Do you ever feel like God can’t use you? Maybe it’s your past that makes you think this. Perhaps you have some huge flaw in your personality and you think that God can’t use you. If you doubt that God can use you, you’re not alone. Moses did the same thing in today’s verse.

But Moses said to the LORD, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?” – Exodus 6:30 (NIV)

Moses asks God why. He’s like I don’t speak well, so why would you use me to talk to Pharoah.

I feel like it’s really easy to doubt that God can use us. When we look at ourselves, we can find so many shortcomings and faults. But here’s the thing, God isn’t looking at our faults. He’s looking at our potential. He can see our potential if we’ll be willing to say yes to what He asks us to do.

If you team up with God, you’ll be unstoppable. So instead of focusing on your faults, focus on God’s ability. And most importantly, don’t doubt God’s ability to use you. Yes, you’re not perfect, but if you’re willing to say yes to God, He can use you.

So today encourage yourself. God can use you. Don’t doubt that fact. God can use you, and He wants to. It’s just up to you to believe that and to say yes to whatever He asks you to do.

Pray: God, I thank you that you want to use me. I determine today to say yes to whatever you ask me to do. I want to be used for you in whatever way you want to use me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

This week we’re going to be talking about difficult situations. How should we as Christians respond to difficulty? What do we do when we’re faced with a situation that is really difficult to handle? This week, we’re going to look at the book of Exodus a little and see some things we can learn from Moses and the children of Israel about difficulty.

And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” – Exodus 3:12 (NIV)

in this passage, we see that God gave Moses a word from Him. Why did He do this? Probably because God knew that Moses would need some encouragement along the way. God knew that what He was calling Moses to do wasn’t easy. So God gave him a promise that one day when Moses brought the people out of Egypt, he would worship God on that mountain.

To stay encouraged in the difficult season that Moses was about to go through, God gave Him a word from Him.

Now, you might think, but wait, God hasn’t spoken to me. He hasn’t shown up in a burning bush and told me what I needed to do and what I needed to hear. And you’re probably right. I bet God hasn’t shown up in fire in your backyard. However, you do have a word from God. It’s the Bible. God has given it to you to help encourage you in difficulty. So it’s up to you to get into the Bible and find a word in there from God that will encourage you in the midst of what you’re facing.

Then you’ve got to hold on to that word. You need to put it on your bathroom mirror. Make it the lock screen of your phone. Do whatever it is that you need to do to remind yourself of that word from God. It will help you stay encouraged in the midst of difficulty. Like Moses, you have a word from God. So keep it in front of you to help you stay encouraged daily.

Pray: God, I ask for your help. I’m facing a difficult situation right now. Help me find a word from you to stay encouraged in this season. I purpose to draw close to you in this season. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, – Ephesians 1:18

We’ve been talking about discovering your purpose for two weeks, but it’s easy to still feel like you don’t know what your purpose is. That’s ok. Honestly, it is! Discovering purpose is a process and it’s not going to happen in two weeks.

In your journey to discover your purpose, be patient and let God help lead and guide you.

Explore Interests

Find some things you’re interested in. Take a cooking class. Sign up for drum lessons. Explore your interests. As you do, you’ll discover some things you like and others you don’t.

Try things. Be willing to make mistakes. As you explore your interests, you’ll start on a path to discover your purpose.

Talk About Strengths

When you find an area of strength in your life, talk about it. Speak to your parents and close friends and see what they think. Ask them if they too think it’s a strength.

Discover strengths and you are one step closer to discovering your purpose. Cultivate those strengths and as you do, you’ll be surprised at the growth that will happen.

Develop Your Relationship With God

As you get to know God, He will show you the steps to take in your life. Every time you pray, thank God for helping you discover your purpose. Thank Him that the right friends and advisors are coming into your life.

Ask Him to show you the next step to take. As you seek God more and more you desire His plan and purpose for your life.

Be Realistic

Be realistic about who you are and what you can accomplish. You might not be amazing at baseball. So don’t try to join the major leagues. Instead, be realistic and honest about your strengths and weaknesses.

Don’t be upset because you’re not like someone else. Instead, thank God for your strengths and make decisions about your purpose that line up with your strengths.

Your journey to finding your purpose will take some time, but with God’s help, you can do it!

 If you enjoyed today’s devotion and want to follow along with a PDF version, you can download our 10-day purpose planner. It’s full of devotions to help you discover your God-given purpose.

Check out these devotions to help you discover purpose

1. Day 6 – Fulfilling Your Purpose Takes Grit
   In life, there are going to be circumstances and situations that come against you that will cause you to doubt your purpose. To accomplish the plans God has for your life will require you to stand firm in your purpose.
2. Day 7 – Purpose is Best Grown In Community
   If you want to grow and discover your purpose, one of the best ways to do it is to find a good church community.
3. Day 8 – Purpose Can Be Cultivated
   If you want to be good at something, you’ve got to cultivate it. The same is true with your purpose. If you’re going to really be good at something or achieve something you’ve got to cultivate it.
4. Day 9 – Purpose is Powerful
   As you get to know God better and spend time in the Bible, your desires begin to line up with His. Time reading the Bible and praying is never wasted. The more time you spend with God, the more He begins to reveal your purpose.
5. Day 10 – Discovering Purpose is a Process
   Discovering purpose is a process and it’s not going to happen in two weeks. In your journey to discover your purpose, be patient and let God help lead and guide you.

My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words – Proverbs 4:20 (NLT)

Have you ever been guilty of not paying attention? Maybe your mom was talking to you, but you tuned her out and were thinking about how after dinner you got to go play Fortnite. And even though you didn’t really mean to, you missed most of what she was saying because you mind was focused on something else.

