4:13 Podcast: Can I Know My Divine Purpose? With Nancy Gavilanes [Episode 318]

Nancy Gavilanes: God is working on us. We're his beautiful masterpiece, so he loves us. But he's also conforming us into the image of Christ, and that's his main purpose. And so we may be focused on success and reaching that goal, that opportunity. God is more important with our heart and what's going on in our inner person, and so he's conforming us. And so that obstacle we're facing, that challenge we're having in our family or in our workplace, whatever it is, God is using all of that together to conform us into the image of Christ.

Jennifer Rothschild: God has given you a divine purpose, but sometimes life has this way of beating us down and robbing us of our confidence, doesn't it? So if you're not sure of your purpose, or maybe you might be struggling with feelings of unworthiness or inadequacy, well, today's guest, Nancy Gavilanes, is going to speak directly to your heart. She's going to offer hope and encouragement through six transformative truths. So it is time to break free from the chains of doubt and fear and live out our purpose.

So, K.C., cue the intro.

K.C. Wright: Welcome, welcome to the 4:13 Podcast, where practical encouragement and biblical wisdom set you up to live the "I Can" life, because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

Now, welcome your host, Jennifer Rothschild.

Jennifer Rothschild: Hey, everybody. We're glad you're back. K.C. and I have been waiting for you here this morning in the closet. And we've got our coffee and we are anticipating a great conversation today. I'm Jennifer. My goal is to help you be and do more than you feel capable of as you're living this "I Can" life along with me and K.C. and all of our 4:13 family. And I get to meet so many of you when I'm out on the road, so thank you for all always saying hi and always being such a loyal 4:13er.

And by the way, part of your loyalty is leaving us a review. So if you haven't done it yet, please leave us a review on whatever platform you listen. It really does make a difference and it helps us. Because y'all, we got issues. We've all got issues.

K.C. Wright: Oh-ho. If you don't think you have issues --

Jennifer and K.C.: That's your issue.

Jennifer Rothschild: In fact, I'm sitting next to someone who has a plethora of issues. In fact, I kind of enjoy his drama. I love other people's drama. And so I'm curious, K.C., tell me any new drama, any new problems that I should be aware of. Or how are your existing problems? Let's talk about that.

K.C. Wright: Well, I'll tell you one that ended up being a blessing today.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, okay.

K.C. Wright: I have an addiction to Facebook Marketplace.

Jennifer Rothschild: Ooh.

K.C. Wright: The Bible says confess your sins and you'll be healed, so I'm needing healing in this.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay.

K.C. Wright: Facebook Marketplace is a 24/7 yard sale.

Jennifer Rothschild: It is. And you love that kind of stuff.

K.C. Wright: At the end of your arm, there's your phone, and you can get on there and see what people are selling in your area. Okay? Now, I don't need anything. I don't need anything.

Jennifer Rothschild: Except a bargain.

K.C. Wright: Jennifer has actually rubbed off on me in the sense that she gets rid of clutter, and I've received that instruction -- I'm trying to get rid of clutter, right?

Jennifer Rothschild: Mm-hmm.

K.C. Wright: But --

Jennifer Rothschild: But.

K.C. Wright: -- this morning --

Jennifer Rothschild: This morning.

K.C. Wright: -- a woman clear across town was selling two Charles Spurgeon bobbleheads.

Jennifer Rothschild: Bobbleheads? Oh, my gosh!

K.C. Wright: Just like Jennifer has a love for C. S. Lewis -- I love C. S. Lewis because of you, and also I have a deep love of all things Charles Spurgeon.

Jennifer Rothschild: Well...

K.C. Wright: And I have never seen a Charles Spurgeon bobblehead.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, no, I didn't even know they made them.

K.C. Wright: So I hot-footed it across the town.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, my gosh. Okay.

K.C. Wright: And I show up at this little sweet woman's house. Which that wasn't safe, honey. You should really meet in a public area --

Jennifer Rothschild: Right.

K.C. Wright: -- because there's creepers. They need Jesus, but --

Jennifer Rothschild: Right. Thankfully you're safe.

K.C. Wright: -- we need to be safe. But anyway.

Well, anyway, so normally, you know, you message, "Hey, I'm here," and they run out. And, well, she came running out to my Jeep and she goes, "You look so familiar." And I go, "You do too." And she went, "Uh, Fresh Grounded Faith --

Jennifer Rothschild: No way.

K.C. Wright: -- 4:13."

Jennifer Rothschild: No way.

K.C. Wright: And she hugged me.

Jennifer Rothschild: Ooh.

