June 26, 2025 • 27 mins
Have you ever felt the discomfort of divine redirection just when you've mastered your current assignment? That unsettling moment when God shifts your comfortable path toward something new?
This episode takes an unexpected turn as I share the journey behind my new book "Equipped by God. Graced to Lead.," only to find myself discussing the very process of transition that's happening in real-time. What began as a book announcement evolved into a vulnerable exploration of what happens when God redirects our paths mid-journey.
Leadership is full of these kind of "pivot" moments when we've established systems, gained confidence, and found our rhythm, only to feel called toward something unfamiliar. I share my personal experience with the fear, uncertainty, and resource concerns that accompany such transitions, while trying to at least offer practical wisdom for anyone experiencing similar shifts in their leadership journey.
Whether you're a business leader sensing a call to ministry, a corporate executive feeling pulled toward entrepreneurship, or a ministry leader receiving a refined message, this episode if for you.
Join me for this unscripted, heart-to-heart conversation about navigating transition while staying true to your divine assignment. Find my book "Equipped by God Graced to Lead" on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or BelindaGaston.com.
Mentioned During the Show:
Purchase Equipped By God. Graced to Lead Today!
Learn more about me! www.belindagaston.com
Please subscribe to our mailing list to stay connected and get updates! Thanks for listening to the Graced to Lead Podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Belinda Gaston (00:02):
Hey, listen, this episode was supposed to be
about my book.
Yes, I have a new book,Equipped God to.
Lead Graced to Lead.
, but as I began talking, godtook me off my notes and I
started talking about transition.
I talked about what happenswhen you are comfortable doing
what you're doing and Godchanges the direction of what
(00:22):
you are doing and now you haveto go in a different direction.
So, if you are ready, let's getinto it.
Welcome to the Graced to Leadpodcast.
I'm Belinda Gaston, your host,and listen, today I have
(00:45):
something exciting to share, andthat is I am an author.
Yes, I'm excited, I'm an author.
I have my first book out now,called Equipped by God.
Graced to Lead.
.
You can find it on Amazon andBarnes and Noble.
You can also goThe book really is about my
(01:10):
journey that God has taken methrough to this place of
leadership.
It's written for the woman whois leading or influencing in
spaces that you feel like maybeyou're not confident in, you're
not qualified for, maybe you areunsure about some things and
there's some things in yourheart that might be hindering
(01:31):
you from feeling like thatyou're equipped for the
positions you're in.
Perhaps there have been somethings that's happened that made
you distrust people or feelabandoned or feel like you had
to put up a wall to protectyourself.
I talk about all of this in thebook and I start really with my
story because, listen y'all, Iwrote this book about four or
(01:51):
five years ago now and I wroteit all in one day because I felt
like, oh God wants me to writethis book, I'm just going to get
it done.
And then the book just reallysat.
I had an editor, I sent thatinformation to her and her
publishing company and she said,hey, this is great, let's do it
(02:12):
.
And she began to ask mequestions about the book that I
just couldn't answer and it wassimple questions.
There were things that I wrotethat were very surface initially
, and this is just real talk.
So if you're writing a book,you know this idea.
Let me tell you, sometimes wedon't go deep enough.
So my book, if I'm honest withyou and honest with myself, the
first iteration of this book wasfull of just catchy cliches and
(02:33):
like sayings and motivationaltalk.
Right, it really was, until Godtook me on this process of
going deeper, because I knowthat everybody can be an expert
these days, right, everybody canjust say I'm an expert in
whatever.
But I couldn't actually tellyou hey, you know, you can be a
better leader if you deal withyour feelings of I don't know
(02:55):
abandonment, if I hadn't walkedthrough that process myself.
And so questions like tell memore about this, or questions
like this seems kind of surface.
Why write this?
What's behind all of this?
Those are the questions that myeditor asked me.
That caused me to really godeeper, and so I had to pray
like Lord.
(03:15):
What is it that I'm supposed tobe saying?
Otherwise, I'm just, you know,giving you a motivational speech
, which is fine, but I don'tthink that's what God wanted
when he wanted me to write thebook.
And once I prayed about it andbegan to ask the question, then
God took me through every singlechapter and I was processed.
And listen, that did not happenovernight.
(03:35):
For the last three years,actually, I have been processed
by God.
