The Work Assigned to Your Hands Is It a Suggestion or a Command?
If you’ve been sitting on an idea God gave you, wrestling with whether to start because you are unsure if the recurring thoughts and ideas He’s given you are something He wants you to pursue, this is for you.
Are the ideas that God generously shares with you a suggestion or a command?
Why am I asking this question?
Because too many of us treat what God told us to do like it’s optional. And unfortunately, we ignore the moments to take God seriously and move in the direction of where His grace is.
If you keep having a recurring thought or idea, don’t resist the opportunity to seek God about what He may be trying to show you. You will need to lean completely on Him to get the work done. The resistance you feel to get started is an open invitation to allow God to help you. The idea you start with is never the final version and that’s okay.
You can and you will overcome it. All it takes is one step to move in God’s direction. He knows how to carry you from step to step.
This Is How Resistance Shows Up for Me
Overthinking. Overplanning. Overanalyzing.
I’m much better than I used to be, but I still struggle with not being stuck in analysis paralysis. Sometimes I won’t move until things make sense the way I think they should. I want God to reveal the whole plan to me when I’m not trustworthy enough to steward His ideas.
Let me let you in on a secret God is intentional and already knows where the idea is headed before you take the first step.
Here’s how I’ve learned to handle the natural resistance that comes with stewarding God-sized plans that first start as unassuming ideas: Lean into it. Acknowledge it. Dance with it. Do what you must with it, but don’t dare ignore it. Don’t push it away because you need it. It forces you to rely on God and God alone.
There’s work assigned to your hands. Let me ask again. Is it a suggestion, or is it an assignment that God commanded you to steward, grow, and start?
Practical Solutions to Help You Dance with Resistance
You need your faith renewed continually. This comes through the people you share your plans with, the music you listen to… simply put, your environment has a lot to do with giving your faith momentum.
To my fellow overthinkers and over planners: clarity comes from movement. The more you move, the more clarity you’ll gain.
You need God’s presence to accomplish every detail of His assignment for your life. Spending time in God’s presence has been a game changer for me. For the past 2 weeks, I’ve set the timer for 4 minutes of complete silence and mustered up enough faith to believe He will speak each time. You wouldn’t believe the courage I’ve gotten just by sitting in intentional silence with God. The words he tells me each time are "Trust, Every detail is already planned."
Surround yourself with people who live their process and their dreams out loud. I see how they start with what they have and work it until it grows. Their cheat code is that it helps build accountability.
I’ve gained momentum by sharing my ideas with people who know vision, not steps. I tend to focus on the details, so I surround myself with big-picture thinkers to pull me out of the weeds and help me produce.
Pay Attention to What Shows Up When You’re About to Start
Does someone call as soon as you sit down to start working? .
Are you overthinking, over-researching, overanalyzing where to start?
Are you isolating yourself, trying to figure it out on your own?
I believe in nurturing and protecting ideas while they’re in seed form, but I also believe God will send you the right people to help you start and keep moving. He will send you help to produce. Don’t think you have to do it alone. Pray before you share the idea, though.
I want to see your ideas come into full form — so let’s do this this week:
The God who is so gracious to allow you into His plans took the time to tap you on the shoulder and share an idea with you. I need you to shift your thinking from this being a suggestion to it being a command from God that only you can fulfill.
Once you make up your mind that the idea God is sharing with you is a command, take the first step. For me, it’s as simple as taking it seriously and writing it down. That's it. The next step is to make room for God's presence so He can speak to you and guide you in what to do next.
We need your experience.
We need your story.
We need your perspective.
I would love to hear the step you plan to take this week to honor the ideas God has given you. Respond back — I’m fasting this month and would love to pray for you and partner with your faith. And if you don't have any faith right now, you can borrow some of mine.
In purpose,
Simply Faith
P.S. I'm working on a project that terrifies me, but I've taken some of my own advice and partnered with some visionary women to help pull it out of me. I can't wait to share.
See you next Friday, and feel free to share!