K.C. Wright: And she listens. And she loves all things Jennifer Rothschild and --

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, my goodness.

K.C. Wright: -- loves the podcast. And now my little Charles Spurgeon bobbleheads mean even more to me now.

Jennifer Rothschild: They do.

K.C. Wright: Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: K.C. -- okay, there are so many things about this story I love.

K.C. Wright: Well, also, I went ahead -- when you buy one thing and you're like, well, I'm heading over there, let's see what else she got --

Jennifer Rothschild: Right.

K.C. Wright: -- you can hit "Seller's items." I also bought some very cool vintage canisters, a canister set, vintage, that my Grandma Wright had in her kitchen, and they match my fridge and my dishwasher.

Jennifer Rothschild: Are they metal or are they --

K.C. Wright: They're metal. They're silver and metal.

Jennifer Rothschild: The silver-ish ones with the black knobs?

K.C. Wright: Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: I have those, K.C. Of course I do. We were separated at birth.

K.C. Wright: Oh, we were separated.

Jennifer Rothschild: My great aunt had them and I inherited them. I love them. I still use them.

K.C. Wright: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I got those, too, from her today.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay, that's so fun.

K.C. Wright: But that's my story about my problem with Facebook Marketplace.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay. Well, that problem turned out well.

K.C. Wright: Well, yeah, because, I mean, hello, we're the 4:13 family.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah.

K.C. Wright: And when we get to meet you, that means everything to us --

Jennifer Rothschild: It really does.

K.C. Wright: -- and so that's why we're here.

Jennifer Rothschild: I just want to know this woman who had Spurgeon bobbleheads. I mean, that's my kind of woman.

K.C. Wright: Do you want one of them?

Jennifer Rothschild: No.

K.C. Wright: I have two. Okay.

Jennifer Rothschild: No, you find someone else who would -- like a pastor. Now, I do love Spurgeon. But do I -- well, maybe I do want a bobblehead. Can you imagine Charles Spurgeon --

K.C. Wright: They're in my Jeep.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- if someone said, "You know, in 200 years, Charlie, there's going to be bobbleheads --

K.C. Wright: Oh, yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- made of your face." Okay, maybe there'll be bobbleheads made of you someday, K.C.

K.C. Wright: Maybe.

Jennifer Rothschild: All right.

K.C. Wright: Well, actually, you can get online and have that done. Or you know what? Maybe a 4:13er will do that for us.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, my gosh, that would be hilar- -- would you please get one for K.C. so that I can haunt him every day of his life?

K.C. Wright: And Jennifer. Yeah.

Jennifer Rothschild: I can put a K.C. in my office. He'd be sitting, bobbling on my desk. He brings me joy, so that'd be okay.

All right. Speaking of bringing joy, Nancy Gavilanes brings us joy.

K.C. Wright: Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: So let's introduce our girl.

K.C. Wright: Nancy Gavilanes is a writer, communicator, and Bible school instructor. She has a master's degree in journalism from New York University and has written for various publications including "The New York Times," "Our Daily Bread" -- which I love that, by the way -- "Spirit-Led Woman," and "Charisma."

All right, let's listen in on Jennifer and Nancy.

Jennifer Rothschild: All right, Nancy, I love to start with your title because your title is "God-Given Dreams." So I wanted to start there because we all have dreams. And so how do we know if they are God-given and they reflect his purpose for our lives or they're just our own little fancy?

Nancy Gavilanes: Great question. And it does take some time and some prayer to make that distinction. But just as an example -- so growing up, we all have childish dreams, right? We want to grow up to, I don't know, be an astronaut or a movie star or a celebrity. And sometimes those dreams stick with us, but sometimes we outgrow them. And also, sometimes we have plans and we say, well, we want to do X, Y, and Z and we want to do this for God. But I've learned over the years that first we need to start with prayer and asking God what he wants us to do with the gifts that he's given us.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. Because if God really is the author of our story, we do want to know what the author has in mind.

Nancy Gavilanes: Exactly.

Jennifer Rothschild: And so in your book, I think you give us a great way to begin to discern and to discover this. And I know there's some people listening who are like, okay, great, tell me. 'Cause I got dreams and I want to know, you know, is this God's dreams for me? And so I love that you make this so simple. You give us six transformative truths. And by the way, 4:13ers, they all start with the letter C, which got to love some good alliteration. Thank you very much, Nancy. And so I think as we talk through this, this is going to help us kind of understand our purpose and maybe align our dreams with that purpose.

So let's start with the very first one, which is -- it might seem obvious -- we are created. So why does that matter?

