#29: What Your Life Actually Looks Like When You're Walking in Your Assignment

Not the highlight reel. The real picture. In the final episode of the Called to This series, April Nova Scipio closes out July by painting an honest, grounded, hope-filled portrait of what your everyday life looks like when you are walking in what God called you to.

This is not a vision of a perfect life. It's a picture of a purposeful one — where you know why you're doing what you're doing, where God shows up in the specific details, where the tired feels different, and where the fruit that grows is the kind that actually lasts. Drawing from Psalm 37:23-24, Galatians 6:9, and John 15:16 NLT, April speaks directly to the Christian woman who is on the edge of her yes — and needs to see what's on the other side before she takes the step.

In this episode you'll learn:
 — What specifically changes when you step into your God-given assignment
 — Why walking in your calling doesn't mean life gets easy — but why it's still worth it
 — The difference between productive fruit and lasting fruit
 — How to write your calling in one sentence
 — Three practical steps to carry what God confirmed this month into August

This episode is the culmination of four weeks of honest conversation about calling, obedience, and assignment. Come ready to receive.

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The novaCo Podcast is hosted by April Nova Scipio — Christian mentor, author, speaker, and YouVersion Devotion Creator. New episodes every Monday.

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🎸 Intro music produced by Cory Valjien. https://spotify.link/Ot87eEITRDb