I have been walking through theprocess of healing and
realizing that things like meputting up a wall of protection
for myself so I don't get hurtthat actually impacts not just
me as a person and the peoplearound me, but how I lead Me
being friendly but not open.
(03:58):
That impacts how I lead.
So I walked through the process.
I dealt with some things thatsome things I didn't even know
was there, but some things thatI just really had to deal with.
And listen, I am verytransparent.
I can't even believe I'mtelling y'all my business.
Oh my gosh, the first twochapters.
I just reread it the other dayin preparation for this episode
(04:19):
and I was like, oh my gosh, Ican't believe I told y'all all
my business like this.
But I put it out there becauseI believe that God is going to
use this book to help others, tohelp someone out there, even if
it's just one person, to leadbetter and understand that God
is with them.
And so that is the bookEquipped by God Graced to Lead.
(04:56):
Again, I'll put the links in theshow notes.
I would love for you to supportme and purchase the book, but
let me tell you let episodewhere I talked about you know.
It's about equipping women tobe Graced by God, whether you
lead in the boardroom, you leadin your home, you lead in your
business, you lead in ministry.
I talked about all of that, andso I have been really
(05:17):
consistent and very proud ofmyself for pushing forward.
We've have over a thousanddownloads now.
That's more than what I everthought.
I really wasn't chasing aspecific number or anything, I
was just being obedient.
But let me tell you, when yousay that you're being obedient
to something, isn't it like Godto change up things as you go?
(05:37):
And so lately God has beenchanging my message a little bit
and I'm telling y'all it isuncomfortable.
So remember I just said thatyou know how I started, but
where God is taking me now isslightly different.
I still am talking about womenin leadership and influence
positions who are Graced forthose positions by God.
(06:01):
I still believe in the fact that, as women who are believers,
that we don't need to separateour faith walk from our
leadership walk and ourleadership journey.
I wholeheartedly, now more thanever, understand that we are
not meant to lead alone.
There should be no leading inisolation, and we know that I
(06:22):
think I've shared that in aprevious episode that lots of
women, when you get toparticular positions, the higher
you go, the more difficult itis to find community and why
that's important.
But now more than ever, god isputting in my heart this desire
to make sure that women who arein positions of influence and
leadership have everything thatthey need, are equipped in every
(06:46):
way to walk their faith out intheir positions because God has
called us to walk literallyaffect the environment we're in,
because he needs people to belight carriers in what is really
can be a dark world.
(07:07):
These assignments that you,these places you find yourself
in whether you are a manager, aCEO, whether you are a business
owner, whether you are inministry, whether you are a
business owner, whether you arein ministry, whether you're
leading a ministry or anonprofit organization, if you
are an independent consultantand you are coming in as an
(07:29):
expert, if you are leading inyour family Because, listen, I
understand it's like in my houseI am a married woman, my
husband is the head of ourhousehold, but I am responsible
for influencing my family andleading in some spaces that God
has placed me in within my homefor my children, and so all of
those positions that we findourselves in, those are not by
(07:52):
accident.
God has uniquely chosen each ofus for a specific task and we
and you know, many of themessages of previous podcasts
has said this, but I just feelthat there's some, some women
listening right now, who are injobs, and you're like Lord, why
am I here?
These people are crazy.
What is happening?
Things are falling around me,and perhaps it's because God has
(08:15):
placed you there, because youwill be the one to influence and
impact the space that you're in, and so what's been happening
is my, what I thought I wasgoing to be doing.
As it relates to the Graced toLead podcast and Graced to Lead
in general, the company that Ihave is called.
One of the companies is calledthe Graced to Lead Collective.
(08:35):
That's what's related to thispodcast.
I do coaching, I do speaking,but all of the purpose has kind
of shifted and y'all that'suncomfortable.
And so if you are in a placeright now where you're like I am
doing what God told me to do,I'm feeling great about it, and
then God's like yeah, I know Itold you to do this thing over
(08:56):
here, but now I need you to moveand do this over here.
Or now I need you to move anddo this over here.
Or now I need you to shift yourmessage a little.
Or now I need you to.
You know, I know I told you towrite that book, for instance,
but now I need you to go speakover here to this group of
people.
Well, I know I told you tostart that consulting business,
but now I need you to go overhere and I need you to work for
this company right now.
(09:16):
If you are in a place where youfeel like you're being shifted
midway, let me tell you first,you're not alone.