It’s really easy to do the same thing to God. Perhaps you have heard the Bible verse being preached at church hundreds of times and so you sort of zone out. Or maybe you know what the Bible says to do, but you don’t really want to do it because it’s hard so you try not to think about it.

Paying attention to God’s word takes work. It takes a focused effort on your behalf, especially because there are so many things calling for your attention. Focusing on God’s word is really worth it. Many of the answers you need can be found in prayer and study of the Bible. If you need wisdom on how to deal with a difficult person, the Bible has your answer. So instead of turning out those old verses that you’ve heard millions of times, try instead asking God to make it fresh and new to you. Ask Him to show you something new that you haven’t seen in the verse. Or ask Him for wisdom on how to apply what you’re reading to your life.

If you pay attention to God’s word, you’ll see good results in your life. So put in the effort that it takes to spend time in the Bible.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. – 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)

God wants you to live a life free from worry. But that’s a lot harder to do than you might think. It’s really easy to want to take the concerns of life on yourself. Maybe you’re stressed about getting into the right college. Or you’re worried that your mom might get mad at you if you tell her how you did on your math final.

It’s so easy to take the worries and cares of life on yourself. When you do that, you make yourself unhappy and stressed out. You weren’t built to handle the stress of life on your own. It’s something that you weren’t made to carry.

So take those things that concern you to God every day. Let Him help you carry your concerns and worries. Put those things on Him and let Him deal with them. You aren’t built to carry them and you don’t need to. So put your trust in God and know that He is fighting for you. Do your best and trust God to do the rest!

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.- Romans 12:11 (NLT)

Don’t you wish you could just get good at something? Take playing an instrument for example. Don’t you wish you could just pick up some drumsticks and automatically be good enough to play for an awesome band? The frustrating thing about most things in life is that you’ve got to work at them.

If you want to be good at something, you’ve got to cultivate it.

The same is true with your purpose. If you’re going to really be good at something or achieve something you’ve got to cultivate it.

Today’s Takeaway: Purpose Can Be Cultivated

If you want to get better at something you’ve got to cultivate it. It might be reading books about your interests or watching tons of YouTube videos. It might be going and taking lessons.

The key is that to get good at something it just doesn’t happen automatically. You’ve got to work it.

Today’s Challenge: How Will You Cultivate Your Purpose?

What are you going to do today to cultivate your purpose? What are some practical ways you can get better at the dream God has put into your heart? Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

 Want help discovering purpose? Check out the 10-day purpose planner. It’s full of devotions to help you discover your God-given purpose.

He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. – Psalm 103:12 (NLT)

When Jesus was on the cross, he was removing our sins. The Bible says in today’s verse that He removed them as far as the east is from the west. That means your sin is no longer able to be found. Jesus removed our sins totally and completely. We are now able to go to the father as though our sin never existed.

That is good news. No longer does sin hold us back. We don’t have to feel bad or condemned. Rather, we can walk in the freedom Jesus has provided for us, knowing that we have been made right with God.

So today, you can easily feel like things aren’t going the way you’d like them to. You might feel that life hasn’t been fair or easy. But also, realize that Jesus has provided you with everything that you need. He has taken your sins away. So far away that they can’t be found anymore. So don’t get discouraged. Yes, life isn’t perfect, but the good news is that Jesus has done the thing that really matters. He’s taken our sin away.

We can enjoy fellowship with God now. So regardless of how difficult things seem right now, you have something to be thankful for. You’re forgiven and your sins have been removed. Take time to thank God for that today!

And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. – Hebrews 11:9 (NLT)

Can you imagine what would have happened if Abraham in the Bible had never left his country? What would the story Israel look like if heroes like Abraham hadn’t stepped out in faith and put action to what God was telling them to do?

If you want to do something big for God, it’s going to require you to take action.

You can daydream amazing things. You can get excited about things that you’d like the future to hold for you. In fact, you can even pray about God’s play for your life, but if you don’t take action on those things, you won’t end up doing anything for God.

Today’s Take Away: Purpose Requires Action

All the heroes in the Bible that did great things for God had to do something about the things that were in their heart. They had to give action to the dreams and desires that God gave them.

Noah had to build an ark, Abraham had to move to a new country. Rahab had to put a red cord in her window. All these amazing men and women of God and they all had to do something.

So what about you? What has God put on your heart? What dreams do you want to see accomplished in your life? Think about those things and then determine to do something about them. Choose to take small steps toward them happening in your life. Determine to put action toward finding your purpose.

If you’re not sure where to start, ask God for help. He can show you what to do and where to go. Know that God desires to see you find your purpose!

 If you enjoyed today’s devotion and want to follow along with a PDF version, you can download our 10-day purpose planner. It’s full of devotions to help you discover your God-given purpose.

Other Devotions About Purpose

1. Day 1 – Your Identity Isn’t Your Purpose.
   Making decisions about your future can seem really scary sometimes. Make them easier by realizing that your purpose is not your identity. Your identity can only be found in Jesus.
2. Day 2 – Finding Purpose Takes Patience
   God leads us and tells us that our steps are ordered by Him. He doesn’t tell us that He will reveal to us the whole journey.
3. Day 3 – Finding Purpose Takes Faith
   The key is on the journey to discovering your purpose is to not lose faith. It takes faith to follow God’s plan and His leading.
4. Day 4 – Purpose Requires Action
   You can daydream amazing things. You can get excited about things that you’d like the future to hold for you. In fact, you can even pray about God’s plan for your life, but if you don’t take action on those things, you won’t end up doing anything for God.
5. Day 5 – God’s Purpose For You Is Good
   God wants good things for you. He has good things in store for your future