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For over 25 years Proverbs 31 Ministries' mission has been to intersect God's Word in the real, hard places we all struggle with. That's why we started this podcast. Every episode will feature a variety of teachings from president Lysa TerKeurst, staff members or friends of the ministry who can teach you something valuable from their vantage point. We hope that regardless of your age, background or stage of life, it's something you look forward to listening to each month!
Meredith Brock:
Well, hello everyone. Thanks for tuning in to The Proverbs 31 Ministries Podcast where we share biblical Truth for any girl in any season. I'm your host, Meredith Brock, and I am here with my co-host, Kaley Olson.
Kaley Olson:
Hey, Meredith, how are you doing?
Meredith Brock:
I am fantastic.
Kaley Olson:
That's great. I'm fantastic too. Glad to be with you on another Wednesday. For our friends listening, we record on Wednesdays.
Meredith Brock:
Yeah.
Kaley Olson:
Now you know that.
Meredith Brock:
Now you know.
Kaley Olson:
Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Meredith Brock:
It happens.
Kaley Olson:
Right in between our first and second cup of coffee for the day.
Meredith Brock:
That's right.
Kaley Olson:
We're right here with you almost every Wednesday. Anyways, but now we're in your ears wherever you are. And I'm so excited that you guys are going to get to hear from our new friend Rachel G. Scott on what it's like to know God is calling you to step out but what sometimes holds us back from that.
Meredith Brock:
That's right.
Kaley Olson:
And how to overcome that. I mean, Rachel is such a great teacher, actually. She's a teacher teacher and has a lot of authority. And I think you guys are going to honestly, maybe get whipped into a little shape after today's message. But every now and then, we need a little pep talk, and Rachel's going to give that to us today. Her teaching is so helpful, and I want to go ahead and let our listeners know ... The teaching is actually taken from her new book titled Taking the 5 Leaps: Experiencing God's Faithfulness as You Respond to His Call.
Meredith Brock:
Another really great resource I want to let our listeners know about is a free guide our team created to help you get to the bottom of what makes you feel stuck. For me, I have recently felt stuck in my parenting. It's been hard. I've hit a wall and wasn't sure what to do. And so our free guide called “Why Can't I Get Over This? 5 Steps To Get Unstuck in the Areas You Can't Seem To Make Progress In” will help you identify what's currently not working, [and] why. And by answering intentional questions that will get you excited about the future again. It's available using the link in our show notes, so grab it for free using just your email. That's all it takes.
Kaley Olson:
I love free stuff.
Meredith Brock:
Me too.
Kaley Olson:
And that's a great resource you guys should definitely get if you haven't already. All right, friends, let's dive into today's episode.
Meredith Brock:
OK, well, let's welcome our guest for today, Rachel G. Scott. Hi, Rachel.
Rachel Scott:
Hi. Thank you so much for having me.
Meredith Brock:
We are so excited you're here. Rachel. First things first, what does the “G” stand for?
Rachel Scott:
The “G” is for Genell. Now, I've heard different things. People are like, "Is it for gorgeous? Is it for good?" It's for Genell. It's just my middle name.
Meredith Brock:
Maybe it's for however you're feeling for the day.
Kaley Olson:
That day.
Meredith Brock:
Gorgeous, good —
Kaley Olson:
I think you should just own the gorgeous part, Rachel.
Meredith Brock:
Yes.
Rachel Scott:
OK, I'll own that.
Meredith Brock:
Which we can attest to this.
Kaley Olson:
Yes.
Meredith Brock:
This is an audio-only podcast.
Rachel Scott:
Thank you.
Meredith Brock:
Rachel is a beautiful woman. But, Rachel, we're so excited to have you here. Because this is your first time on the show, I'm going to do a formal introduction of you and then share something fun I dug up on your website while reading a little bit more about you. But, guys, formally, Rachel's a wife, a mother, a writer, a bible teacher and a podcast host, who is passionate about seeing God's people take leaps of faith into what He has called them to do. Meredith, do you ever notice that whenever we have people on the show, it's like, "She does this. And she does this. And she does this."
Kaley Olson:
Yes.
Meredith Brock:
It's a lot. Rachel, you do so much. Thank you for all that you do at work and at home to equip people.
Rachel Scott:
Thank you.