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I want you to picture something. A Tuesday morning, the kids are handled, or if the house is quiet, you sit down with your Bible, your journal, your tea or coffee. And before you open any of it, you just sit for a second. And in that second, you know exactly why you're doing what you're doing. And that knowing changes everything. That's what today is about. Not the highlight reel, not the Instagram version, the real everyday Tuesday morning version of what your life looks like when you are walking in your assignment. That's where we're going today. And it's my favorite episode of this whole series. Let's jump in. And today, today, we are in the best spot in this whole series. This is week four of Called to This. And I want to take a second to acknowledge what God has done in our hearts this month. The first week, we talked about the difference between what you could do and what you're called to. We talked about how capability is not the compass. Week two, we got real about why we keep saying yes to the wrong things. We named the root causes: people pleasing, confusing gifts with assignment, using the wrong yes to avoid the right one. And then week three, last week, we talked about the obedience you've been avoiding, the step you already know about. We talked about how to break that down into something you can actually do. And today, today is the payoff. Today I'm unpacking what your life actually looks like when you're walking in your assignment. Not the polished version, the real one. Let's pray before we jump into this. Heavenly Father, I just pray for every single woman that's listening to this today. I thank you for them, Lord. I thank you whether they are joining for the first episode in the series or they've been with me all month long. God, I ask that something that is shared in this episode speaks directly to their hearts. And I pray a peace over them. God, I pray for those women who are right on the edge of their yes. Father, I just pray for clarity and for courage for them today. In Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, let's get into this. Here is the thing: when people talk about walking in your calling, they tend to paint a very particular picture. Everything flows, doors open, resources come, the path is clear, people support you. It just all makes sense. And I want to tell you some of that is real, some of it, but that's not the whole picture. And I don't want you chasing a highlight real version of your assignment and missing what God is actually building. So today I want to give you the real picture. What actually changes, what doesn't change, and what grows. Here's what actually changes when you are walking in your assignment. The first thing that changes is you know why you're doing what you're doing. Not in a vague, inspirational way, but in a specific, settled, this is mine kind of way. There is a woman I know who spent years doing meaningful work that had nothing to do with her calling. She showed up, she served, she gave, and she was good at it. But she always felt a little like she was wearing someone else's clothes, like the fit was off, and she couldn't quite figure out why. And then she said yes to the thing she was actually called to. And almost immediately she said to me, It's not easier, but I know why I'm doing it now. And that changes everything. You see, that is real. That is one of the most significant things that shifts. You find out you can do hard things when you know they are yours to do. I love what Psalm 3723 says. In the New Living, it reads, The Lord directs the steps of the godly, he delights in every detail of their lives. Did you catch that? He delights in every detail, not just the big moments, but every detail. The Tuesday morning, the planning meeting, the email that didn't get answered, the season when nothing visible is happening yet. He is present and delighted by every detail of our lives. And look at the next verse, verse 24. It says, Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. Even when you stumble in your assignment and you will stumble, he holds you by the hand. I don't know about you, but I'm so grateful for that. I'm so grateful that as I walk out my God assignment, I know that God's got me. The second thing that changes when you are truly walking in your assignment is that you get tired differently. This one took me a little while to understand. I used to think that walking in my calling would mean not getting tired. And that is not true. I get tired. I have seasons where I'm stretched and depleted and wondering what comes next. But the tired is different. Before, when I was doing everything I could do, I was tired in a way that felt like emptying, like pouring out of a container that was getting smaller. But now I get tired from work that is producing something. It's work I'm called to. And it's the difference between carrying something that's not yours and carrying something that is, right? Both are heavy, but man, when you do what you're called to do, you recognize that it has purpose in the weight, the the W-E-I-G-H-T, right? The weight of something has purpose when you know you're called to something. The third thing that changes, and this is one I really want you to sit with. God starts showing up in specific ways, not general, but very specific ways. You reach the edge of what you can do in your own strength, and you find out he was already there. You need a door to open, it opens. You need a word from someone or for someone, it comes. You need provision and it arrives. Not always when you want it, but exactly when you need it. That is what it looks like to carry your actual assignment where the grace is available for the specific thing he asked you to do. Okay, now let's talk about what doesn't change. I want you to step into your assignment with your eyes open, not scared, but clear. Your assignment, it doesn't come with an exemption from hard seasons. Walking in your calling doesn't mean the path is always smooth. It doesn't mean the relationships are always easy. It doesn't mean the money always makes sense on paper. It doesn't mean you won't have days where you look at what you're building and wonder if any of it is working. I have those days. I have Tuesdays where I question everything, where the gap between where I am and where I'm called to feels so big. Where I wonder if I'm doing enough, moving fast enough, building the right things. And then I go back to the thing I know, the two words God gave me be available. And I remember that the assignment was never mine to manufacture, but it is mine to steward. The doubt doesn't go away, but the doubt stops being the final say, the final word. Before I was walking in my calling, doubt could shut me down completely. It could make me stop, rethink everything, pull back. But now doubt visits, it has something to say, but then I hold it up against what God has spoken, against what He's already confirmed, against the fruit that's already starting to show up. And doubt doesn't get the last word anymore. Your assignment also doesn't come with permanent certainty about the path ahead. God almost never shows us the whole staircase, He shows us the next step. And part of walking in your