Grace In The Hard Place

What if the place you’d rather leave is the exact ground where God is shaping your future? We explore a raw season of working a new part-time job that didn’t feel like a “fit,” and how small, timely graces—helpful teammates, kind leaders, and even a customer’s compliment—reframed everything. Instead of labeling the assignment as punishment, we unpack how Romans 8:28 becomes a lived posture: all things are being woven for good when we choose obedience, pay attention to favor, and let humility do its deep work.

You’ll hear how unexpected feedback can steady a weary heart and why naming grace matters as much as naming struggle. We talk about the uncomfortable ways pride gets exposed and how God answers prayers for growth by sending real situations that stretch us. This is the slow, hidden formation most of us avoid, yet it’s where character is built and purpose is clarified. Reflection becomes a key practice, helping us recognize patterns of provision we missed in the moment and teaching us to harvest meaning from ordinary days.

If you’re feeling stuck or unseen, this conversation offers a gentle but direct reminder: your current station isn’t random, and your impact isn’t on hold. Purpose is practiced where your feet are—at the counter, in the meeting, during the commute. As we lean into obedience and gratitude, we become living pages others can read, pointing beyond ourselves to the One who sustains. Listen, share with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a quick review so more people can find hope right where they are.

Chapters

• 0:07 Positioned For Purpose Everywhere
• 1:16 Wrestling With An Unwanted Assignment
• 3:46 Obedience, Order, And God’s Timing
• 4:46 Naming The Grace You’re Given
• 6:38 Encouragement Through People And Praise
• 7:36 Humility And The Undoing Of Pride
• 8:01 Recognizing God’s Hand In Feedback
• 9:22 Hope For The Uncomfortable Season
• 11:08 A Prayer For Strength And Witness
• 16:03 Closing And Next Week’s Guest