Meredith Brock:
You're welcome. My next thing that I want to do is ask you a question. So on your website, I saw that you and your husband have mastered the quick-fix meal for busy weeknights. Because you're a woman who does all the things and your husband does all the things too, you've got to get in a rhythm, and you've got to get in a routine. And you said, "My husband is the one who really kind of runs with this." And so, I want to know: What are some of your favorite go-tos for quick-fix meals because Meredith and I probably need some inspiration.
Kaley Olson:
I know. I've got my pen ready, Rachel. I'm ready.
Rachel Scott:
OK, so I'm going to give you two. Mine is probably a very common one, which is tacos. But let me tell you something ... My kids just started liking tacos this year. I don't know. It's the most random thing, so now that's my new one.
Meredith Brock:
That's not random.
Rachel Scott:
They're probably not going to like it after this year, because I'm make it [inaudible] now. But then my husband has his one meal, his one meal that he makes every time I'm out of town that's fast, and it is chicken, broccoli and rice.
Meredith Brock:
OK.
Rachel Scott:
And so, the kids know ... When I'm gone, they're like, "We're going to have chicken and broccoli and rice." And that's his quick meal.
Kaley Olson:
We love that, Rachel. We love it.
Meredith Brock:
And it's healthy too.
Kaley Olson:
I know, broccoli?
Rachel Scott:
Yes.
Meredith Brock:
I'm impressed.
Kaley Olson:
My quick fix is nachos.
Meredith Brock:
Or let's be honest guys, spaghetti. Every mom pulls out the spaghetti when it's like —
Kaley Olson:
That's like a whole food, though. Sometimes I feel like nachos ... I'm like, Man. Sometimes it's popcorn, and that's like [inaudible].
Meredith Brock:
Popcorn?
Kaley Olson:
Popcorn for supper as long as you have cheese with it.
Meredith Brock: What? Are you even for real right now?
Kaley Olson: Yeah, I'll do popcorn on a Sunday night, and it's great. I'll treat it like a meal.
Meredith Brock:
Bless your heart!
Rachel Scott:
It's just like cereal.
Meredith Brock:
It is just like cereal.
Rachel Scott:
Like, go ahead and make a bowl of cereal.
Meredith Brock:
Yes, ma'am.
Kaley Olson:
That's a fair point.
Meredith Brock:
Also, great quick-fix meal.
Rachel Scott:
Absolutely.
Meredith Brock:
I endorse the cereal for dinner.
Kaley Olson:
Nice.
Meredith Brock:
Rachel, we're really truly so glad that you're here today. Your new book just came out, called Taking the 5 Leaps: Experiencing God's Faithfulness as You Respond to His Call, and we really can't wait to hear the message of that book today, and so why don't you take it away?
Rachel Scott:
Yeah, so today I want to talk about this idea of responding to the call. Recently, I was out to lunch catching up with a friend and updating her on all the things that I was doing in my ministry and in my personal life, and throughout our conversation, I didn't notice that I kept saying the words, "I was running from da-da-da-da-da, but now I'm doing it." So for example, I was telling her that I was running from starting my YouTube channel even though I knew God told me to start it years and years and years ago, but now I'm doing it. Or I ran from calling myself a Bible teacher, which was a big one because I knew the weight of those words and I didn't feel ready to embrace the title, but now I'm doing it. And eventually, as she was listening, she stopped me, and she said, "Wow, Rachel, you've been running from a lot of stuff."
And even though I kind of chuckled in the moment, those words really hit me. So after our lunch, I left there and started to reflect on why I had been running from so many things God called me to do, and I realized that it was because I didn't understand the importance and the necessity of responding to His call. So today, I want to talk a little bit about just this idea of responding to His call in our lives. I'm going to share a parable with you that, although it's very powerful and it reveals many truths, can be a bit challenging and unsettling. My hope as I share this with you is that you'll see both God's love for humanity and His desire for us to live and respond to Him with eternity in mind. So let's take a look at Matthew 22:1-14 together, which is called the parable of the wedding banquet. I'm going to be reading the NLT version:
"Jesus also told them other parables. He said, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! So he sent other servants to tell them, “The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!” But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them. The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. And he said to his servants, “The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren't worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.” So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn't wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. “Friend,” he asked, “How is it that you are here without wedding clothes?” But the man had no reply. Then the king said to his aides, “Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’"
In this parable, responding to the call is a response to God's invitation into His Kingdom, which is what the wedding banquet represents. There are four ways that we're going to talk about that you can respond to the call.