And two, if you lean into theshift and are obedient, some
amazing things can begin tohappen.
So let me talk.
Let me give you an exampleusing the book.
So I was really excited tofinally have this book out right
(09:40):
, and I thought that what wouldhappen is I would release the
book and my platform would bereally.
You know, I say platformloosely, but what I would be
talking about is a lot of thecontent in the book and what God
is doing right now iscompletely different.
And yes, I'm going to betalking about the content of the
book and what God is doingright now is completely
(10:01):
different.
Yes, I'm going to be talkingabout the content of the book.
The book is really the tenetsof what I talk about on this
podcast, but God is showing menow.
There's a little bit more Ihave to do.
There's some workshops I needto do, there's some devotions I
need to do and, honestly, thetalk about leadership is
important, but I feel Godcalling me into a place of
(10:22):
talking more about the faithwalk in leadership, which is
slightly different than what I,because, listen, you know it's
unless you deal with stuff inyour heart, and you can't deal
with stuff in your heart unlessyou bring it to God and, hey,
(10:46):
you might need therapy.
When you start talking likethat, that's not necessarily the
feel good stuff, that's notnecessarily the you can do it
stuff, which is what I thought Iwas going to be the champion of
Right.
I am slowly realizing that Godis calling me to have some more
difficult, deeper conversations,and that is not at all why I
(11:07):
got into this.
I wanted to, you know, I wantedto say honestly I'm obedient
and that was great.
So I did it.
But I also wanted to have somefun and I wanted to be like you
know the podcast you come to andyou can laugh a little bit, I
mean, and I think that, becauseI know I sound crazy y'all the
whole point is even, as I'msaying, as I'm talking to you
(11:30):
right now, I had some notes andI am not on any of my notes
right now, but listen, even asI'm talking to you, God is
changing my conversation.
He's changing what I'm sayingand what I am trying to get at
here is that it happens that wayon your journey, on your walk,
(11:51):
even in your careers.
I know some people who startedout.
I work in the space of publichealth and I know that there's
some people who started outsaying you know, I am going to
change the world by having thisjob and doing this work.
And over the course of theircareers they're now finding
themselves shifting.
Maybe some of them moved intotechnology.
Maybe some of them are beingcalled to lead nonprofit
(12:14):
organizations and we weretalking about public health but
also becoming.
Now I've seen some folks whoare getting into the world of
political activism, right andsocial activism.
How do you handle the shift whenyou start doing what you know
or what you believe God wantsyou to do, when you start
leading well, when you startfeeling confident about that
(12:35):
thing, and then God shifts it?
That's the question.
How do you handle that?
It can be difficult.
So I'm going to talk a littlebit about that and then I'm
going to stop talking y'all, butlet me just tell you, the first
thing that you feel, at leastfor me, is fear and uncertainty.
(12:57):
You finally have your systemstogether.
Uncertainty.
You finally have your systemstogether.
You finally have a way of doingwhat God has asked you to do.
You finally have that bookwritten.
You finally get that businessplan and you're moving along in
the business.
You finally find your footingin your job.
You kind of have navigated thespace and you understand how
things work.
You finally have put up thesystem for your household and
(13:21):
everything seems to be workingwell.
And then God says, yeah, that'sgreat.
Now it's time to shift.
We're going to do somethingelse.
Now what you feel initially iswhat?
But I don't, I can't do that, Idon't know how to do that.
That's not what we agreed upon,that's not what you promised me
(13:43):
, that's not what you said.
And it becomes a scary thingbecause, quite frankly, the
scariest part about obedience issubmission to the unknown.
You're submitting to like well,I don't know about this, but
I'm going to go anyway.
What?
That's what it feels like andhonestly it's easy to say, oh, I
(14:08):
trust the Lord, but real talk,you're like for me.
I'm going to talk about myself.
Real talk is like, but for realLord, like I me, I'm going to
talk about myself.
Real talk is like, but for realLord, like I mean I trust you
or whatever right, it's fear.
And so what I am learningthrough this process for me is
what's helping is acknowledgingthat.
(14:29):
Acknowledging I don't knowabout this, I'm uncertain about
this, I'm afraid, and because Ihave a community now and listen,
if you don't have a community,go back and listen to that
Leading in Isolation episode.
