So I had a great conversation this past week with some of my students in our community hub, and we were in a prayer call and we were all just talking about what was on our hearts in regards to this upcoming year. Where do we feel stuck? What could we use prayer for? And I found this theme. among a lot of us, including myself, where we all were like, man, I have these great ideas for 2025. I have this great vision. I know what God is calling me to do, but I can't seem to execute on it. I struggle with taking action. I struggle with being consistent. And I want to talk about that in today's podcast episode because I believe that your issue in executing, your struggle with consistency goes much deeper than you think. It's beyond you just having a habit of inconsistency. It's beyond you maybe just not knowing what exactly to do in regards to the kind of execution to take. I believe that it's deeper than that and it's beyond that. So we're going to talk about it. As I was thinking about this over this past week, I started thinking about when I do execute, what are those situations? When do I seem to be really good at executing on things? And I started thinking about the very real fact that I have a history of being so good Doing what I'm told to do. Previous bosses, current clients, whatever previous managers or current authoritative positions tell me to do and I work for you or you hired me to do a service, I'm gonna get it done. I'm so good at doing what you tell me to do. That is when I find that I am the absolute best at executing. At taking action, at getting it done. And it just made me think, if I am that good at obeying humans in authority positions, why am I not as good, if not way better, at obeying God in His divine, holy position? Why is it so hard to obey doing what God is calling you to do, to take action on what he wants you to do, to start doing that thing, to stop doing that thing? Why can't we just move and go and do the same way that we tend to move and go and do when our bosses, managers, or clients tell us to do something? So then I came up with this statement. This idea, this question in my mind of what does it look like to make God my boss? What does it look like to take action and meet timelines and do something to obey what God is calling me to do just as a boss or manager or client would want me to do? And it's such a tough question to sit with because it's easier said than done. Whatever workplace situation you're in where there is an authoritative position above you, whether it be a manager, a boss, a client, they give you that paycheck. We need money in order to survive, in order to live. So if we don't meet their expectations or standards or timelines in doing something, then we're not going to get paid or we set ourselves up to be fired. And of course, we're not going to do that. So we obey. We easily see the paycheck. We easily see the route where we could get fired and we choose not to go that route, but with God, we don't easily see it. We don't know if money is going to come out of what God is calling us to do or when it's going to come. We don't know when the blessings are going to arrive or if they even will. There are so many unknowns when it comes to obeying God versus what you do already know or expect when it comes to obeying human authority. That's where it's scary. That's where it gets tough. That's where we tend to fall short in not obeying God the way that we should, but yet we're just so good at obeying humans. And I had this heart check as I was thinking deeper about this. I even wrote it down because it honestly was just like that loving slap across the face. I wrote this down. What or who you obey shows your heart's position in what you really prioritize. And I can say without a doubt that I now, I can see that I used to and even still currently deal with the struggle. in prioritizing obeying humans over obeying God. It's not about one or the other. It's about what comes first. Do you follow man or do you follow God? Are you so good at doing what your bosses tell you to do and then not good at doing what God is asking you to do? That's a heart check. That's a really tough heart check. So, the question is, how do we get there? How do we have the confidence and have the faith to obey what God is telling you to do, asking you to do, calling you to, in the same way that we obey human authority? First thing that I'll say, that I myself am learning right now in this moment, is to make the mindset shift of seeing God as the source. Because everything else is a resource. We might look to our bosses and our clients or whoever is bringing in money as our providers because that is where our money is coming from. So we look to them to pay us to bring in money so that we can survive so that we can financially grow. But that's where we need to spiritually be careful because they are not our provider. God is our provider. God is the source of providing those finances our way, of providing those opportunities our way, of opening up the door for that to even happen in the first place. Everything else, workplaces, bosses, clients, managers, those are all resources. It's like they're the middleman. But it starts with God. He's the one that ordained that situation in the first place. He's the one that can give a job and take away a job, give a client, take away a client, bless you with money, take away that money. It all goes back to him being your number one provider and source for everything. And it is dangerous to look at human authority as your provider. as your financial comfort, As the main reason why you have security is because of that opportunity that these resources gave you. No, you have opportunity, you have security, you have financial comfort because