I saw a really phenomenal quote yesterday that made me stop and think. It was such a simple but meaningful phrase.
“Someone somewhere is depending on you to do what God has called you to do.”
I tell you, I don’t guess I’ve ever gotten up and approached the day in that manner. I don’t know that I think about it very often: what I do, how I do it, and the fact that God has, in fact, called me to do this. When I actively think about it, though, the journey is a bit mystifying. It’s been a long and strange road, for sure.
When I got into radio, I wanted nothing to do with God. I worked for top 40 stations all across the country and climbed my way up the ladder, and I was after two things: notoriety in the industry, and money. Those were my only goals when it came to what I did. But I very distinctly remember the day that God got hold of me and said, “This is not what you’re supposed to do. You need to walk away from this, because I have other plans for you.”
Eight months later, I was in California, working for a Christian radio station. Nobody knew me on the Christian radio side of things. There was definitely not a lot of money involved. It was a step backwards financially, as a matter of fact. I remember being fairly disappointed, because while yes, I played amazing songs from amazing artists, and I shared much more uplifting things, there was something missing. I didn’t feel like I was making a whole lot of difference. It was almost the same in a lot of ways.
This was when I was extremely tight-lipped about my struggles with mental illness, mind you. For one thing, usually in a place of work, you don’t want to broadcast that you have those kinds of problems. And anyone who has battled depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety or something else knows all too well the stigma that’s still there, the comments that can be made, and the judgments that can befall you when you open up about it. But there was one day that I was battling. I could barely keep from crying every time I opened my mouth to speak. I couldn’t have told you what was wrong, specifically. Life just hurt in that moment, and on a bit of a whim, I said something on the air about what a hard day it was. I remember saying, “But I know even on days like this, God is good. I don’t understand why I go through what I go through. You may not understand what you go through. But we know Whose hands we’re in, and therein lies our comfort in these moments.”
The second I turned the mic off, a lady called, bawling her eyes out, and she said, “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I needed to hear that. I just needed to know I’m not alone.” We talked a while, I prayed with her, and from that day forward, I began dealing out pieces of my story, as it was unfolding. The ups. The downs. The illness. The healing. The relapse. The defeat. The victory. The hope. And it’s just as scary every time I talk about it as the first time I talked about it. But the encouragement I receive from you every day, the thank yous, the oh my goodness, I’m there, or oh my goodness, I’ve been there, let me tell you what God did for me…all of these exchanges have just reaffirmed to me that no struggle is without purpose, God can redeem anything, and even though it took me a long time and I had some skewed priorities for the first half of my career, it turns out this is where I was supposed to be all along and this is what I was supposed to be doing.
It is my hope and my prayer that the calling God has placed on my life can bless at least one person each day.
The same is true of you. God has a calling on your life, too, and someone is depending on you to walk in that purpose. Right now. This minute.
So live boldly. Seek God in everything you do. Do everything to His glory. And walk in the confidence that you are right where He has placed you for such a time as this.