You cannot I repeat, you cannotdo this alone, because I have
my advisory board, which I talkabout in the book.
(14:51):
I have my council of wisdom.
I can go to them and say,listen, this is what I hear God
saying and I'm scared, I'muncomfortable, and in every
instance when I've done thatparticularly now because this is
happening in real time y'all Iget a word of advice or wisdom
(15:11):
that's rational and that soundthat helps me understand that.
Ok, all right, I can go inspite of my fear.
Right, you know what else youfeel besides that kind of fear
and hesitation and unknown isyou immediately begin to realize
that you don't have theresources to do the other thing.
So, like I've built a systemfor this podcast, I have the
(15:34):
book written, I have my coachingprogram established.
Those are great, right, they'redone.
I can do those things.
But when God is telling me nowokay, well, this is great, but I
want you to do more Biblestudies, y'all Bible studies.
You want me to do Bible studieson leadership?
Now, really, in addition to thepodcast, you want me to have an
(15:56):
actual gathering, communitygathering, with women who lead
in an intimate space, and you'regiving me all these details
that in some cases, go againstwhat we're known when we gather.
And the first thing I think islike Lord, who has the resources
with this?
You know how much eggs cost,lord?
You know I have two kids incollege.
(16:19):
You know how much collegetuition is.
I have a child in middle school.
You know how much these schoolfees are.
Like Lord, are you sure?
Like how is all of thissupposed to happen?
I don't have the resources.
I think I need to go back toschool again.
I don't know if I'm equippedfor this.
Right, that's the second thingI've been feeling lately, and
(16:40):
what I was reminded of again bymy advisory council is listen,
you didn't have the resources tostart the other things that you
did.
I didn't have the resources orthe knowledge even to start a
podcast.
I didn't have the resources toinvest in my coaching
certification, I didn't have theknowledge on how to get
(17:00):
published or how to publish abook, but God provided as I went
.
And so that's the reminder that, even in this shift, even for
you, if God is shifting you, ifyou've been doing one thing all
this time and you feel this move, this stirring, if you've been
doing one thing all this timeand you feel this move, this
(17:21):
stirring, this feeling of I needto be doing something else and
you're worried about theresources, just do the one step,
do the thing first, the firstthing, and watch God provide,
especially if he has given thatto you as an assignment.
I have a friend right now whoworks in.
She was a nurse for many, manyyears, a really good nurse, and
(17:43):
she is at a place in her liferight now where, all of a sudden
, she's passionate about food,y'all food, growing food,
healthy food, gardening tips andshe started out just I going to
plant this thing.
But now God is really givingher a passion for it because she
feels passionately aboutpreservatives and she's tied it
(18:03):
to her work and what she's seenin the nurse as she was nursing
for all these years and she'sout here doing that thing and
people think she's crazy.
Ma'am, you are a nurse and shewas in leadership in nursing
like she wasn't.
You know, she was living realnice, she had a real what they
say, a real good salary, allthat thing.
But God shifted her into thisnew space and she was saying how
(18:27):
?
She didn't even have the spaceto garden, how is she going to
talk about gardening andgardening tips?
And has now acquired space.
God has just provided thisthing so much for her that she
has acres of land that she canuse to garden on.
And it came out of the mostunexpected ways and I can't
really give all the detailsbecause I don't want to tell her
business.
But listen, the point is thatGod provided as she stepped out
(18:50):
there and even as people arelooking at her like she's crazy,
she's still moving forward.
God will do that for you.
So if you're feeling shiftedmidway, if you're being turned
around and saying no, and evenif, even if you have something
that's incredibly successfulright now, something that's
(19:11):
going really well for you, andyou feel the shift happening,
you feel a tug like, oh, this isnot.
I need to be moving into someother place.
Can I just tell you to be freeto move with God.
What are you holding on to?
If God built the first thing,can't he help you build the next
thing, even if it doesn't makesense to other people?
(19:31):
Part of it is is also that wehave to keep our mouths closed.
I'm over here telling y'allabout my transition.
I haven't exactly told youeverything, but I'm telling you
about my transition right nowbecause I believe that that's
what God.
I'm not on my notes at all soclearly.
This is what we're supposed tobe talking about.
I started this episode to talkabout the book and and God's
(19:53):
taking me in a differentdirection.
But sometimes, though, when Godgives us ideas and says, hey,
we need, I need you totransition into something else,
or, you know, put something inyour heart to move on.