The first way is refusing the call. Matthew 22:3 says that “when the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!” The second way is by ignoring the call. Matthew 22:5 says, "But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business." Then we have the third one, which is to choose to be unprepared for the call. This is a big one ... Matthew 22:11 says, "But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn't wearing the proper clothes for a wedding." Now here's the thing: In that time, a king would provide wedding garments to the guest. So he really had no reason not to come completely dressed and prepared for this wedding. However, he chose to have what he needed to enter the wedding but not wear it.
And then the fourth way is to actually answer the call. So this last response begs the question: How should we respond or answer the call? Well, before I share that, let me explain this idea of call or what we might refer to as calling. A calling is essentially an answer to the question of what is God telling me or what is He saying I need to do in this season? It answers that question. It's an invitation from God. Our calling often reveals itself through a sudden or a gradual awareness of a way we can influence, impact or transform a situation. I know you've had that before, where you felt that nudge to influence, impact or transform a situation.
So there are two ways that we should respond to God's call. The first way is salvation, which is what this parable is referring to, and the scripture I mentioned above also refers to that ... the scriptures that I talked about. I think of Romans 8:29-30, which says, "For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory" (NLT). So the first way is through salvation.
The second way is through the service of the Lord, which is what this parable can teach us principles about. The servants — remember the servants mentioned in the parable — were the ones sent out to invite the people. We are servants, and our role in this kingdom is to invite people to know Christ. That's our purpose here on earth, y'all. Our assignment is the way in which we do that. So you may do that as a teacher or a nurse or a cleaner or a homemaker or a writer, whatever it may be. It's all significant and an important part of responding to the call.
So how did people in the Bible actually respond to the call? Well, in my book Taking the 5 Leaps, I talk about five biblical characters, how they responded to the call, and what we can learn from their responses. Today, I'm going to talk briefly about one of them: Saul, later known as Paul. I want to specifically talk about what happened after he is thrown off of his horse, encounters Jesus on a road to Damascus, is blinded for three days, and is given his sight back through a servant named Ananias.
So let's take a look at Paul's response in Acts 9:17-20: So later, “Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.' Instantly something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength. Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, 'He is indeed the Son of God'” (NLT).
So what two things happened here? The first one is that he was baptized. This is symbolic of responding to the call with salvation, which we mentioned above. The second is that he immediately begins preaching after he has a meal, which I like that part — he got to eat first, and then he responded in service. So he was baptized first — that was salvation — and then he begins to preach immediately. That was him responding in the service of the Lord. Many of us do the first part, which is super important — responding to salvation — but we fail in doing the second part — responding in service — because we are afraid to take the leap. And I totally get it.
Here is what I want you to remember. Matthew 22:14 says, "For many are called" — just like we saw in the parable — "but few are chosen" (NLT). When God sent Ananias to give sight back to Saul, he was terrified of the idea. But this is what God said to him in Acts 9:15. "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel" (ESV). He was chosen. You have been chosen. We have been chosen by God to be His servants.
Remember in the parable that the role of the servants was to be the messengers who went out and invited people into the wedding. The servants responded to the cause of salvation and service, and so did Paul. It's no wonder that Paul always started his letters with the formal introduction of "I am Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus." He knew that all the revelation he received, the transformation he brought to the lives of gentiles, and the letters he wrote weren't greater than his posture of servanthood to Jesus. So let me ask you: What does it look like for you to respond to His call today?
Meredith Brock:
Rachel, I could listen to you teach all day.
Kaley Olson:
I know ... me too.
Meredith Brock:
I'm just furiously writing over here.
Kaley Olson:
I kind of wanted her to keep going.
Meredith Brock:
I did, that was so good and so —
Kaley Olson:
Thank you.
Meredith Brock:
I just know our listeners right now on the podcast are like, "Holy cow, give me more." That was so good. I am just going to make a couple of comments. One, I did not know that your book is structured around five biblical characters, and can I just say that's one of my very, very favorite ways to really diving into the Word
... It's just so helpful to look at the characters that God chose to put in His Word. And so this makes me so excited to read your book. But second, I just wanted to ask you a little question here about ... OK, I am envisioning, and I know I have experienced this in my life previously, especially when I didn't become a believer until I was 17 years old and then I jumped into this whole world. I don't have a really true Christian background.
