What’s Next?

A few days ago, I found myself asking God this question. With the new year right around the corner, I was thinking about my new clean bright and shiny calendar.

So, I asked God…….’what’s next for me, my business, my family….all the things?’ And I felt in my spirit an immediate and clear answer;

“Sometimes you don’t get to know the next step.”

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!!?

I sat stunned for several reasons. It’s not often:

First, that I get such a strong feeling in my spirit

and

second, answers come so quickly.

I felt the spirit just asking me to merely… ‘be.’ He very clearly asked me to focus my attention on how I can use the gifts and talents HE placed in me to serve others well. He even highlighted what those were for me. He wants me use my learned skills to take care of entrepreneurs.

Needless to say, it was a really interesting morning conversation with Him.

He helped me plainly see my multiple decades of accounting experience (learned skill) as vitally important to entrepreneurs. I overlook this because it’s not particularly my favorite thing to do. They know well what they’re doing as their business but when it comes to numbers, this isn’t always their background like it is mine. He helped me see that as a consultant to small businesses, the years of accounting knowledge is crucial to helping them plan for their future.

He also highlighted the gifts and talents HE placed in me …. which is significant for me because I easily push them aside as not important because they’re what I instinctively do and assume everyone has these same things inside of them. (Do you do this too?)

Because I just do what I do, describing my gifts and talents seems more complicated for me.  It’s like I can visualize a system needed for a particular need and create the system down to the tiniest details. I’ve had this within me for as long as I can remember.

One of the many ways He uses this is in the creation of Vision Board Workshop programs. For example, I recently facilitated a 2020 Vision Board and Planning Workshop to help people dig into what they authentically want to accomplish this year. We did mindset work that dropped below the surface of expectations of others and found what was truly important to them. It was one of my most successful workshops to date. The success had nothing to do with how many registrations. It had everything to do with the (His) process.  I spent eight hours revamping my current process and adding to it.  The result was beyond my wildest imagination.

This all came from Him in moments of quietness and visualizing the process from beginning to end.

With all of this said, ‘serving’ is how God would like for me to use my skills, gifts and talents…….

Serving……..

Not wondering and asking Him “What’s Next?”, but aligning myself with these gifts and talents and allowing Him to bring people across my path.  He’s got my future under control. My most essential role is trusting Him to manage my future

Does this all sound like a big “DUH Jennifer” moment to you? It should except for one tiny detail….. the entrepreneurial part of my brain often takes over and my thoughts lead to revenue and profit margin, blah blah blah…..

Once I ALLOW my mind to focus on numbers, the ‘service to others piece‘ goes out the window. So, while nothing I’ve said is super ground breaking, it is a constant struggle for me as I’m always asking God, “What’s Next?”

For this season, He’s told me I don’t get to know “What’s Next?” What I DO get to know however is how I play a part in the lives His people.

I get to have a front row seat to see how He meets them at the point of their need. This happens with bookkeeping clients over time as we create their financial outlook through numbers.  It happens immediately as I facilitate Vision Board Workshops for individuals, entrepreneurs and small business owners.

The fact that God allows ME to be a part of a process which brings people to a place where He meets them is ……. EMOTIONAL AND HUMBLING.

Seriously….WHO GETS TO DO THIS FOR A LIVING?

So … as 2020 arrives today, I am at peace. I am at peace because I have laid my identity and everything I do on His alter and asked Him to refine it until He sees His reflection in all of it.

My prayer for you is that you do this with your identity and your business like I did? I pray that you find a moment and a place to get quiet, settle into His presence and lay it all out there for Him to refine.

It changed EVERYTHING for me and I know it will for you too.

Happy New Year,

Jennifer Edwards
Daughter of the King

Photo by Jukan Tateisi on Unsplash