His Way, Not Mine

His Way, Not Mine

What happens when God's direction conflicts with our own plans? In this episode of Woman in the Word, we explore the transforming call to surrender our will in exchange for His. While our hearts naturally gravitate toward what feels right, Scripture reminds us that our perspective is limited, but God's purposes are perfect.

Through Acts 20:24, we'll consider the apostle Paul's unwavering commitment to finish the race God set before him, regardless of the cost. In John 6:38, we'll look to Jesus, who came not to accomplish His own will, but the will of the Father—our ultimate example of joyful obedience. And in Proverbs 16:25, we'll be warned that what seems right in our own eyes can ultimately lead us away from God's best.

Join us as we discover the freedom that comes from laying down our own agendas and trusting the One who sees the beginning from the end. When we choose His way over our own, we find purpose, peace, and the assurance that His plans are always better than anything we could design for ourselves.

Whether you're facing a difficult decision, wrestling with unanswered questions, or simply longing to walk more faithfully with Christ, this episode will encourage you to trust God's direction over your own understanding and to boldly declare, "His way, not mine."

Enjoyed this episode of Woman in the Word?

Be sure to follow the show and leave a rating or review, to help others find these meaningful conversations. 

Connect with Felicia

Instagram: @woman.intheword

team@purposepromise.net

Stay rooted in the Word and faithful in the journey.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Woman in the Word, the podcast where we dive into scripture, ask real questions, and walk through the Bible together, one honest conversation at a time. I'm Felicia Parker, I'm your host, and I'm so glad you're here. So whether you're new to the Word or you've been studying for years, there's a seat at the table for all of us. So grab your coffee, open your journal, or put on your walking shoes, and let's get into it. Hey, welcome to the Woman in the Word podcast. I am so excited that you are joining me today, as always. I always look forward to our conversations and thank you for those that continue to listen and grow in your spiritual walk with the Lord. So I'm really excited about this conversation. Today we are talking about his way and not mine. Have you ever had the privilege of building furniture from IKEA or anything from IKEA that required a thousand-step instruction to put this thing together? And you get halfway through and you say, you know what, I think I can figure this out. I'm gonna do it my way. I'm gonna try it this way instead of following the instruction that says, Oh no, do it that way. Have you ever been there? Or have you been in that place where you said, you know what, I think I'll do this with my life. Although I I feel a call to do that thing, it doesn't make sense, it doesn't look exciting. I'm not really wanting to do that, so I'm gonna go this way as opposed to that way. Have you ever found yourself in that place? I know I have more times than not. And when I build the the furniture or I make the decision, I have to look back and say, Oh man, I should have just followed the instructions, I should have just done what I was supposed to do and stick to the plan. And y'all know where I'm going. Today we're talking about his way and not mine, and we're gonna jump right into the book of Acts because I think it's so profound what Paul says. So this is let me just catch you up. So this is Paul, who was formerly Saul, so he was a persecutor of Christians. He felt his call in in life was to destroy the Christian faith. He felt like that's what he was supposed to do, and then he had the Damascus Road experience where God blinded him, sent Ananias, another believer, give him a word, and lead him out of that place of blindness to now being able to see. And now we find him on fire for God, and his name has been changed from Saul to Paul, and he becomes one of the apostles in scripture that is so on fire for God that in Acts 20, 24, this is what he says. He says, My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others the good news about the wonderful grace of God. He says, Okay, I've been doing it my way. That didn't work. Now I'm doing it his way. But not only am I doing it his way, I'm all in on his way. Because he says, My life is worth nothing unless I'm doing what he has called me to do and I finish it well. It's kind of like going back to building the furniture and you make it halfway through and you say, I'm tired of following these instructions. This is taking too long. Grab me these pieces, the screws, let's put it together. Or you say, you know what, this call on my life, it's taking too long, or this schooling to go to back to school to pursue this thing, it's taking too long, or waiting for God to send me the person, you know, this is taking too long, or whatever you find yourself in today, you may be saying, This is taking too long. I don't I don't want to wait on this, I'm just gonna go it my own way. And I want you to know, Proverbs 16, 25 says, There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. And if we don't take the warning from Paul that our life is worth nothing if we are not doing the will of God and finishing what he has called us to do, we will find ourselves living out the scripture of Proverbs 16, walking in the way that we think is the right way. It seems right, it