And so once I jumped into the church world, I heard this phrase "calling" thrown around a lot, Rachel, and it was kind of confusing for me. I was like, OK. And the way that I interpreted it at the time was like I was called to do this one thing with my one little life, and I found myself grappling with: What is that one thing that I'm supposed to do? And over time, I think I learned ... Wow, and you said it so well. I actually wrote it down. You said, "Calling: What is God asking me to do in this season? What's your assignment in this season?"
And so, would you take a moment, Rachel, and unpack for our listeners a little bit: one, what have you learned about that and what have you seen in Scripture about seasons of callings, but also, what's the first step somebody should really take in determining what's my assignment in this season right now? So kind of loaded question there, Rachel ... Sorry to do that to you.
Rachel Scott: No, that's OK. I'm so glad that you mentioned that because one of the things that has really stood out to me over just the last maybe 10-15 years is that we are kind of trained to think that we're only supposed to do one thing. You go to college, you get one degree, and you're supposed to do that one thing the rest of your life. And so it becomes difficult for us to envision a life where we do multiple things. But one thing that I've always said to myself is that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. So why would God give the few laborers one thing to do? It happens to rhyme, but it also makes a lot of sense.
Kaley Olson:
Love that.
Meredith Brock:
That's actually really true.
Kaley Olson:
I love it.
Rachel Scott:
And so, I feel like when I look at Scripture and I look at the different seasons just with biblical characters, God spent a lot of time preparing people for a specific season. I think about Bezalel in the Bible, and how he was being prepared to build what was going to be so important, a place of worship. But he spent time preparing for that. But I'm sure his life after that looked completely different. After he prepared that place of worship, there was something else like God was calling him to do.
And so we do spend a lot of time thinking there's this one thing that we're going to do the rest of our life. I do believe that God has cultivated a gift in each of us. For example, I have the gift of teaching. Well, I thought that meant I was supposed to be a teacher in the school district for forever, but it's very clear there was another way that He wanted to use that gift. And I use that in so many ways. I use that biblically. I use that when I'm teaching the Bible. I use that when I'm talking to my kids. I use that when I am writing songs. I use that in so many different ways where teaching comes out of me.
So I think that this idea of a calling is when our ears are tuned in to what God is saying to us for that season. It is literally a call. You think of call and response. Every call requires a response. If I call my kids, I kind of expect them to respond, but I may be calling them for different reasons, depending on the situation. And so I get the mindset that calling can be a little confusing because we parallel it often with purpose, and we parallel it with this idea that, OK, we have one purpose ... We have one calling. We do that the rest of our life. I do think that we have that gift that God has given us, but the assignment and how He will use that is going to look different, and that is why we need to be in tune to how He wants to use that in each season.
Meredith Brock:
Amen. That's so good. Rachel. I've heard, I recently was reading a book by Elizabeth Elliott — this old missionary that I love to read — and she equated this idea, and I think it's just, culturally and generationally, we adopt these phrases like calling — just like you said — and we equate it to purpose where she said in a book that I was reading of her recently that said, "No, we are all called to be a disciple. We are, every single one of us, called to be a disciple of Jesus." And in different seasons, that's going to look different. And it sounds like your book helps with that so much, bringing the different dynamics of what that might look like. So, Kaley, did you have a question?
Kaley Olson:
I actually do have a question. Rachel, so earlier in your teaching, you said there's four ways to respond, and you list out three incorrect ways from the passage and then one final right way. The third incorrect way you said was: You choose to be unprepared. I thought it was so interesting ... You provided a little bit of context in there, and you said, "In that time, the king provided everything that they needed." And I thought, Man, how many times have I not responded or delayed responding? Because I think it's up to me to have everything that I need to do what I feel like I'm being asked to do. And I think a lot of our listeners probably feel that way, because in today's world especially, we're as prepared ... as prepared can be. There's a course for every mom thing that I want to do. If I want to learn how to put my kid to sleep, I watch a course, and I feel like I can't do it unless I've watched that, and I forget I've got that ability in me. You know what I mean?
And that was a silly illustration, but, Rachel, I think it would be helpful to hear from you specifically maybe reasons you haven't responded in the past because you have felt unprepared. What lack did you feel in some of your callings, and how did God open your eyes to how He had already provided for you? Can you share some examples with us?