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:07

Welcome back to another episode of Position for Purpose Conversations with Colette Movie Podcast. I'm your host, Colette. Listen, it's such a privilege and an honor to be coming into your homes in your cars each week, or you know, not always every week, but just to be able to share the insights and a part of my journey about walking in purpose, knowing that my story matters, knowing that I am positioned for purpose wherever I am. Be it in a fast food restaurant, be it in a corporate office, be it in a room speaking to someone, wherever I am, I'm positioned for purpose, and wherever you are, wherever you have found yourself as well, you are positioned for purpose. God has a reason for allowing you to be there. He has a reason and a purpose and a divine assignment. I know oftentimes where we are, we don't think that God is concerned about where we are, we don't believe that He has placed us there. But if you are a believer, a woman of faith who believes that your story matters and that your life is ordained by God, and it's not outside of our own choices because we make our own choices. But Romans 8:28 has been my guiding principle, and it states, for we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to his purpose. So where are you today? Wherever you find yourself today, God has a purpose there for you. It's just for you to know what the purpose is and how can I live this out, how can I walk it out. So on today's conversation, if you've been listening to me at least for the past two episodes, you've been hearing me share my journey about uh taking on a part-time job and working in an industry that I have never worked in before, and I've talked about the struggles that I've been having in just understanding why. Why was it that this was the only door that opened? You'd have also heard me talk about God showing me my heart and the things that I needed to work on, and so I cannot run away from this assignment. I'm positioned right where I am for this season in my life, and it's for me to learn some things to take me to the next season. I remember last week talking about not running away from where you are now because things are hard, it's difficult, and you can't see yourself there. And my encouragement is to just remain there until we've learned the lesson, until you've learned the lesson. But the key thing is to ask the Lord, what are you teaching me in this moment? What are you teaching me? Because I am here now, and I believe you have allowed me to be here, and I know a lot is happening, a lot is happening within my own thoughts and within my own life, and I'm not sure if this is what you want of me. Father, show me, show me, show up for me, show me what you want me to learn in this season, and then can I tell you that he will do it? But can I also let you know as well? When he shows us what needs to be worked on or what he needs us to do, we have to be in obedience, we have to walk in obedience, we have to say, Yes, Lord, you've showed me this and I am going to work on it. Or yes, Lord, you're showing me this and I have to do this thing that you want me to do. Please understand that God is not a willy-nilly type of God, He's not a God who just places you at place just for randomly and just for nothing, just because. If you lean into Him, you'll understand that there is a reason for everything. Our creator who created the heavens and the heavens and the earth did this systematically, and it's the same thing he does with us as well. So there's a reason for us to be at the place where we are, it's just that we need to know what the reasons are. And as I was thinking about the episode for today, I remember hearing the Holy Spirit said you have been sharing about how you have been feeling, about where you are, but you have not shared about the grace that you have been receiving. And I and I reflect back and I realize I have not shared. I've not just been talking about the emotions that I have been going through, but I have not shared about the grace that I have found, the favor that I have received from not just only my teammates, but even my chief leaders. And I know this is only because of Almighty God. I said sometimes we talk about the bad things, we talk about how we it's hard to adjust and how how how difficult just aligning our thoughts to God plans can be. But we don't stop to pause and and and look at what God is doing in the midst of what we deem to be a difficult situation, and it's only when the Holy Spirit just brought that to mind. Say, yes, you're griping, but what have I shown you in this time? And my friends, for the past three to four weeks, I've just been experiencing just the grace and the favor of God in ways, people just wanting to help me to do something, or you know, it I don't know how to explain it. Even customers just saying thank you, you have a beautiful smile, and just saying to me some things that are just so nice on days when I feel as if, oh my god, I cannot go another mile. God allows someone to just encourage me, could be a customer, could be just a staff member, just saying something that they won't even understand. The thoughts, the things that are going in my mind, or what they say makes such a difference, and I feel like I can just listen, it's as if I've been energized for the day and the next days and the weeks ahead. And I have found that every time that I'm at that place, every day that I'm at that place, and I feel as if I cannot go any further. God sends a word through someone that reminds me that I can do this. There's a reason why I'm here. My father did not open this door willy-nilly, just because it's not a punishment either, but it's making me better each and every day as I tune into what the Holy Spirit is showing me about my own heart and the things that God needs to rip out of my own heart. Humility is the order of the day. I'm telling you. Humility is the order of the day. When we pray and ask the Lord to remove pride from out of our hearts, he's going to allow situations to come. Because for pride to be ripped out, things have to come to humble us. Things have to come to humble us. So, what is it that God is saying to you in your own moments? And what is he showing you as you are struggling to learn the lessons? How has God been showing up for you? Who has he been using to be a blessing to you, to share a word, a message, a thought, or have a conversation with you that you're saying, Daddy, but this is the