiser women.
In what ways do you need to grow? What things can you do now to prepare you for what you want to step into later?
As a daughter of the King, you have the desire for meaning and purpose. You were made for it. You may get down on yourself because you don’t feel the peace to move on it yet, but that is because you are probably in a season of preparation. Give yourself grace and be willing to open your eyes to see the areas in your life God wants to grow you.
Once I read that devotion, it gave me permission to relax and rest in that season of preparation. Finally one day as I was praying, I felt Him lift the block and say, “GO.” I raced to my laptop and logged in to my blog account and began writing. My sense was right. The words freely flowed from my mind through my fingertips and onto the computer screen. He had released me into the next step of my purpose!
Since then, there have definitely been seasons when He brings me back to be quiet and still again to work out a roadblock or challenge. It can be discouraging, but now that I understand seasons, I’m able to release the need to control or steam ahead. I know that I need my spiritual thirst quenched like the flowers during April showers, or go into rest like some animals in the winter.
Be aware of what season you are in and give yourself the grace to be there. Pay attention to what God wants to do, and partner with Him in it. The more in tune you are with how God works, and what He is doing, the more quickly you will be able to get in step with Him in peace.
Kristen Dalton
Kristen Dalton Wolfe is a former Miss USA turned Mrs. Wolfe. Since then, Kristen has used her passion for women and background in Psychology to launch SheisMore.com. Kristen and her husband, Kris Wolfe, founder of GoodGuySwag.com are based in Los Angeles and speak regularly. Kristen is also the author of Rise Up, Princess: 60 Days To Revealing Her Royal Identity and Rise Up With God: The Guided Journal.
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