36. Living From Purpose Instead of Toward It: How to Stop Chasing and Start Abiding

41. When God Buries the Vision

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2520553/fan_mail/new] What do you do when the thing God gave you goes into the ground? Not stalls. Not pauses. Collapses. When the vision you carried for years ends in a way you did not choose and cannot fully explain, and you are left holding the pieces trying to determine whether what you are standing at is a burial or a death. In this episode of FaithFormed, we walk through the full arc of Joseph's journey from the pit to the prison to Pharaoh's court, not as an inspirational overview, but as a serious theological and pastoral examination of what God is actually doing in the seasons where everything appears to be falling apart. This is not a pull-yourself-up episode. This is an episode for the person who did the right thing and still ended up in chains. For the person who has been faithful in the silence and is not sure what faithfulness is supposed to feel like this deep into the wait. For the person whose two years after the cupbearer forgot them has stretched into something much longer. In this episode: Why the pit is often the enemy's response to a calling, not God's correction of a mistake. What Joseph's posture in Potiphar's house teaches us about seasons we are tempted to treat as waiting rooms. The devastating pastoral truth that obedience sometimes produces the second pit, not protection. What Psalm 105:17-19 means when it says the word of the Lord tested Joseph, and why that reframes everything. Why Joseph asking two prisoners how they are doing is one of the most theologically significant moments in the entire narrative. What it means that God meant it for good when the brothers clearly meant it for evil, and why that is not a comfortable answer but an honest one. Theologians Referenced: Walter Brueggemann (Genesis: Interpretation Commentary), James H. Cone (God of the Oppressed), Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest) Scripture: Genesis 37, 39, 40, 41, 45, 50 | Psalm 105:17-19 FaithFormed is a biblical discipleship podcast for people building a faith that holds up. Not a faith for the highlight reel. A faith for the long middle. Subscribe wherever you listen. Leave a rating and review if this episode met you somewhere real. Find more at justindbelt.com Connect with us via our Instagram: @faithformed_pod Email us any questions or comments to yourpursuitpodcast@gmail.com Order your copy of my latest book, "The Purpose in the Pause", here [https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Pause-Trusting-When-Everything/dp/B0FR4M8GNP] Learn more about me at www.justindbelt.com

40. What to Do With a Vision That Hasn’t Happened Yet

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2520553/fan_mail/new] You stopped saying it out loud. Not because you stopped believing it. Because you got tired of the look on people's faces when the evidence didn't match the declaration. In Episode 40,  we open the Vision Arc of the Formation Trilogy by naming one of the most disorienting experiences in a life of faith: carrying a God-given vision when the conditions for it have not yet arrived. Drawing from Habakkuk 2:2, 2 Corinthians 4, and theologians Howard Thurman, Esau McCaulley, and Justo Gonzalez, this episode confronts the slow, subtle habit of negotiating your calling downward until it fits inside what is currently visible, and offers three concrete postures for staying faithful to what God placed on you in the in-between. This episode is for the person who has been carrying something that has not landed yet and needs to hear that the waiting is not a mistake. It is where the formation happens. Scripture: Proverbs 29:18, Habakkuk 2:2, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Psalm 77 Voices: Esau McCaulley, Howard Thurman, Justo Gonzalez, Dallas Willard, Eugene Peterson If this episode meets you somewhere real, share it with someone who needs it. Subscribe to FaithFormed on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don't miss the rest of the Vision Arc. A review takes about a minute and helps other people find the show. Connect with us via our Instagram: @faithformed_pod Email us any questions or comments to yourpursuitpodcast@gmail.com Order your copy of my latest book, "The Purpose in the Pause", here [https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Pause-Trusting-When-Everything/dp/B0FR4M8GNP] Learn more about me at www.justindbelt.com

39. How Do I Know What God Wants Me to Do? When Calling Is Clear But the Path Is Not

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2520553/fan_mail/new] You are not waiting for God to speak. You are waiting for God to be clearer. And if you have been treating those as the same problem, it may be the reason you have been standing still longer than you needed to. You have a sense of the direction. The calling is real. But the path is obscured and you have been telling yourself you cannot move responsibly until you can see further than you currently can. This episode closes The Calling Arc with the most practical question of the three: what do you actually do when you cannot see the assignment clearly? Drawing from the burning bush conversation between God and Moses, Peter walking on water, Abraham leaving Ur not knowing where he was going, and Peter being restored by the charcoal fire,  this episode makes the case that the fog is not a stop sign. It is the condition in which faith is formed. In this episode, we discuss: * The difference between genuine confusion and fear wearing the costume of confusion — and why one requires more information and the other requires obedience * The two wrong responses to fog: paralysis and presumption — and what Moses and Peter reveal about both * Why Moses's five objections at the burning bush were never really a clarity problem — they were a fear problem * What the Greek word distazō reveals about why Peter sank on the water * Hebrews 11:8 — Abraham went out not knowing where he was going — and why the not knowing was the condition of the obedience, not a problem he overcame first * Why Psalm 119:105 describes a lamp to your feet, not a floodlight to your future * Isaiah 30:21, Exodus 13:21, and 2 Corinthians 5:7 — three passages that reveal God's pattern of guidance as cloud-following, not map-reading * What obedience before clarity produces that clarity before obedience never can * A direct pastoral word for the person who took a step and it went sideways * The charcoal fire of John 21 — and what Jesus said to Peter in the exact atmosphere of his worst failure Key Scripture references: Hebrews 11:8, Psalm 119:105, Proverbs 3:5-6, Exodus 3-4, Matthew 14:28-31, John 21:9-19, Isaiah 30:21, Exodus 13:21, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Genesis 12:7 Perfect for: Christians who know their calling but cannot see the next step, believers paralyzed by fog who are waiting for certainty that isn't coming, people who took a step in faith and it went wrong, anyone asking how to know what God wants them to do, men and women ready to move but afraid to move without full clarity. Part of our series: The Calling Arc — Part 3 of The Formation Trilogy (Episodes 34-42) Conclusion of: Episode 37 "How Do I Know My Calling?" and Episode 38 "What Is God Doing While I Wait?" Next episode — Episode 40: "Write It Down: What Habakkuk 2 Says About Vision" Connect with us via our Instagram: @faithformed_pod Email us any questions or comments to yourpursuitpodcast@gmail.com Order your copy of my latest book, "The Purpose in the Pause", here [https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Pause-Trusting-When-Everything/dp/B0FR4M8GNP] Learn more about me at www.justindbelt.com