sounds right, it feels right, people are confirming it, people are, you know, giving us the support and the encouragement. All the things look like it's lining up to be right, it says, but in the end, it leads to death. Death could look like death of an opportunity, death of a relationship, death in health, and ultimately it could look like death as far as being separated from Christ eternally. And so Paul tells us that our life is worth nothing unless we use it for finishing the work assigned by Jesus. So if you find yourself in a place today and you're saying, Okay, I am doing what seems right, I'm getting the applause for it, I'm getting the accolades for it, my my pay reflects it, whatever it is, my friendship circle reflects it. Ask yourself, is it in line with the will of God for your life? Because if it's not, it's worthless. And I say that in the most loving way I can, but scripture says our life is worth nothing unless we're doing what God has called us to do. Hey, I just wanted to take a quick pause in our conversation and introduce you to uh the lover of your soul if you have yet to meet him. I would love to lead you in the prayer of salvation. So if you'd repeat after me, that'd be awesome. Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and I'm in need of a savior. I confess that Jesus is Lord and I want him to be the Lord of my life. I believe that you raised him from the dead to rule and reign for all of eternity. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me with the precious blood of Jesus. I thank you, Lord, for dying on the cross just for me. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, if you just prayed that prayer, I want to welcome you to the family of God and just say congratulations. So going back to building the table or starting a, you know, a journey that that you now kind of push pause on and you go your own way. We have to stop and check ourselves. And I know the table example is more funny because trust me, I think we've all been there where it's like we're so frustrated, just let's put this thing together, and then you have more screws left over, and you're not supposed to have any left over, and you're like, oh shoot. And then you have to say, Where did I miss it? and how many steps do I have to go back in order to get back on track and put this thing together so that it will last, so that it will make it and be useful for its purpose, y'all. That's our life. If we don't take seriously what Proverbs 16 says about seeing something that seems right to us, but in the end, it's worthless, it leads to death. If we are not aware of that, we will find ourselves walking down the wrong road and we'll go so far. Now, mind you, God will love you all the way back, but you've got to take that journey all the way back to where God is because he's not gonna go with you on the on the thing that seems right, he's not gonna allow you to continue to walk the journey of what seems like the calling, what seems like the purpose of God in your life, and go with you. He will lovingly call you back to where he is so that you can get back on track with him. And for some of us, that's been years. For some of us, that's been an enormous amount of money spent that now you you need to try to recoup. That could be relationships that have been severed, that could be health that has now been compromised. And it's like, man, I need to get back to that place. I need to get back to where God spoke that word. I need to get back to that place where God tried to remind me that, hey, your life is here because I put you here on assignment. It's not here for you to do what you want and to go where you want to go and say what you want to say and live the life you want to live and do what seems to be right. No, he says, You're here for a purpose, on purpose in this generation to serve the will of God while you're here. And if we can do that, y'all, and we can run our race, we get the crown that's waiting for us on the other side of eternity. But if we don't, we will find ourselves walking on a journey that seems right, walking a path path that seems right, taking the job that seems right, marrying the spouse that seems right, buying the house that seems right, investing in that thing that seems right, whatever it is, and ultimately it will lead to the death of something. And I don't know about you, but I have experience in my life of having to dismantle something that I've tried to build, but I push the instructions to the side, and then I have to go back to step one and say, Okay, God, I repent. Help me to turn away from these things, this these relationships, these choices, and help me to get back on track. And he will lovingly walk me along that journey. But if I took 10 steps away from him, now I've got to take another 10 steps back to him before he can get me back on the path to where we're going. Because this is the thing, he's not gonna leave me in that place and say, Okay, where you are, we can start from here. No, he says, Come back to where I am, come back, like it says in Psalm 91, those that dwell in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in his shadow. You've got to go back to where he's dwelling, where he resides, where his presence is. And then he says, now we can get back on the journey. And I don't know about you, but that could be some years wasted. That's that could be some finances wasted. That can be some relationships that have been severed, some health that has been compromised because we decided to take