conversation that you and I have been having. Look at how you send this person. And so, even as I think about this week when uh one of the the owners said to me, Colette, I want to share with you that you got a good review. A customer came in and she said how you were polite and you helped her and her family settle in. And listen, I almost cried, I almost cried. I could feel the tears coming, and I said, No, girl, no, no. But it was such an encouragement. So while I'm not doing it for recognition, the fact is that God knows what we need on the days that are hard and we feel like we can't go on. Because can I tell you something? Hearing that in the morning truly put a pep in my step for the rest of the day. So each day as I go out, I just ask the Lord for the grace to do what is needed, and each day he supplies the grace, each day he supplies the grace. So today it's a short conversation because I want to remind you, as the Lord said to me, tell my people, tell your audience about what I have been doing. And God has been doing great things, He sent help my way, He sent encouragement my way. And so two months in, two months in, I can say that God has been good. God has been good. And even when on the days when I feel as if I can't make it, and the thoughts in my head is when Lord, when He reminds me that it will not last for long, and you know that time, our time and God's timing is definitely not the same, definitely not the same, but however long the time is, I know that God is with me. So I want to remind you today where you are at, maybe a place that you really are uncomfortable and don't want to be there. But God is there with you, He has not left you, He definitely has not forsaken you, and you're not there because of He wants to punish you. You're there because there's a reason for you to be there, there's a life for you to impact, there's a lesson for you to learn. Because for us to get into the next season where God wants us to be, there is a lesson for us to learn in this season, something that is gonna take us into our next season, and it's going to be a blessing, and it's only in hindsight will we be able to see that God, you allow this because you know that where I'm at now. I needed to have gone through that. It's only through hindsight and reflection that we truly understand what God is doing. Only in that time. And I'll remind you about the importance of reflection. It's key as we walk out this life, understanding that we are called to make an impact, we're called to make a difference in the lives of others. And the place where we are at, the season that we're in, might not be comfortable, but God is with us. God is with us. So my prayer for you today, Father, I thank you for my sister who is listening. Lord, I pray that even on her journey, she will see your hand all over her life, Almighty God. Some days it may be hard to see you, but other days you speak so loudly, Lord, that we know that you are there. And Daddy, I pray that you'll strengthen her as she sits, Almighty God, in your presence, as she listens to your still small voice, as she turns to your scriptures, Almighty God, as she listens to the word of comfort and encouragement from someone else. I pray, Father, in the name of Jesus, that she will be reminded, Almighty God, that you have a plan and a purpose of her life, Almighty God, and that Lord God, the life principle scripture that I have applied to my life, oh God, over these years, that we know that all things will work together for her good. She might not see it and might not understand it today. But Almighty God, as she gets into the next season, you'll cause her to reflect, Almighty God, and she will know without a shadow of a doubt that it is working out for her good. Bless her abundantly today, Father. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Almighty God, I thank you, Lord God, that our lives, Lord God, are a testament to who you are and it points others to you, Almighty God. So I pray, Lord God, when our attitudes aren't right, Lord Jesus, we will remember who we are and who you have called us to be. That in the places where we are, my God, we are the only book that some people will read, Lord God. And may what is written on our pages, Almighty God, be one, Lord God, that draws others to you, Lord, in the name of Jesus. That they want to want what we have, Lord God, and we can give them you, Christ Jesus. We can point them to you, Father, in the name of Jesus. When they need encouragement, when they need a word of prayer, we can point them to you, the God of our salvation. And we can say we have been there, and our God has taken us through, Lord, in the name of Jesus. So help us to be good stewards of that which you have given us and that place that you have called us, God, in the name of Jesus. May when we go, Lord God, into our places of business or wherever you have called us to serve, God, that we go with your presence. We go knowing that you are with us, Almighty God, and that Lord God, your hand is upon us, and even in the darkest, our Lord God, you are with us. I praise you for her today, Lord, and I thank you, Lord God, for this journey that you have called us on, Lord God. May we trust you with our whole heart and may we not lean to our own understanding, but in all our ways to acknowledge you, and you shall direct our path. Lord, I bless you today and I honor you. I exalt you because you are God and you are good. You're loving, you're kind, you're patient, you're understanding, Almighty God. You have blessed us with divine favor. You've opened doors, Lord God. The doors that you open no one can shut, and the doors that you shut, no one can open. And so I thank you, Lord God, that the seasons don't last always, Lord God, but help us in the seasons that we are to see you and to glorify you, Lord God. You who have promised is faithful, and whatever you have promised to do for us, God, you are faithful to take it through. We bless you and we honor you in Jesus' name. We pray with thanksgiving. Amen and amen. I hope today's episode was a blessing to you. And if it was, would you consider two things sharing with someone else who you believe would like to hear this message, and also would you consider leaving us a review on Apple or Spotify? Bless you. And I look forward to having you next week. When next week I'll be having a very special guest, Arthur Jodian Hutchinson, as we discuss discuss her first book. Looking forward to having you with us. Blessings and bye bye.