You don't need to tell anybody,maybe your trusted advisors,
but maybe you keep it toyourself and you move in silence
.
That's, you know, you move insilence until God releases you
(20:18):
to speak about it.
Because, let me tell you,sometimes you can tell somebody
something oh, I'm transitioningfrom, you know, working in this
corporate setting to going outon my own and people be like
you're crazy.
Don't do it, girl.
They put fear in you.
Right, you're working as ateacher and you really want to
sing.
God says I need your voice, Ineed you to sing.
(20:41):
You know how many people try togo into the arts and
entertainment industry and theyfail.
Don't do it, girl.
Sometimes you have to do itquietly, with God, until he
releases, until he sendssomebody along and says hey, I
noticed this thing about you.
Can I help you?
Right?
And the last thing I want tosay and I'm going to stop
talking is that God will indeedsend you help.
(21:04):
It's amazing how, once I let goand I said, okay, I'm going to
do this podcast and it's notgoing to be perfect I don't have
a podcast studio, I'm not evenquite doing video for all of the
episodes and I haven't evenreleased video for the episodes.
I'm not doing the things thatthey tell you in the podcast
university to get you know ahundred thousand downloads and
(21:26):
you know your name and life.
I'm not doing all of that, butI'm doing this because I believe
that's what I'm supposed to bedoing.
Believe that's what I'msupposed to be doing.
And oh, by the way God's nowsaying okay, write the book.
So I get the book done.
So I did the book, and now hetold me something else.
But let me just tell you, alongevery step of the journey here,
god has sent me help.
Help in the form, literally, ofpeople that have come up to me
(21:51):
and said you know, I just wantto help you with this, and not I
mean, some of them are doing sojust because God has assigned
them to do it, like they're notexpecting anything in return.
It's a blessing for them.
Whenever I've been stuck with Idon't know why this is
happening on my podcast Somebodywill come along and have a
conversation oh, you're havingthat issue.
(22:13):
Well, you know, I have apodcast too, and this is how I
handle it.
Or, oh, you're having someissues with your website.
Well, I know a great designer.
Let me just give you thisresource.
Let me just help you out.
Right?
God sends the.
I'm telling you, I have not beenin a situation where I have
felt like I don't know what todo.
(22:34):
I don't know how to dosomething, or I have this vision
, I don't know how to execute it.
When he didn't send the helpand I know that you know I have
a lot of coaches on here too.
God has actually sent me theright coach for the right season
too, just to help me get to thenext.
He will send the help.
And so if you are in the placeright now where you're feeling a
(22:58):
shift happening, a transitionhappening for what you know,
what you're confident in, whatyou've been doing, how you've
been doing something intosomething new, I am here to tell
you that perhaps the time tomove is now, because God has
need of you in this other space.
It's not by accident that youhave a new passion, a new dream,
(23:22):
a new idea in your heart.
But I'm telling you now, thetransition from that comfortable
space to this new and differentthing can be full of fear and
uncertainty.
It can be full of doubt, it canbe full of people saying girl,
you are crazy, listen here, whatare you doing.
(23:44):
But I'm here to tell you that,as I am even walking this
journey out right now, what Iunderstand is that God will
provide clarity as I go, so, asyou do the things, he'll provide
clarity If you are connectedand not working in isolation.
Your community can support you,the right people can support
(24:05):
you in the right way, andsometimes those people are not
your family members, listen herenot your best girlfriend from
the eighth grade either, justputting that out there.
That might be a differentconversation, and I can
wholeheartedly say that theresources will come, that he
will put what you need in frontof you, as long as you're paying
(24:27):
attention.
Let me tell you, some of thepeople that came along to help
are the last people.
I thought that would help me.
Some of the ways he's providedare the last ways that I thought
it would come, but it came, andso that's all I have for you
today.
Wait, let me go back to the book, because that was the whole
point of this.
I want to talk to you about thebook Equipped by God, Graced to
(24:49):
Lead.
Listen, do me a favor and goand purchase one.
It's on Amazon and Barnes andNoble, and again, you can go to
my website, belindagastoncom.
If you can't find it there.
It's in a Kindle form right nowand a paperback, looking to get
it on Audible as well, so thatthose of you who are like me,
who listen to your books in thecar on the way to your different
(25:10):
destinations, you'll be able tolisten to it soon, but go ahead
and get the book for me.
