00:01today i want to talk about why you might be feeling empty even though you're doing everything
00:08right you know you can do everything you know to do and still wake up feeling like something is
00:15missing and that's one of the hardest places to be you know you're trying you're showing up
00:22you're carrying your responsibilities you are doing your best to stay decent steady faithful
00:31productive alive inside of all the things that keep pulling on you from the outside it might look like
00:41you're doing okay maybe even better than okay but inside it feels flat you keep moving but
00:52you don't feel connected to where light your life is going you keep putting one foot in front of the
00:58other but it does not feel like purpose it feels like maintenance and it feels like you're just
01:07surviving it feels like doing what has to be done while some quiet part of you keeps asking
01:15is this it is this all my life is going to feel like and that question can wear a person
01:25down can't
01:26it because when you feel lost while making bad choices at least you know where what what to point
01:34at at least you can say well that's the problem but when you're trying to live right and still feel
01:42empty it gets confusing it can make you wonder what is wrong with you it can make you question your
01:51heart your future your worth even your relationship with god a lot of good people live there longer than
02:01they admit they keep doing what needs to be done they keep paying their bills they keep helping other
02:08people they keep trying to become better they keep praying when they can't they keep holding
02:16themselves together in public but deep down they are tired of feeling like they're pouring effort into a
02:24life that just does not feel alive so let me say this to you plainly feeling that way does not
02:34mean you
02:35are failing it does not mean you've missed your calling and it does not mean god has forgotten you
02:43it does not mean your life has no purpose because that's not the truth just because you cannot feel
02:51it clearly right now does not mean big things are not coming your way you know some of the most
02:58important seasons of your life will not look important while you're in them and that's hard for us
03:06because we want purpose to feel obvious don't we we want it to feel strong we want it to come
03:13with
03:13direction energy and some clear sign that what we're doing matters we want to feel fire we want to feel
03:23movement we want to feel chosen in a way that we can recognize you know a lot of god's work
03:33in a person's life does not
03:35happen out in the open a lot of it happens in quiet places it happens while you're being stretched it
03:46happens while you're
03:47learning endurance it happens while your heart is being made deeper and it happens while old pride
03:55well when old pride is being pulled out of you it happens while your motives are being cleaned up
04:03it happens while your soul is learning how to stay close to god without applause without fast results
04:11and without the kind of life that makes other people impressed that kind of season can feel empty when
04:21actually it's fuller than we even know at the time and it can feel hidden because even though it's
04:29holy it just doesn't feel like the excitement that society tells us should be happening when something big
04:37is going on and it can feel pointless when it's actually preparing you for something you're not
04:45strong enough to carry yet you know we do live in a world that teaches us to measure meaning by
04:52visible
04:53results and if it's not growing well it must not matter and if it's not big it must not be
05:01purpose
05:02if nobody sees it well then it must not count and if it does not feel exciting it must not
05:11be god that way of
05:14thinking will drain the life out of you because some of the deepest purpose in your life will never look
05:23flashy
05:24it may look like staying kind when you're worn thin it may look like refusing to become bitter
05:34it may look like taking care of what's in front of you with honesty and it may look like getting
05:41back
05:42up again when your emotions are not helping you it may look like being faithful in the season that gives
05:49you
05:49very little emotional reward at all but you know what it still matters more than you'll ever know
05:59there are people who think purpose means standing on a stage building something huge or doing something
06:07that can be pointed at and named sometimes it does but a lot of the time purpose is much quieter
06:16than that
06:17purpose can be hidden inside of obedience purpose can be hidden inside of restraint purpose can be hidden
06:27inside the slow forming of your character and if you're in that season where you feel numb it may not
06:37mean
06:37there is nothing there it may mean you've been carrying so much for so long that your heart is tired
06:46tired and that's different because a tired heart does not always know how to feel hope clearly
06:54a worn down soul does not always know how to recognize meaning while it's buried under pressure
07:02you may not be empty because your life has no purpose you may feel empty because you've been giving so
07:11much of
07:12yourself without enough room to breathe enough room enough room to heal enough room to sit long enough to
07:21hear what god is doing beneath all the noise and sometimes the problem is not that your life has no
07:29meaning
07:31sometimes the problem is that you are too exhausted to sense it and that's why this matters so much
07:40you do not need to shame yourself for being tired you do not need to attack yourself for not feeling
07:47inspired
07:49you do not need to pretend that doing your best automatically feels good some seasons well some seasons feel heavy
08:00and that's okay because we're humans some seasons feel dry some seasons feel like you're walking
08:09through fog that does not mean god is absent it means you're human and god knows exactly how to meet
08:18a human
08:19being in the middle of that kind of weakness he's not standing over you disappointed because you do not feel
08:28purposeful enough he's not looking at you and saying try harder doesn't do any of that he sees the part
08:37nobody else sees he sees how hard you've been trying to stay upright inside your own mind he sees the
08:45weight you never
08:46say out loud he sees the effort behind your ordinary days he sees the tears you have swallowed the prayers
08:56that came out tired and broken and half finished you know what my friend he sees you and that matters
09:07because purpose does not begin with you figuring everything out purpose begins with being known
09:15by god even when you do not understand your own season you do not have to feel powerful for your
09:23life to
09:24still be in god's hands you do not have to feel clear for your steps to matter
09:32you do not have to feel full of passion every single day for your obedience to still carry weight in
09:40heaven
09:40there are seasons when your purpose is not to shine your purpose is to stay close your purpose is to
09:50keep your
09:50heart soft sometimes your purpose is to not give up to not give up on god in a moment where
10:00it would be
10:00easy to go numb and drift you know that's not small and it's not nothing it's sacred and one day
10:12you're gonna look back on this season and realize that what felt like delay was formation what felt like
10:20emptiness was god stripping away false measurements what felt like stagnation was actually the slow building of
10:29a life with deeper roots you are not behind because your journey does not look loud right now
10:38you are not wasted because your progress feels hidden right now you are not without purpose because you cannot
10:47name the whole picture yet sometimes purpose is not a spotlight sometimes it's a a quiet yes
10:58sometimes it's staying faithful before you understand why sometimes it's trusting that god is doing
11:07real work in places nobody can see including you
11:13so if you've been doing everything you know to do and still feel empty
11:17i want you to breathe do not call your life meaningless too soon do not decide god is absent just
11:28because the season
11:29is quiet it doesn't mean it's not going to get loud do not confuse hidden growth with no growth
11:39you may be closer to something real than you think keep walking with god keep bringing him the truth
11:49keep showing up keep letting him form you in the dark places the life you are living is not worthless
11:57because it feels ordinary the effort you are giving is not meaningless because the results are
12:04unclear
12:08you are not forgotten because your purpose is still unfolding god is not done with your life
12:17not even close what feels silent
12:21may still be sacred what feels slow may still be shaping you what feels unseen may still matter
12:30more than you can imagine hold on your life is not empty you are being prepared and it's going to
12:43be
12:44beautiful my name is douglas vandergraaf and i believe in jesus christ god bless every single one of you
12:56every single one
13:00bye bye
