Have you ever wondered whether there is anything truly remarkable about you?
Maybe you would never say that out loud. Still, the thought surfaces when you look at other women who seem so gifted, accomplished, confident, or certain about what God has called them to do.
You look at yourself and wonder what you have that God could possibly use.
For some of us, that question gets tangled up with another one.
Who am I when I am no longer doing the things that make me feel important?
I had to face that question myself.
For more than twenty years, I lived in a professional world where accomplishment mattered. I began my career as a trial attorney and later spent fourteen years on the bench as a judge.
People rose when I entered the courtroom. They called me Your Honor. I wore the robe, made decisions, and carried responsibilities that mattered.
Without realizing it, I allowed some of my sense of worth to become attached to those things.
Then I walked away from the bench.
The robe came off. The title grew quiet. The calendar that had once been filled with hearings and responsibilities suddenly looked very different.
Eventually I had to confront a question that all my busyness had allowed me to avoid.
Who is Joyce when she is no longer the judge?
And underneath that question was an even more uncomfortable one.
Is there anything remarkable about me without the accomplishments?
Maybe you have asked your own version of that question.
You may have built your identity around being the woman everybody can depend on. Perhaps you are the mother who handles everything, the professional who always delivers, the church leader who always shows up, or the friend everyone calls when life falls apart.
Then God begins calling you into something new, and suddenly you are unsure of yourself.
You wonder whether you are gifted enough, experienced enough, spiritual enough, interesting enough, or special enough for what He might be asking you to do.
That fear can keep you from trusting God’s plan.
When Your Worth Gets Attached to What You Do
One of the easiest traps for capable Christian women to fall into is tying our identity to our usefulness.
We serve. We lead. We help. We accomplish.
None of those things are wrong.
The problem develops when doing becomes the evidence we use to prove that we matter.
Martha gives us a beautiful picture of this struggle in Luke 10.
Jesus came to her home, and Martha immediately got busy serving. Meanwhile, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to Him.
Eventually Martha became frustrated.
Jesus responded to her with gentleness in Luke 10:41-42 (NIV), saying, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed, or indeed only one.”
Jesus wasn’t condemning service. He was showing Martha that being with Him mattered more than proving herself through what she could do for Him.
That is a lesson some of us need to receive.
You can spend years serving God while quietly believing your service is what makes you valuable to Him.
Your Father loved you before you taught the class, built the business, raised the children, earned the degree, started the ministry, wrote the book, or figured out your calling.
Your usefulness does not determine your worth.
God Has Never Required You to Be Remarkable
The fear of being ordinary becomes especially powerful when you are trying to discover your calling.
You start looking at women already doing what you believe God may be calling you to do.
She speaks better.
She has more followers.
She knows more Scripture.
She started younger.
She seems more confident.
Soon, instead of asking, “God, what are You calling me to do?” you are asking, “God, what could You possibly do with someone like me?”
Scripture gives us a wonderful answer.
First Corinthians 1:27 (NIV) says, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
God has a long history of choosing people who would never have been the world’s obvious choice.
David was the shepherd boy his own family initially left out of the lineup.
Moses worried that he could not speak well enough.
Gideon questioned how someone from his background could possibly accomplish what God was asking him to do.
God’s plan has never depended upon finding people who are already extraordinary.
He takes ordinary people who are willing to trust Him and accomplishes extraordinary things through them.
That means your ordinariness does not disqualify you from your calling.
You don’t have to manufacture something impressive enough to make God interested in using your life.
Your Worth Was Settled Before Your Calling Was Revealed
This is especially important when you are still trying to figure out your God-given calling.
You may be waiting for God to reveal what you are supposed to do.
While you wait, God wants you to understand who you already are.
Isaiah 43:4 (NIV) says, “You are precious and honored in my sight, and…I love you.”
Look at what God says about you.
Precious.
Honored.
Loved.
Those words describe your relationship with God before they describe anything you accomplish for Him.
Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV) gives us an even more beautiful picture. Scripture says God “will take great delight in you” and “will rejoice over you with singing.”
Think about that, friend.
God delights in you.
Your résumé does not impress Him into loving you more. Your productivity does not persuade Him that you deserve a calling.
He loves you before any of that enters the picture.
Your calling flows from your relationship with God. Your relationship with God does not flow from your success in your calling.
That distinction can free you from a tremendous amount of pressure.
Your Weakness Leaves Room for God’s Strength
You may still be thinking, “Joyce, I understand all of that, but I really don’t feel capable of what I believe God may be asking me to do.”
I understand.
Paul understood too.
He pleaded with God three times to remove a weakness from his life. God’s response appears in 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV).
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
We tend to view weakness as evidence that we are the wrong woman for the assignment.
God can view that same weakness as room for His strength to become visible.
Your calling does not require you to become the most polished woman in the room.
It requires your availability.
God can work with a woman who feels inadequate.
He can work with a woman who is still learning.
He can work with a woman who doesn’t have the biggest platform, the longest résumé, or the most impressive credentials.
And when He does something through your life that you could never have accomplished by yourself, He receives the glory.
You Are a Masterpiece, Not a Machine
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
I want you to notice the order.
You are God’s masterpiece before you do the good works He prepared for you.
Your worth comes before your work.
So while you are trying to discover your calling, resist the temptation to measure your value by how much you accomplish.
Jesus gives another invitation in Matthew 11:28 (NIV).
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
You can step off the treadmill of trying to prove that you are remarkable enough for God’s plan.
God already knows exactly who you are.
He knows your strengths and your weaknesses. He knows your history. He knows your age. He knows what you wish you could change about yourself.
And He still has good works prepared for you.
Your Purpose Clarity Challenge
I call this week’s challenge The Worth Without Works Challenge.
For the next seven mornings, spend two quiet minutes with God before you begin working through your to-do list.
Choose one biblical truth about who you are that has nothing to do with what you accomplish.
You might say aloud, “I am precious and honored in God’s sight” from Isaiah 43:4.
Another morning, remind yourself, “I am God’s masterpiece” from Ephesians 2:10.
Another day, sit with the beautiful reminder from Zephaniah 3:17 that God delights in you.
Then ask yourself one question.
If I truly believed my worth was already settled by God, how would I approach my calling differently today?
Write down your answer.
At the end of the week, read what you have written and pay attention to what God has been showing you.
You may discover that some of the pressure you thought came from your calling was actually coming from your need to prove yourself.
Friend, you do not have to prove that there is something remarkable about you before God can use you.
Your Father has never asked you to manufacture significance.
He is asking you to trust Him with the woman He created you to be.
So come down off the treadmill.
Let go of the pressure to be impressive.
Rest in the worth God has already given you, and then walk into your calling from that place.
You are God’s masterpiece.
You were never meant to be a machine.
