Reserved Assignments: Part 1: Step into the Place God Saved for You

0:12 Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast with your host, Connie Morris, where healing has a voice and truth is no longer silent. Father God, like Jabez, we cry out that thou would bless us indeed. Bless every woman listening beyond trauma, beyond limits, beyond what she thought was possible. Enlarge her territory. Expand her purpose. Let your hand be upon this moment. Saturate every word with oil and truth. break cycles, cancel every curse sent to silence her. This isn't just a podcast. This is holy ground. In Jesus' name, amen.

0:53 Welcome back to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast. Starting a new series. It's titled, Reserved Assignments, Be the Light. I'm your host, Connie Morris. Today's episode is one that's going to really hit home for a lot of us. It is titled, Reserve Assignments, be the light. Some doors don't open right away. Some positions stay hidden. Unfilled, and even avoided. But what I've learned is that these are often the very assignments that God has reserved for you, what he has reserved for me. You go out and you're just standing around looking for a new position, new way to transition, and you then search the same website that you go hundred for your jobs on and you never ever saw it until boom, it shows up. You're like, wait a minute.

1:46 I've been on this website for a while. I've never seen this position because that position was hidden. It was reserved just for you. They're not delayed by coincidence. I found this position has been open since July. They can't find anyone to fill it. There's two positions out there. They can't find anyone to fill it. I call those God's reserve assignments. So be on the lookout in this season for positions that are going to pop out. They close real quickly. They pop open. They show up. And then if you don't take it, it just seems like they disappear. Or you're searching a site and you'll say, is this a real position?

2:27 It's hitting the right pay scale. It's hitting all my skills. You know why? Because God has been waiting. Heaven has been waiting for the right person to step forward. Who is that right person? That right person is someone who's prepared in prayer. Is that you? Someone who's been tested in the quiet. Is that you? And willing to shine under pressure. And what that means is that it's going to be challenging, but guess who? You're not doing it alone. The Holy Spirit is going to be with you. He's going to give you the wisdom, the knowledge, the understanding to be the light in that space. Matthew 5.11 says, Now that I put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand, shine.

3:11 Keep open house. Be generous with your lives. Be opening up to others. You'll prompt people to open up with God. God wants us to be the light that shines so that people will see his glory and glorify him in heaven. That's our job. Our job is to be the light, the light that shines so that we, even in our workplace, can lead people to Jesus. So recently I had this dream that brought this home for me. In that dream, there was a lot of tension everywhere. There was fighting and jealousy and resistance. I didn't quite understand. It was just a lot of drama in the dream.

3:51 I didn't know what part I played. I'm sitting there like, why is everybody mad? Why is it so tense in here? But right in the middle of it, God showed me something powerful. He showed me that I wasn't fighting alone. Even though in the dream, it felt like, what is going on? Why is everybody mad at me? Why is this tension? And familiar faces showed up in my dream. But what he showed me was this chaos was confirmation. It was proof that I was standing in a reserve assignment. And God whispered this, when I reserve an assignment, I'll fight for you. So when God leads you to a place that's going to take you out of your comfort zone, you got to always remember that God is the one that chose you.

4:35 He's the one that goes before you. And he is the one that will fight for you. Need not be afraid, right? You do not have to be afraid because God is with you. We're going to cover some characters who had to step out of their comfort zone from a reserved assignment and we see how God will show up for them. And that's the same way that he will show up for us. So perhaps you're listening today and have felt that same pressure. Maybe you're in a space where you've been overlooked, resisted, or even criticized for stepping up. But I want to remind you, the battle doesn't mean you're in the wrong place. It means your light has purpose.

5:17 When God reserves an assignment for you, He doesn't just hand you a position. He gives you a platform to shine. So let's be real here. Stepping into leadership, ministry, or community, or any position, community work, isn't always glamorous. Sometimes it's messy. Sometimes it's lonely. And sometimes it's filled with opposition. But here's the truth. You were built for it. That pressure is proof of purpose. It says because if the enemy is fighting this hard to stop you, it's because heaven has already signed on your success. Isn't that something? Once we see it and we go and we move in faith, it's already done in the spirit world.

6:04 God has already made a place for you. Let's look at Jeremiah 1.5. It said, it reads, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart. That means God already factored in your weakness, your doubts, and your struggles. And he still said, I choose you. So when jealousy rises or when pressure feels heavy, remember, you're not carrying your own light. You're carrying his. I learned this firsthand. When God placed me in leadership in a space that was chaotic and divided, I didn't realize he was using it to prepare me for even a greater assignment that would touch systems, policy, and people. You see, your small assignment, that office, that classroom, that project nobody wanted, it might actually be the training ground for your destiny.

6:56 God tests us in the small so he can trust us with more. Look at David. Before he became king, he was in the field fighting lions and bears when no one was watching. Look at Esther. Her reserve assignment was in a palace. She didn't asked for. Look at Deborah, a woman leading men in battle because no one else will step forward. And Nehemiah building walls that others said could never be built. Every single one of them started in resistance, but they finished in victory. So today I want to speak to you, the women, the women, the women who've been praying, waiting and wondering if your time will ever come.

7:38 Hear me, your assignment is not random, it's reserved. So don't let jealousy stop you. Don't let fear, silence stop you. Don't let discouragement make you quit too early because what God reserves, no man, no system, no critic can take away. Maybe your reserved place is a job you didn't expect to love. Maybe it's leadership role in your community. Maybe it's parenting, caregiving or mentoring someone who reminds you of yourself years ago. Wherever it is, shine. Because your light isn't meant to make you famous. It's meant to make God visible. So let's close out with this decree. I am chosen and set apart for God's reserved assignment.

8:24 I will not fear tension or jealousy. God's light shines through me and no one can extinguish what he has ordained. You've been listening to Diary of a Black Woman podcast with your host, Connie Morris. If today's message spoke to you, share with a sister, co-worker, or someone who's in the middle of their own assignment. And remember, the light was never yours alone. It's God's light shining through you. Keep shining, keep standing, and keep walking in your reserved place. And I'll see you for episode one. It's titled, Be the Light. And also remember that you can get a copy of this devotional on my website at Diary of a Black Woman, and there's other free resources for you to keep growing in Christ.

9:15 So I'll see you in episode one. Bye. Thank you for listening to this episode. And before we close out, I want to speak a word of promise over you from Jeremiah 29, 11 through 14. Father God, you declared, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. So today we receive that truth. You said when we call on you, you will listen. So we pray. You said that when we seek you with our hearts, you will be found. So we pursue. You said you will restore us from captivity.

9:55 So we declare freedom over every place where our listeners feel stuck, silenced, or small. Thank you for always drawing near when we show up in faith. In Jesus' name, amen.