Rachel Scott:
Yes, absolutely. I think of the most recent one, which is stepping out and calling myself a Bible teacher. So for years, I was calling myself a speaker, and I was comfortable with that. I was like, I can speak. I can do that really well. That is my strength. But I'll never forget ... I had been asked ... I was on the preaching team at my church, and as part of the preaching team, eventually, they wanted us to go and do Bible studies. And for whatever reason, I just got so afraid. I was so scared. I was like, I don't know how to say all these words. People are going to look at me. They're going to laugh. They're going to say all of the things. And so even when I went up there to do the first Bible study, I just was terrified. I saw things that probably weren't happening.
I'm like, Oh my goodness, this person is talking about me over here, and they're doing that. And I ran the other way. I started off by saying I ran. I was like, No, this is not for me. I will just focus on something else. And when I look back at that season, it was really because I was not aware of how much God had already prepared me. I did grow up in the church, but I also grew up reading the Bible since a little girl. I mean, my sister's friends, they would always say that ... They would come over, and they just remember I was a little girl ... I would get up early, and I would read my Bible. I don't even know that I understood what I was reading, but for whatever reason, I was drawn to it.
So I think back on that, and I'm like, God has been preparing me to be the teacher that He has called me to be. And so I had to realize that I don't have to teach and be the kind of teacher everyone else is. He has a unique way that He wants me to interpret the Word and to teach the Word, but at that time, I didn't feel qualified because I felt like I had to do it like everyone else.
So I think part of responding to the call is recognizing the uniqueness in how He has chosen you. It's that individual. It may have a similar tone. It may have a similar title. But He has chosen you, and there is a unique way for you to do it. And that's what I had to embrace: that He had a way for me to do it in this hour and in this season, and it didn't have to look like what everyone else was doing.
Kaley Olson:
Yeah, that's good. I think you mentioned earlier, you've referred to spiritual giftings. You didn't necessarily say you took a test, but you realized that was one of your spiritual giftings, right?
Rachel Scott: Yes, yes. I mean, it talks about in the Bible that being a teacher is one of them. So I realized that that was one of them.
Kaley Olson:
Yeah, I think that that's really helpful and affirming too to know there are different giftings God has given us and realizing what those are. And even taking an assessment ... I mean, you can take them online. I don't know, Rachel, if you want to make recommendations, but what I've discovered in people who have the gift of a teacher, it's not necessarily the way in which you're doing it; it's your ability to connect with the person and help them understand something. That's really what it is. And I feel like that's the thing beneath the thing that God provides for you. It's that innate thing that you could never have gotten on your own, Rachel, but the Lord has given you this ability to take something and communicate it so well and break it down that it comes natural to you, but you're afraid to recognize it whenever it's your turn to step out and do it.
And so thank you so much for coming on the show today and just sharing with us a little bit about what it looks like to respond incorrectly and then challenging us to respond correctly and taking us through some of your story and what you've learned along the way and sharing with us. So, guys, don't forget to grab your copy of Rachel's book Taking the 5 Leaps: Experiencing God's Faithfulness as You Respond to His Call. With this book, Rachel's going to cheer you on with biblically based encouragement and help you learn from her own personal mistakes and successes about how to step into God's destiny for yourself. Grab it using the link in our show notes below.
Meredith Brock:
Yeah. Also, we want to point our listeners to a free resource our team here at Proverbs 31 put together called “Why Can't I Get Over This? 5 Steps To Get Unstuck in the Areas You can't Seem To Make Progress In.” Sometimes we just find ourselves in seasons of growth and taking leaps, and other times it seems like we can't take a leap because we always land in the same spot. So if you find yourself stuck today, download this free guide to work through today using the link in our show notes.
Kaley Olson:
Yes. And lastly, did you guys know that Proverbs 31 is a nonprofit organization? Meredith and I sure do, because we're at it —
Meredith Brock:
Every day.
Kaley Olson:
— Every single day. But if you're listening, sometimes you might know. And sometimes, honestly, it's easy for me to forget that what we do here, which is providing you guys with daily biblical resources you need to help you know the Truth and live the Truth, is funded largely because of the supportive, generous people just like you. So if you've given to Proverbs 31 Ministries before, we want to say thank you. We literally could not do this without you, but if you've never given to Proverbs 31 Ministries before, we would be so grateful if you would prayerfully consider doing so.
We've linked our donation form in the show notes for you to make this very easy. So click below.
Meredith Brock:
That's it for us today, friends. At Proverbs 31 Ministries, we help you know the Truth and live the Truth because we believe it really does change everything.