Be in His Purpose Podcast | Guiding Christians to Wholeness, Identity, and Calling

Stirring Desires: Is it You or God?

• Yvonne Paschal • Season 2 • Episode 17

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Session 4 of the Finding Your Purpose Series:

That relentless pull toward something greater isn't random—it might be God stirring purpose within you. When we truly delight in Him, our desires shift to align with His divine will for our lives. But how do we distinguish between His promptings and our own ambitions?

Five powerful questions can guide this discernment journey. First, do you have peace about it? Even when God's calling seems overwhelming, it carries His unmistakable peace. Second, does it align with Scripture? God never contradicts His word. Third, have you genuinely surrendered it in prayer? Fourth, does it reflect God's character by drawing you closer to Him and serving others? Finally, have wise spiritual mentors confirmed this direction?

These divine stirrings take many forms—persistent thoughts, burdens for others, dreams you can't release—but they're often connected to the gifts God placed in you before birth. Yet timing matters. Not every God-given desire demands immediate action. Sometimes there are seasons of preparation where God is pruning and developing both you and your calling. He gives us seeds, not just fruit, and those seeds require patience through watering, nurturing, and testing.

Remember, God doesn't ask for qualifications—He asks for surrender. He's inviting you to partner in His purposes not because He needs you, but because He loves you and created you with specific gifts to fulfill specific callings. Your responsibility isn't the outcome but simple obedience. What desire keeps resurfacing in your heart? It might be time to take that step of faith.

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Speaker 1:

Have you ever felt that deep, relentless pull to do something bigger with your life, something that won't leave you alone? And what if I told you that that desire might not be a random desire. It might actually be God stirring something inside of you. You know that passion, that nudge, that burden to do more, to serve more, to create something impactful. It could be the Holy Spirit pointing you toward your calling, your purpose.

Speaker 1:

Psalm 37, 4 tells us delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. That doesn't mean God becomes this genie in a bottle who grants our wishes right. It means that when we delight in him, when we truly pursue him above all else, our desires begin to shift. Above all else, our desires begin to shift. They start to align with his will. He begins to plant desires in us that reflect his purpose for our lives. But how do we know the difference between a God-given desire and our own fleshly desires or our own ambition? All right, we're going to talk about that.

Speaker 1:

There's five questions that I have laid out for us to ask ourselves when we're wondering if a desire is from God or not. Okay, and this is not an all-inclusive list of questions, these are just five questions I've put together for you. So number one is do I have peace about this? We need to ask ourselves that Do I have peace about this desire, this thing, this stirring, this urge? Is there peace? Philippians 4.7 says the peace of God will guard your heart and your mind. If it's from God, even if it feels like this big, scary thing that you think you could never do, there's going to be a peace on it. There's going to be this peace that you have in the thing. All right. Number two does it align with God's word? All right. Number two does it align with God's word? God will never call you to do something that contradicts his word. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So if your desire leads to something that's not from him or that's against what the word of God tells us, then you can rest assured that that desire is either your flesh or it is the devil.

Speaker 1:

Number three have I prayed about it? You know? Have you really given it to the Lord and sought him in prayer? And not just a quick prayer, not just say Lord, bless this, but a deep, surrendered prayer, asking the Lord? You know, is this your will or is it mine? God, right, I like. We need to say Lord, like Lord. I want your will to be done, not mine. Remove me out of the picture, remove my desires from this. I want to be doing your will, your plans and purposes that you have for my life, and then waiting for him to answer and over time he will show you if it's his will or not. Okay, number four does it reflect God's character? You know God's desires will draw you closer to him. Always God's desires will draw you closer to him. They will reflect his heart for others and they'll also bear fruit and that's going to glorify his name, not just building your brand.

Speaker 1:

Number five have I sought wise counsel? Okay, proverbs 11, 14 says where there is no guidance, a people falls. But in an abundance of counselors there is safety. Run your desire past someone spiritually mature. Okay, maybe you have a mentor, a leader in your life, someone in the church that you can. You know that you trust that spiritually mature. They've proven, you've proven this in their own walk.

Speaker 1:

Right, sometimes that confirmation, the confirmation that we're seeking, will come through or from godly community. I'm not saying always and I'm not saying that we should. If God told us to do the thing, then we need to follow what God said to do. But sometimes you know what. Those people in our life are there for a reason to either right, confirm the thing to reach out to, for guidance and leading. But again, that is not to supersede over what the Lord has said.