38. What Is God Doing While I Wait? The Purpose in the Pause Between Calling and Commission

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2520553/fan_mail/new] You know what you're called to. That's what makes the waiting so hard. You've prayed, prepared, and positioned yourself as best you know how. And still the door stays shut. The opportunity doesn't materialize. And over time the silence starts to speak — maybe I missed God, maybe I did something wrong, maybe He changed His mind about me. This episode goes directly into the waiting room — the season between the call and the commission — and asks the question most calling conversations never answer honestly: what is God actually doing while you wait? Drawing from Justin's own book The Purpose in the Pause, from the lives of Joseph, Moses, and David, and from Scripture's most honest descriptions of divine silence, this episode reframes the waiting season from empty time to the most intentional formation work God does in a person's life. In this episode, we discuss: * The specific grief that comes from knowing your calling and watching nothing move — and why it deserves to be named honestly * The difference between being stuck and being stationed — and why that distinction changes everything * The three specific things God is doing in the waiting room: working in you, working around you, and protecting you from premature elevation * What Psalm 105:17-19 says about Joseph — "till the word of the Lord proved him true" * Why Abraham and Saul's impatience cost them more than the wait ever would have * The Silent Saturday framework — what the day between crucifixion and resurrection teaches about divine silence * What partnering with the wait looks like practically versus passively enduring it * A direct word for the person who walked through the door they waited for and found themselves in a new kind of waiting room Key Scripture references: Psalm 105:17-19, Romans 8:28, Isaiah 40:31, Isaiah 64:4, Genesis 16, 1 Samuel 13 Perfect for: Christians in a long season of waiting on God, believers who know their calling but can't see the commission, people who feel stuck while everyone around them seems to be moving forward, anyone who has experienced the grief of a delayed or disappointed promise, men and women asking why God is taking so long. Part of our series: The Calling Arc — Part 2 of The Formation Trilogy (Episodes 34-42) Follow-up to Episode 37: "How Do I Know My Calling? What Jeremiah 1 Says That Most People Never Hear" Next episode — Episode 39: "What Do You Do When You Can't See the Assignment Clearly?" Featured resource: The Purpose in the Pause by Justin Belt — available wherever books are sold Connect with us via our Instagram: @faithformed_pod Email us any questions or comments to yourpursuitpodcast@gmail.com Order your copy of my latest book, "The Purpose in the Pause", here [https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Pause-Trusting-When-Everything/dp/B0FR4M8GNP] Learn more about me at www.justindbelt.com

37. How Do I Know My Calling? What Jeremiah 1 Says That Most People Never Hear

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2520553/fan_mail/new] How do I know my calling? Have you ever asked that question?  You are still waiting for the moment. The clear sign. The unmistakable confirmation. The voice that finally says this is it. And it hasn't come the way you expected — not with the clarity and certainty you've been told should accompany a real calling from God. So you keep waiting. And the waiting has slowly made you feel like you are the problem. This episode opens The Calling Arc by going deep into Jeremiah 1 — the most complete and pastorally honest description of how calling actually works in all of Scripture. The burning bush is not the standard. Calling is not an event you are waiting for. It is an identity you already have. And this episode is for everyone who has been standing in an empty field, wondering if they heard something or imagined it. In this episode, we discuss: * The specific grief that accumulates in a long calling-wait, and why naming it honestly is an act of faith * What Jeremiah 1:4-10 actually says about how calling works and what most teaching misses * The burning bush expectation — why it paralyzes people and why it is the exception, not the norm in Scripture * How Samuel learned to recognize a voice he was already hearing — and what that means for you * The fear underneath Jeremiah's resistance — and why God's answer was a promise of presence, not a pep talk * The difference between calling as an event and calling as an identity * What Esau McCaulley says about calling being rooted in being, not production * A direct word for the person who stepped out in obedience, and it went wrong * What one concrete step looks like before the burning bush arrives Key Scripture references: Jeremiah 1:4-10, 1 Samuel 3:1-10, Exodus 3-4, Isaiah 6:1-8 Perfect for: Christians waiting for clarity on their calling, believers who have never had a dramatic calling moment and wonder if they've missed it, people who stepped out in faith and it didn't work the way they expected, anyone carrying the calling question alone for years, men and women in long seasons of waiting. Part of our series: The Calling Arc — Part 1 of The Formation Trilogy (Episodes 34-42) Follow-up to: The Purpose Arc (Episodes 34-36) Next episode — Episode 38: "The Waiting Room: What God Does Between the Call and the Commission" Connect with us via our Instagram: @faithformed_pod Email us any questions or comments to yourpursuitpodcast@gmail.com Order your copy of my latest book, "The Purpose in the Pause", here [https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Pause-Trusting-When-Everything/dp/B0FR4M8GNP] Learn more about me at www.justindbelt.com