assignment is learning to be okay with that. Learning to trust the one who does see the whole thing, even when you can't. Here's what I know Galatians chapter 6, verse 9. It says, so let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. At just the right time, not our time, his time. And in the middle, in the gap between planting and harvest, we keep doing what is good. We keep showing up. We keep being faithful to the thing he gave us to steward. That is the real picture. It requires patience, it requires trust, it requires a willingness to keep going, even when you can't see everything that's growing underground. And I promise you, when the harvest comes, it is so, so worth it. Now I want to talk about fruit because this is what I think we miss. We talk a lot about our assignments in terms of what we're going to produce, the book we're going to write, the ministry we're going to build, the women we're going to reach, the community we're going to create. And those things matter. They are real. But the fruit of your assignment isn't just what you produce, it's who you become in the producing. I am not the same woman I was before I became an entrepreneur, before Novico. And I don't mean that in a branding sense. I mean in my spirit, in my ability to hear God, in my understanding of what I'm made for, in my capacity to pour out, because I'm pouring from the right source. Walking in your assignment, it changes you, it sanctifies you, it stretches you in ways that nothing else does. And the woman who comes out on the other side of faithful obedience to her specific calling, she is different, more rooted, more clear, more free. Jesus tells us in John 15, verse 16, he says, You didn't choose me, I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for using my name. Not impressive fruit, not fruit that gets a lot of attention, fruit that lasts. I know we've we've talked about fruit before on a previous episode, and it's worth saying it again. The fruit that last, when I think, when I look at my own life, the fruit that that last is almost never fruit I was tracking. It's the woman who messaged me two months after a podcast episode saying something shifted. It's the Nova Circle member who took a step she'd been putting off for three years. It's the girl who attended my retreat, who came in carrying questions and left knowing her next step. That fruit, I don't manufacture that. That grows because I'm doing what I was called to do. And it lasts in ways I will never fully see on this side of eternity. That is what your assignment produces when you walk in it faithfully, not just to output, lasting fruit. And it is so, so worth it. So, how can we apply this in our lives? We're closing out a whole month of this series. And so today's application, I'm gonna give you a little bit of a bigger application. I'm gonna stretch you just a little bit. There are three things that I want you to actually do. Not just give me that yes, yes, yes. I want you to take that yes and put some action behind it. Okay. The first thing I want you to do is write your calling in one sentence. Not a paragraph, one sentence. Something like, I'm called to help Christian women build faith rhythms and walk boldly in their God-given assignment. Okay, that's my sentence. I want you to think about yours, pray about yours, write it down. And if you're not sure yet, that's okay. Write down what you sense, write down what keeps coming back, write down what you cannot seem to stop moving toward, even when you try. Just start there. The second thing I want you to do is look back at this month and ask yourself what became clearer, not what got resolved, not what changed overnight, what got a little clearer. Because clarity comes in layers, and even one layer of clarity is something to celebrate and hold on to. The third thing, identify your next step, not the whole plan, the next step, the smallest faithful movement you can make toward the thing you know you're called to. What is it? Can you name it? Can you break it into two steps if it feels too big? What can you do this week? Those are your three things. Write your calling in one sentence, name what got clearer, and take your next step. We talked about the difference between could and called. We talked about why we keep saying yes to the wrong things. We talked about the specific obedience we've been avoiding. And today we we talked about what it actually looks like on the other side. Here's what I want to leave you with. God has not hidden your calling from you, He placed it in you, He has been faithful to confirm it, He has been patient through every season of circling and delay and almost. And He is still inviting you, not in frustration, not in disappointment, but in love, with full knowledge of what is on the other side of your yes, and wanting, genuinely wanting for you to get there. The question this month was, what are you called to? And my prayer is that it's a little clearer today than it was on July 1st. Two things before I let you go. If this month has stirred something in you and you want to keep going in community with women who are doing this exact work together, I want you to consider joining Nova Circle. It's my mentorship community. We meet weekly, we have real accountability, real conversations, it's real mentorship. And this is this is a circle of women who are serious about their assignment. So if you want more information about that, the link is in the show notes of this episode. And if something deeper has been stirred and you've been sensing all month long that you need actual time away, where you can step away from everything, step into a space where you can abide with God and get clear on your next step, then Nova Retreat is for you. It's September 4th through the 6th, right outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's all inclusive, intentional. Um, it's very small on purpose. And I'm telling you, it will be one of the most transformational things that you can do this year. You can reserve your spot with a deposit by clicking on the link in the show notes of this episode. Let's close in prayer. I want to pray for you, over you. I know God is doing something in our hearts, and it is so exciting. Dear God, thank you so much for trusting us with our assignments. I pray for every woman who is listening, God. I pray that you give her clarity about her calling as she sits down to write it down in one sentence in her journal. God, I pray that you give her language. I pray for the courage to take the next step. God, I ask that you make the fruit of her obedience last beyond what she can see right now. I thank you that your plans and purposes for all of us are so good, Lord, and we desire to experience every single one of them. Continue to lead us and guide us in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, guys. Thank you so much for a month of real conversation. This series has really meant a lot to me. It's meant a lot to me to build, and I hope it meant something to you to receive it. Go walk in what you're called to. And I can't wait to hang out with you in Nova Circle and at the retreat. I'll see you on the podcast next week. This is April Nova Scipio, and this is how we live faith first rhythm always. Be blessed. Love you guys.