Woman Up Sample

Purpose will never be contained in a job description. Your purpose is not your title. Allow me to share this story to show you what I mean.

Our CFO is a brilliant woman who has taken our organization to many higher levels through her extensive education and experience. We have a board of directors with profound knowledge and experience in their individual industries – some lead multibillion-dollar companies, several are attorneys and CEOs, and one is a world-renowned doctor. Our CFO is impressive even to them, and they are at boardroom tables where financial statements have many more zeroes. Sometimes in ministry, you don’t see the behind-the-scenes of what fuels our growth. You won’t see this woman on a stage, preaching a message, but she is just as much in her purpose as those who invite people to an altar to receive Christ.

In the last couple years, she’s had a “come to purpose” moment. She asked to meet me for lunch, and her opening words were, “I’ve dreaded this conversation for the entire time I’ve worked here, close to ten years. If you want me to resign after this meeting, I completely understand. My husband and closest circle of friends who have ministered to me have been fasting and praying for this meeting.” My imagination began to run wild. As a ministry leader, I’ve heard so many shocking things that I can barely be shocked and she of all people would know that, as she has worked alongside us in an “It’s okay to not be okay” environment for a long time.

Some of her past, before-Christ decisions were looming over her, causing so much shame that she believed the lie that everyone could be forgiven, except for her. She meticulously, like the CPA she is, set forth the facts, and at the end, I said, “Is that all?” She nodded yes. “What took you so long to tell me? The enemy has been trying to keep you in bondage to the very pain that is meant to be your purpose.” If you are looking for purpose, you can usually trace it back to your pain. I said, “You are a trophy of the grace of God, and God wants you to use your story to see more people set free by the very same amazing grace.” So now, in addition to overseeing the stewardship of our ministry, she has started a ministry for women living in the shame that isolated and imprisoned her for so many years. There were so many people on the other side of her coming clean about her past, her pain, and her saying “yes” to purpose. Her purpose has empowered others to walk in purpose.

Deborah, a judge in Israel, is a model for a strong leader in what she did and what she empowered others to do.