Discovering Your SHAPE: How God Wired You On Purpose, For Purpose

"With all your heart you must trust the Lord and not your own judgment. Always let him lead you, and he will clear the road for you to follow." — Proverbs 3:5-6 CEV 


Friend, can I ask you something? Have you ever looked at your life and wondered, why am I here? What is it that I am supposed to be doing with this one precious life I've been given?

I have. More times than I can count.

And here is what I've come to understand — you were not placed on this earth by accident. You were not formed in a hurry or forgotten in the details. The One who created you knew exactly what He was doing when He made you. Every piece of you — the gifts, the passions, the quirks, the experiences — they are not random. They are intentional. They are your SHAPE.

Let me walk with you through it.

S — Spiritual Gifts

Faith comes by hearing, hearing the Word of God. And what His Word tells us is this — every single one of us who has received His Spirit has been given gifts. Not to hoard. Not to hide under the bed out of fear. But to build one another up. To serve in love.

Your spiritual gifts are the supernatural abilities God placed inside of you the moment His Spirit took up residence in your heart. Some of you teach and it just flows. Some of you walk into a room and you can feel exactly who is hurting. Some of you lead and people follow without even being asked. Some of you give and give and it brings you such deep joy.

Here is your coaching question to sit with today: What feels effortless and life-giving when you do it for others? That effortlessness? That's often the fingerprint of a spiritual gift.

H — Heart

The eyes of your heart, when they are open, lead you to hope. And your heart — that deep place where your desires flow from, where you dream and feel and long — your heart is telling you something about your purpose.

What breaks your heart? What makes you come alive? What cause, what community, what corner of the world do you find yourself thinking about over and over again?

I used to dismiss the longings of my heart, thinking they were just wishful thinking. But I've come to believe that the God who fashioned us also planted desires within us on purpose. He is not in the business of putting fire in your heart for something He never intended you to walk toward.

What does your heart lean toward when no one is telling you what to do? That lean — that pull — it's worth paying attention to.

A — Attributes

What are you good at? Not just spiritually — but naturally. The strengths and abilities that showed up in you even before you knew the Lord. The way you think, the way you solve problems, the way you communicate or create or organize or build.

These are not coincidences. These are gifts from the hand of your Maker. He sees his Son in you — a new creation, no blemish, no imperfection. And just like a snow-covered landscape covers everything in white, His righteousness covers you and frees you to walk boldly in who He made you to be. You do not have to shrink from your strengths. You do not have to apologize for your abilities.

What do others consistently come to you for? What do you do that makes people say, "you make that look so easy"? Those attributes are a clue. Write them down. Don't dismiss them.

P — Personality

Get up from your bed, your couch, your weariness — and get moving in who you actually are. Not in who you think you should be. Not in the shape of someone else's calling.

Your personality — whether you are quiet and contemplative or bold and out in front, whether you work best alone or come alive in a crowd, whether you are a dreamer or a doer — it all matters. God did not make a mistake when He wired you the way He did.

The aroma we each leave behind is different. Christ left us gentleness, meekness, patience, love. But the way that aroma comes through you is uniquely yours. Your personality is the vessel through which your purpose flows.

When do you feel most like yourself? When do you feel most energized? That is your personality pointing you home.

E — Experience

And this, friend — this is the one that makes me catch my breath every time.

Your experiences. All of them. The creek on the boat that smells like family vacations. The Oil of Olay that smells like Grandma. The storms you have weathered. The pain that had its grip on you. The seasons you wrestled through. The victories and the deep valleys both.

Not one moment has been wasted. Not one tear has fallen without Him seeing it. The things you have walked through — the hard things especially — are some of your greatest qualifications for the calling He has placed on your life. Because the person still in the middle of that storm needs someone who has come out the other side. They need your story.

What have you walked through that you would not wish on anyone — and yet, you now have a compassion and an understanding for others in that same place that you could not have had any other way? That is purpose being forged in the fire of experience.

You Are SHAPE-d On Purpose

So let me bring it all together, the way He brought it all together for me one quiet morning when I needed it most.

You have Spiritual Gifts that the Holy Spirit placed in you to serve others. You have a Heart that burns for certain people and places and needs in this world. You have Attributes — natural strengths and abilities that God wired into you from the beginning. You have a Personality that is not an accident but a design. And you have Experiences that have prepared you for the very thing you are being called toward.

Friends, this is not a coincidence. This is craftsmanship.

The Way forward is not found by striving or white-knuckling your way into purpose. It is found by getting quiet. Being still enough to hear Him. He is speaking right now. He knows what is up ahead on your path. He longs to be gracious to you and show you the way forward.

You don't have to have it all figured out today. All you need for the next step is to follow the One who knows where you are going.

Ask. Seek. Knock. The door will be opened.

You are not without a purpose. You are not without a place. You are SHAPE-d — completely, intentionally, and beautifully — for such a time as this.

With you and love you, friend. 🌟

Tracey

A few questions to sit with today:

  • Which letter of SHAPE feels most clear to you right now — and which feels most hidden?
  • What is one small step you could take this week to lean into one area of your SHAPE?
  • Who in your life could you invite into this conversation — someone who sees gifts in you that you may not yet see in yourself?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When life doesn’t make sense, tune into your 5 senses.

 I am coming to understand that not only do we experience the 5 physical senses of taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing but we also experience these senses spiritually.  In my quiet time with the Lord, I was reading Sarah Young’s devotional called Jesus Listens. She referred to the eyes of our heart being open to a kind of sight that leads to hope. Meaning, our heart, in a spiritual sense is where our desires flow from. It’s where we hope and dream and where our emotions are felt and flow from. So when we have eyes to see into our heart and what it is we are hoping for, it may lift our perspective of what is to come. Not just wishing and dreaming but being confident in what God has promised in his Word. Hope is the anchor that steadies our heart when storms come into our lives. Hope sees the future glory that will revealed after the storm.  Then there is faith. Faith comes by hearing, hearing the Word of God. Which leads me into the next sense of hearing. What are you h...
Read more

Be. Believe. Become

 I have recently been on a journey of becoming a life coach. I am currently a Dental Hygienist of 30 years and have found this career to be greatly rewarding. For those who are closest to me know that as I am getting older, my physical body is, as I define, generally experiencing the wearing out phase of life. I say this with the utmost respect I have for my body, it has served me well but my hands are tired. As I gradually do less Dental Hygiene over the up coming years, Life Coaching Certification has become an interest and an endeavor for me. What I hope to continue is having deep, meaningful, relevant conversations that lead to honesty, vulnerability and a deeper sense of knowing oneself. To help myself and others grow and learn in life as we lock arms and become the best version of ourselves. Discussing and strategizing ways to overcome obstacles that are getting in the way of experiencing change. Leaving old habits and patterns behind, letting go of what was and reaching towa...
Read more

The Gift of Relationship.

  Do you have a favorite robe you put on? How does it make you feel? Is it soft and comfy, wrapping around you, feeling warm and comfortable?   I have not a robe but a blanket I wrap up in at the end of the day. Its soft comfortable fabric makes me feel like it is time for rest.  Did you know that the Bible says that God clothes us with his robe? When we first believe in his Son, he wraps us in his robe of righteousness. What does this mean? It means we are now in right standing with our Creator. We are now called righteous. A right relationship, free to access him, free to talk with him. The veil has been torn and nothing in all creation can separate us from this relationship of love. How does this robe make you feel?  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. - Matthew 5:6 (NIV) I am the righteousness of God in Christ. His blood bought this robe of righteousness for me and is given freely when I believed. I did not a ...
Read more