the road that seemed right. But I pray you hear Paul's heart when he says, My life is worth nothing unless I use it to finish the work. Everybody has work that has been assigned to them, and your goal that you should strive for every day is to finish the work. Every day you wake up, take that breath, knowing that breath was given to you because you are on assignment. You woke up this morning because you're on assignment. God has put you in the place that you are because you're on assignment. You live where you live because you're on assignment. You work where you work because you're on assignment. You have what you have to use it as a tool for the kingdom of God because you're on assignment. Hey, I just wanted to take a quick break in our episode and share with you some really exciting news. This year we are hosting our first ever outreach experience. This is an expansion of the gathering, and it is hosting 12 to 20-year-old young men and women. I'm really excited about it. The location will be UNLB Student Union Ballroom. It's gonna be a great time of word, worship, connection, free merch, free food, a great concert, and you don't want to miss it. And it is totally free. So all you have to do is jump on our website, purpose-promise.com. Click on the gathering, drop down, register, and we look forward to hosting you. All right, let's jump back into the episode. We see an example in our perfect Savior, Jesus, in John chapter 6, verse 38. He says, For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Y'all, I need you to hear me. Jesus didn't even come down here and do his own thing. And he was God made flesh. If anybody could do what they wanted to do, it could be Jesus. And he still said, Nope, I'm coming down here on assignment. And my assignment is to do whatever my father has called me to do, and ultimately that was to live so that he could die for you and I, so that we can walk in our assignment and finish the race. We have all been assigned. There is a will of God for our life, and we have to spend time in the presence of God so that we can know what it is, so that our heart will burn like Paul in Acts, where he says, My life is useless unless I'm doing the will that God has called me to do, unless I'm finishing the assignment, unless I'm doing the work, unless I'm putting my hand to the plow and working the good works that have been assigned to me. My life is worth nothing. And y'all, we need to get that fire on the inside to say, hey, I'm out here doing all this stuff, but the aim should be to do the will of my father. Y'all, we have got to imitate Jesus. We've got to take the words of Paul seriously. That our life was given for a purpose, and that was to fulfill the will of God in our generation. That was to do the thing He's called us to do and to do it for the glory of God. That thing was not to just live here and enjoy our life the way we want to and do the things we want to do and have the things we want to have and go the places we want to go and just talk the way we want to talk. No, we do not need to be living a life that seems to be right. But we need to be living the life that has been assigned to us so that we know we are doing what we've been called to do, and it will bring glory to the kingdom of God. On September 19th, 2026, women will gather at the UNLV Student Union Ballroom for a powerful day of connection, encouragement, and renewal. The gathering 2026. There's a seat waiting just for you. So today, if you find yourself in a place where you say, Oh man, I'm living a life that seemed to be right, or I'm working at a place that seemed to be right, or I'm in this friendship circle that seemed to be right, or I'm using my money on things that seemed to be right, but you know you're not in alignment with God's will for your life. I would say today is the day to repent and turn away and ask God to lead you back to the path where He is, to lead you back to the place where He's dwelling, to lead you back to the place where His presence resides, so that you can get on track and begin to fulfill the will of God in your generation so that you can be in alignment with the assignment that He's placed on your life. And you will, like Paul, be able to say, Hey, my life is worth nothing unless I'm doing the will of God, unless I'm finishing my assignment, unless I'm doing what I've been called to do and created to do. My prayer is that you will get to that place. I will get to that place to say, every day we wake up, I'm on assignment, and I'm not gonna be swayed to the right or to the left by what seems to be right. I'm not gonna do my thing, not my will, but his will be done in our lives. That should be our heart's cry every day. God, allow your will to be done and not mine. Allow me to walk on the path that you've laid before me and not what seems to be right. Y'all, that should be our heart's cry. And my prayer is every day we will wake up understanding we are on assignment from the kingdom of heaven. And if Jesus can be sent from heaven down to earth to fulfill his assignment, if Paul can wrap his mind around the fact that his life was here to serve the will of God, y'all we can too. Thanks for hanging out with me in the Word. I hope it encouraged your heart and gave you something to carry into the rest of the week. If it spoke to you, share this with someone who might need it too. And hey, don't forget to follow or to subscribe so you don't miss out on what's next. Until then, keep showing up, keep listening, and let his word lead the way.