of God. So, when you make the mindset shift daily, because man, it is a daily battle that you have to choose to fight, you learn to relook at God as the source. And when you look at him as the source, you begin to trust him in any and all things. You trust him with your money, you trust him with job opportunities and client opportunities and work opportunities. You trust him with the success of that or even the closed doors of that. And when you learn to trust him that much, it becomes easier for you to finally move on what he is asking you to do, to obey him. So you need to ask yourself, what am I putting my trust in? Who am I seeing as my provider? Who am I unintentionally looking at as the source for my financial comfort? And how can I flip the script to make God the source of all things so that that then leads to me trusting him more and that trust leads to me taking action on what he's actually calling me to do. And yeah, I might be a little scared to do it. I might be hesitant because there's so much unknown that comes with that. But when I trust God, I have faith and I have confidence that everything will work together for my good on His timing. Whew, I'm preaching over here. Okay, moving on to the second thing. How can we obey God just as much as we obey human authority, if not way beyond that? That second thing is to envision your future self that you feel that God is calling you to become. And I'm even going to take it a step further and say envision that future version of yourself talking to the current version of yourself. And I am not kidding. Meditate on it. Close your eyes. Play that visual in your mind. Because when you do, you will start to shape who he or she looks like, what they're doing, the habits they have, the actions they took to get to where they're at now. The faith, the strength, the confidence they've been able to develop over time, envision that future you talking to your current self about what it is that you need to do right now, what it is that you need to focus on right now in order to become him or her. This is a practice that I've been implementing very recently, and I cannot express how much it is completely changing the game for me. Because it is so easy to wake up one day feeling good, feeling confident, ready to take action and execute on something. And it's a whole nother thing when you wake up the next day and you feel the complete opposite. Insecure. Depressed. Uncertain. Struggling with what's next. That, my friend, is the enemy messing with your mind, trying to remind you of something false, which is, you're not good enough, you can't achieve, you might as well give up. That is where the fighting begins on your part. Where we talked about number one is making the mindset shift where God is your source for everything. Number two, envision the future self that God is calling you to be because that future version is going to remind you of who you are. It's going to remind you that you are good enough. It's going to remind you that you can do this and it's going to remind you to keep going. Keep moving forward on what God is calling you to do. Literally, I woke up yesterday morning and I just was feeling, honestly, really insecure. I didn't want to be consistent with anything in regards to what God is asking me to do in my business right now and the projects I'm working on within it. I was just feeling so insecure, and I knew that that insecurity was going to lead me to not taking action. So I paused. I prayed. I opened my Bible. And then I closed my eyes and meditated on my future self, the woman that I know God is calling me to be. And in that vision, she talks to me about the habits to have, the faith to maintain, the strength to develop, actions to take, consistency that I need to stick to. Five minutes of me visualizing that and I was ready for the day. I had got so much done, but not in a overworking hustle mentality kind of way, more so in a I am so focused, I have tunnel vision on what God is calling me to do and I have peace as I go about every task today. I truly believe that when we get into this habit of envisioning the future self that God is calling us to be. It gives us that reminder to the point where we get better naturally at obeying God currently in our day to day life Think about that meditate on that Envision the action that you need to take right now in order to become that future version of yourself that God is calling you to be All right coming around to number three another way that can help you to obey God, to take action on what God is calling you to do. You got to get organized. Get organized, my friend. This is really difficult to do because we're just busy. We have a lot going on and I'm not even just talking about physical stuff going on, like us constantly doing things and performing tasks and going to work and taking care of our families and taking care of our homes and taking care of ourselves. I'm talking also about the mental exhaustion that comes with that. Our minds are so busy thinking, contemplating, navigating. And all of this chaotic busyness in our minds and in the physical things that we do in this world can make it really difficult to just get organized. To literally have a system behind what it is that we are being called to do. A system that includes time management. That includes better scheduling, that includes stewardship over the tasks that you say you're going to do. So I'm going to tell you a really great way to get started because I just did this last week, okay? I don't tell y'all nothing to do that I haven't done myself or am currently doing and vouching that that's super helpful. If I know that it's helpful for me, then I know that it can be helpful for you too. I want you to just open up