Nancy Gavilanes: It matters so much because we need to know that God created us with his extravagant love. He loves us. No matter what we do, he knows us, flaws and all, our past, present, and future. And God created us, he delights in us, and he loves us. And we just need to have that as our foundation, that we're created by God with his amazing and extravagant love.

Jennifer Rothschild: I love that because -- you know, Nancy, I was in China many years ago, and it was very dark. And this is nothing against the Chinese people, but I felt a darkness there. And I realized, you know, especially with some of their -- many years ago, especially their human life policies, they don't have a sense -- because of atheism -- of being a created being, and so, therefore, their lives really have no value except for their utility, what they can accomplish. And so I love that you're starting with this, that we are created by God. Because if we're not, like, what kind of purpose do we even have? And then our dreams, of course, are going to be for our own survival and success, not based on anything deeper, so -- okay, that's really good. So we are created.

And then you also talk about, then, that we are called. So what does that mean?

Nancy Gavilanes: Yes. So we are called to honor God. And so again -- because early on in my life, I was just kind of running around and chasing after my goals and my dreams. And I've learned that first we just need to be serving God and loving him and worshiping him, and so we are called to honor God with our gifts, with our talents, with our abilities. And so it's a reminder that we're created by God with love and that we're called to honor him in all areas of our lives.

Jennifer Rothschild: It makes sense, too, because when you really grasp that you are created with love, why wouldn't you then want to honor God? Why wouldn't you want to recognize, yeah, I'm called to do this. That's so good.

Okay, third one. We are chosen. Now, there are some people listening right now who are thinking, well, not me. I can understand that I'm created and, therefore, I am called to honor God. But chosen? Okay. Explain why that is true.

Nancy Gavilanes: Yes. It's so important to know that we're chosen by God to bear fruit. So he has good works for us to do. We don't earn them; we don't even deserve them. It was God who called us to him and also to do the good works, to bear good fruit for his kingdom, for his purposes, for his glory.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay. So what I'm liking here that I'm hearing is this is not an egocentric, a Jennifer-centric, a Nancy-centric way of life. I mean, it's really -- you're showing us how very God-centered it is. And so being called to bear that fruit, that fruit then just blesses us and it blesses others. All right?

Nancy Gavilanes: Yes. And also just the idea that God chose us. I think many times people feel like they're left out or invisible or have been misunderstood or underestimated. But God chose us.

Jennifer Rothschild: And it's interesting because someone listening might think, well, God chose Nancy to be on a podcast and to write a book, but God didn't choose me to do anything. And so what would you say to that person?

Nancy Gavilanes: I would say that that person should look at their lives and see that he chose the times and places where you would be born. He chose your family, he chose your community. He knows and he has entrusted you. So I would just suggest to her to look around to see who she's seeing one-on-one in her life, in her family, in her community. God chose her for such a time as this.

Jennifer Rothschild: Good word.

All right. Number four, we are conformed. Now, I want to know what you base this on, and how does it impact us and our sense of purpose?

Nancy Gavilanes: Yes. So we are conformed to the image of Christ, and so God is working on us. We're his beautiful masterpiece, so he loves us, but he's also conforming us into the image of Christ. And that's his main purpose. And so we may be focused on success and reaching that goal, that opportunity. God is more important with our heart and what's going on in our inner person, and so he's conforming us. And so that obstacle we're facing, that challenge we're having in our family or in our workplace, whatever it is, God is using all of that together to conform us into the image of Christ.

Jennifer Rothschild: And there is no greater satisfaction, you know, because our success really never satisfies us, our selfishness never satisfies us. But being transformed to the image of Christ, there's so much freedom there being conformed to his image.

Okay, let's just review for our listeners, because I love learning this stuff and I want us to be able to recite it. Okay, so we are created by God. What's the second one? We're called, I think you said. Then we're chosen. Okay, I'm trying very hard here. That was number three, we're chosen. And then we're conformed. All right. Got it, listeners? We got it.

All right, let's move on. All right, number five. Okay. I love this one. We are clothed. Okay, that is really good news, considering the alternative. But I know you're talking spiritually.

Nancy Gavilanes: Yes. Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: So tell us what this means.

Nancy Gavilanes: Yes. So we are clothed with purpose. And so when we read our Bibles, we read about the armor of God. We are sent into battle, but not alone. We have his armor and we have his Word as our sword, and the shield of faith. And if you go through -- it's just so encouraging to know that we have God's armor. So he is with us, he's fighting for us, and he's also strengthened us.