Speaker 1:

All right, so let's go deeper, because those inner desires, you know, they can come in different forms. They can look like a burden to help others, it could be a dream that you just can't let go of, it can be a persistent thought that won't leave you. Or it could be like this longing to create, to lead or to teach or build something that's bigger than yourself. And those desires are often connected to the spiritual gifts and talents that God has placed in you before you were even born. But see, not every desire is meant to be pursued immediately, especially right if we've identified that the desire is not from God. Not every desire is meant to be pursued immediately.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes there are periods of preparation, sometimes there are periods where God's just giving you the thought and the idea and the desire, and he will eventually cause that thing to be prepared, be pruned, be watered, and it'll be ready for it to come forth. So God gives us seeds, not just fruit. And you know seeds take time. There's a process of a seed growing. There's the pruning, the watering, you know the growing. The Lord makes it grow. And then there, you know, there's testing involved in that. And so Jesus tells us in John 15 too every branch that bears fruit, he prunes so that it may bear more fruit. And sometimes God will give you a desire and then refine you through the pruning, teaching you humility. It's going to teach you endurance and then how to depend on him through it all. So don't be discouraged if nothing is happening yet for you. If God's given you this desire and he's working already. He's already gone before you, he's working behind the scenes and he's working in and through you. Your job is obedience, it's not the outcome of it. Your job is obedience, not the outcome.

Speaker 1:

And maybe you've been sitting on something that God stirred in you, you know, months ago, sometimes maybe even years ago, and you thought this, it's too big, it doesn't make sense, I'm not qualified to do this, or I don't have the resources or the means to even make it happen. But you know what? God doesn't ask for qualifications, he asks for our surrender. He's basically asking us to partner with him. He doesn't need us to make it happen right, he doesn't need us to do the thing. It is God. But he is asking us to partner with him because he has already planned it, prepared, prepared it, purposed it, called it into our lives. We are called and he says you know what? I want to use you. I love you so much. I see what I created in you. I put that thing in you. I put that, that gift, that that desire in you. I want to use you, partner with me, surrender to me and watch what I'm going to do in and through you. And what has he placed on your heart? I want to ask that of yourself what has God placed on your heart? What desire keeps resurfacing?

Speaker 1:

It may be time for you to move on that thing, for you to take a step of action. If you, you know, ask yourself have you sought the Lord in prayer? Have you gone through those five questions? Have you sought the Lord in prayer? Have you gone through those five questions? Have you sought the Lord in prayer? Does it reflect his character? Do you have peace about it? Does it align with his word? And have you sought wise counsel? And C is this thing? God, is it me? Is it the enemy? But let's begin to move in wisdom. Let's begin to identify what part do we need to play now or in the future, or how does the Lord want me to prepare in this time? But let's begin to move in partnership with the Holy Spirit and ask him Lord, is this the season to act, or is this the season where you're still preparing me? Okay, if this stirred something in you, don't ignore that.

Speaker 1:

Don't ignore the thing that you know the Holy Spirit is prompting you. Write it down, talk, take it to God, talk to the Lord about it and ask him for clarity and confirmation. You know what? When I've noticed when I asked the Lord for clarity and confirmation. You know what? Sometimes it's not always I get the answer I'm looking for. Sometimes I don't get the clarity and confirmation immediately. It comes over time. But I continue to pray for the thing that I need, the thing that I'm seeking, because without it I can't. You know. We then delay our walk. We then delay certain things that we need to do right, because we want to walk with wisdom and discernment and knowing. This is the thing. Sometimes you know we need to take steps anyway, or sometimes we need to be preparing for the thing that we may have heard the Lord say, but go to Him, even if it means repeatedly asking him for clarity and confirmation, and he will give it to you.

Speaker 1:

Make sure that you're subscribed, following on this podcast or wherever it is that you're tuning in today, and be ready for session five of the Finding your Purpose series. That's actually going to be out tomorrow, so stay tuned for that. If you've been tuning in to this Finding your Purpose series, I hope that you've been enjoying it. And also, don't forget to join the Be Set Apart community for women, which is a Holy Spirit-led membership for Christian women who are ready to rise, heal and walk boldly in their calling. It's only $17 a month and you get lots of goodies. Okay, you're going to get like weekly live Zoom teachings with live Q&A. You'll get weekly encouragement emails, replay access, a supportive community, 25% off all one-on-one support services. So you'll get all of that for just $17 a month with the Be Set Apart community membership. And if you've ever said I know I was made for more, okay, this is your next step. You can join by going to the link that I'm going to leave down below in the comments and sign up there today. Don't wait, get going on that and get in part of the community where we are learning and growing and healing together.

Speaker 1:

I also want to let you know, and I want to ask this question to you, about memorizing scripture. Okay, what if I told you that you could memorize scripture without pressure, without flashcards. You could actually enjoy it all while worshiping the Lord and giving him praise. How about that? Okay, this is a method that is already working. It's been a proven method that works, and I want to know if you would try it too. And here's why because I'm creating a worship-based way to memorize god's word by singing scripture, by studying it, by writing it and letting it settle deep into your spirit. And, as I said, it's been a proven method to work.

Speaker 1:

It's not just memorization, okay, it's an encounter with the Lord, and so I'm praying about launching a class, but first I want to hear from you. I want to hear from my community. Would you join? Something like this? All right, if this is something that you're interested in and is speaking to your spirit, I want you to let me know. Leave me a comment, send me an email. You can send me an email at coaching, at beinhispurposecom. I would love to hear from you, and I'll be watching for responses and praying over every single one. I would love to hear from you, and so I just I want to thank you again for tuning into this episode, joining me here today, and remember you were created on purpose, for a purpose, so keep seeking his heart, walking in your identity and living out your kingdom calling. I'll see you next time.