a Google Doc. Or a Microsoft doc, just open it up. And I want you to start thinking through plans when it comes to your creativity. Whether it's business launches. Projects, things you want to try, things you want to do within specific timelines. Just brain dump it all on that document. I'm not even talking about sales goals or audience growth goals, or you want to hit this number over here. I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about you listing off your creative ideas on that document. As you write out your creative ideas. I want you to pause and look at what you've written, and I want you to pray to ask God to give you clarity and discernment over what you wrote down. Give God the space to speak to you. This is going to take intentionality of you calming your mind down, right, because you're in the creative zone. You have all these creative thoughts and ideas, and you're thinking about how you're going to go about it all. Pause. Take a look at what you wrote and pray. pray. God. Can you help me get clarity on how to go about this? What ideas do I need to execute on? What ideas do I need to let go of right now because they're not priority? Your will, God, show me. He might speak to you right then and there in that moment. He might speak to you over time. The point is that you give him space. You calm your mind, you quiet your own self, and you give him space. To speak. I did this the other week. I wrote a bunch of ideas. I started writing out plans and timelines for things around my business launches and projects. And I was so excited about it all. And then I got to a point where I felt really stuck. I was like, wait, that doesn't make sense. How am I going to do this? Or, wait, is that going to burn me out over here? Or, ugh, how can I tie this into that? And what about the technology behind getting this all set up? I started having all of these questions that started to make me feel mentally stuck. So I paused. I breathed. I closed my eyes. And I prayed. And God gave me solutions. I literally felt him telling me what to do. how to navigate this project, how to pivot that, how to maybe let go of that. He gave me answers, and He very well could do the same for you, or He will do that over time, depending on how God is equipping you in the season of your life. That's between you and Him. The point is that you give Him space to help you get organized and to figure it out. So start there, and then as you get organized, as you figure it out, you build a system behind it. timelines for things. You create a to do list of things that you're actually going to get done. And you try to schedule those things in your calendar at a time that you actually have the space to get them done. You're not forcing it. You're not overwhelming yourself or overworking yourself. You're spacing it out. You are simply getting organized. In the Bible, there's quite a few things that God calls us to steward well. Steward our faith, steward our money, steward our relationship with Him, steward our families, our husbands, our wives, our tasks, our money. But another thing that he does call us to Steward biblically, if you read between the lines, is your time. How you spend your time, how you manage your time. Getting better at stewarding your time. Starts with getting better at being organized. But not getting organized for your own will. You're getting organized for God's will for you. You're getting organized so that you can better obey what he's calling you to do. And doing it with this supernatural peace. Doing it in a way that doesn't lead to burnout. doing it in a way where you and my friend have learned to finally listen and do what God is asking you to do in the same way that you do with human authority. Just a lot of really good stuff to think about, especially as you plan for the 2025 year and what God might have in store for you in the new year. If you want to get better at executing on things, at taking action, at getting consistent, this is the deeply rooted answer that can help you get there. You got to learn to obey God. And it takes time. Like I said, it's easier said than done. So this is going to take time. It's a daily battle. But what matters is that you're choosing to fight with God by your side in that daily battle. Key word there is choosing. You decide. You choose. And even when it gets hard, even when you're going through the fire, even when you are constantly bumping into walls of confusion, uncertainty, the unknown, insecurity, you still obey God. You move where he's calling you to move. You stop doing what he's asking you to stop doing. You start doing what he's asking you to start doing. Because you trust him and you know that despite the storm you might be going through right now, God works everything together for your good. And that storm just so happens to be a part of your specific story that's unfolding. Let's just get better at obeying him. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Um, feel free to share it with someone who has been struggling lately and confusion or uncertainty about their future and in what they feel called to do. Share this message their way as the uplifting message that they just might need this week. Speaking of uplifting messages, we are looking for podcast topic requests. So if you have a topic idea, something that maybe you are questioning or feeling confused about, or could use some guidance and inspiration in, Please text the link that you see located in the show notes below this podcast episode, or in the YouTube description below this YouTube video. We would love to hear from you and we would love to put whatever you text us into our game plan for our upcoming podcast episodes. And with that, my friend, we'll see you next week.