But there's also other layers of clothing that we have, including that we're clothed as a bride and we're clothed in Christ. And so when God sees us, he doesn't even just see -- as he sees his son Jesus. And so we are wrapped up in God's arms and love and we have our divine garments that we can wear.

Jennifer Rothschild: That's good news. That is good news. Because some days we don't feel all of the wonderful feelings we'd like to feel because of our faith, but to recognize we are clothed and that when God looks at us, he sees the beauty and perfection of Christ because we are clothed in Christ. And you're right, in those garments of beauty. And you know what? If you're ever feeling bad, too, you can cloth yourself in the garment spirit of praise, right?

Nancy Gavilanes: That's right. That's right.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, it's -- remove that spirit of heaviness.

Okay, the last one -- and by the way, this will be our last question -- we are commissioned. Okay. So that's not something that maybe some of us feel applies to us. Like, we feel like, oh, no, that's just for the missionaries or the pastors or those in full-time ministry. They're commissioned, but I'm not. So tell us what that looks like in a very practical way, and then kind of end us up with telling us how we can then in a very practical way begin to live out these six truths so they really do transform our lives. So what does it mean to be commissioned, and why are all of us commissioned?

Nancy Gavilanes: Yes. We're all commissioned as God's daughters, his beloved and blessed and beautiful daughters, to shine and soar. So we are to shine for Christ wherever he has placed us, in whatever life stage we find ourselves, in whatever neighborhood or situation, we can shine for Christ right there, and we're commissioned to soar. And so that gift -- whatever gift that is, if you're gifted with words, with numbers, with music, with talent, whatever area of interest that you have, you can shine and soar and use that for the glory of God.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. Because it's not about us, yeah. So we're all commissioned. You know, when I hear that word "commissioned," I think of, like, Isaiah. You know, he was commissioned after the Lord really. He had that experience with God -- I think it was Isaiah 6. He had that experience with God where God purified him. And then he said, "Now who's going to go for us?" And he said, "Send me." And so that's us. When we have really recognized that we're created and called and chosen and conformed and clothed, then, yeah, our response is, Yeah, I'm going to go, Lord. Here I am. Send me into my workplace, into the grocery store, whatever stage you want me to shine and soar. So good, good word.

Okay. So, Nancy -- now tell me then, as our last question here, how do these six truths -- well, how do we apply them, one, and then how does the application of those truths really transform our lives and help align our sense of dreams with God's purpose for us?

Nancy Gavilanes: Yes. Well, I want to encourage your listeners to continue to abide in Christ. It all starts right there, having a vibrant relationship with Jesus. So praying and worshiping, reading the Bible. Just staying connected to the vine. Because as he says, he is the vine, we're the branches, and apart from him we can do nothing of lasting value. So again, as I look at my life early on in my journalism career, I was reaching a lot of goals, but they were all my goals. And so I was writing for different publications and doing different things, but I had put God on a shelf and I had grown really far from the Lord.

And so I want to encourage your listeners to start right there, to abide in Christ. And as your podcast reminds us, that with Christ we can do all things because he strengthens us. And so whatever dreams God has placed in your listeners' hearts, I want them to pray and listen and then follow and obey God's promptings. So whatever it is that she's hearing, maybe it's to make that phone call, to do that research, to apply for that job, to send that email, whatever that looks like, I just want to encourage her to pray and then go ahead and obey.

K.C. Wright: I am always up for a good alliteration.

Jennifer Rothschild: I know, right? I love that.

K.C. Wright: Six C's make it easy to remember. But if you've already forgotten one of the C's, no problem; you can get Nancy's book. In fact, we're giving one away on Jennifer's Instagram @jennrothschild. So go there to enter to win.

And, of course, as always, our team here works so hard to make sure you have an easy-to-read transcript of this entire conversation. So you can also go to the Show Notes right now at 413podcast.com/318 to read the transcript and get connected to the book we're giving away on Instagram.

Well, sadly, we don't want to let you go, but another episode is a wrap, and we hope you have a great week ahead. And we're so sincerely thankful you chose to hang out with us today. So many other options, and you spent, like, 30 minutes here, so thank you. Until next week, remember that no matter how you feel or what you face, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. I can.

Jennifer Rothschild: I can.

Jennifer and K.C.: And you can.

Jennifer Rothschild: Mm-hmm. All right, I'm going to give you a Charles Spurgeon quote that I use in one of my messages. Okay? Here we go. "All of God's blessings go together like links in a golden chain. If he gives converting grace, then he will also give comforting grace."

K.C. Wright: Ooh.

Jennifer Rothschild: Imagine that when you look at your bobbleheads.

K.C. Wright: Wow. So good.