Listen, I'm nervous about thisthing because I'm transparent in
the book.
It's not perfect.
I was reading it and I was like, oh, I should have said it this
way or that way.
But I pray over every chapter.
I pray that every person whoreceived this book, who actually
(25:31):
picked it up and began to readit, would find something in it
that would help them.
If it's not going to help you,maybe it'll help somebody.
You know and listen, y'all,don't judge me for those first
couple of chapters, and I'mtelling y'all about myself.
Okay, I'm being honest Because,listen, you can't judge a book
by its cover.
So you know, what you see isnot always what you see, right,
(25:53):
and I'll just say that if you dopurchase the book and you like
it, I would love for you to giveme, you know, write a quick
review of the book.
Help me out.
And if you get your book, do mea favor, let me know, take a
picture of it, tag me.
I'm on Facebook and Instagramat.
I am Belinda Gaston, so you canfind me there.
(26:15):
All of the links andinformation will be in the
description box for this episode.
This was, again, not what Iexpected to say, but I'm being
obedient, listeningtransitioning.
Next week, we're back with anamazing interview.
We're wrapping up season two,y'all.
I've got a couple episodes left.
We have, I think, two amazinginterviews coming up.
(26:38):
So remember, you can find usevery Thursday.
I have had some technologychallenges so I've been a little
bit late on Thursdays, buthopefully we have remedied all
of those things.
Thank you, thank you, thank youfor your support For those of
you who listen to the Graced toLead podcast.
I appreciate you.
I don't take your listeninglightly.
There's a podcast on everyplatform doing everything now,
(26:59):
and I understand that you can dosomething else with your time.
So thank you for listeningUntil we see each other again,
until we meet each other againnext week.
Remember, you are indeed Gracedto lead.
Bye-bye.
Hey, listen, this episode was supposed to be
about my book.
Yes, I have a new book,Equipped God to.
Lead Graced to Lead.
, but as I began talking, godtook me off my notes and I
started talking about transition.
I talked about what happenswhen you are comfortable doing
what you're doing and Godchanges the direction of what
(00:22):
you are doing and now you haveto go in a different direction.
So, if you are ready, let's getinto it.
Welcome to the Graced to Leadpodcast.
I'm Belinda Gaston, your host,and listen, today I have
(00:45):
something exciting to share, andthat is I am an author.
Yes, I'm excited, I'm an author.
I have my first book out now,called Equipped by God.
Graced to Lead.
.
You can find it on Amazon andBarnes and Noble.
You can also goThe book really is about my
(01:10):
journey that God has taken methrough to this place of
leadership.
It's written for the woman whois leading or influencing in
spaces that you feel like maybeyou're not confident in, you're
not qualified for, maybe you areunsure about some things and
there's some things in yourheart that might be hindering
(01:31):
you from feeling like thatyou're equipped for the
positions you're in.
Perhaps there have been somethings that's happened that made
you distrust people or feelabandoned or feel like you had
to put up a wall to protectyourself.
I talk about all of this in thebook and I start really with my
story because, listen y'all, Iwrote this book about four or
(01:51):
five years ago now and I wroteit all in one day because I felt
like, oh God wants me to writethis book, I'm just going to get
it done.
And then the book just reallysat.
I had an editor, I sent thatinformation to her and her
publishing company and she said,hey, this is great, let's do it
(02:12):
.
And she began to ask mequestions about the book that I
just couldn't answer and it wassimple questions.
There were things that I wrotethat were very surface initially
, and this is just real talk.
So if you're writing a book,you know this idea.
Let me tell you, sometimes wedon't go deep enough.
So my book, if I'm honest withyou and honest with myself, the
first iteration of this book wasfull of just catchy cliches and
(02:33):
like sayings and motivationaltalk.
Right, it really was, until Godtook me on this process of
going deeper, because I knowthat everybody can be an expert
these days, right, everybody canjust say I'm an expert in
whatever.
But I couldn't actually tellyou hey, you know, you can be a
better leader if you deal withyour feelings of I don't know
(02:55):
abandonment, if I hadn't walkedthrough that process myself.
And so questions like tell memore about this, or questions
like this seems kind of surface.
Why write this?
What's behind all of this?
Those are the questions that myeditor asked me.
That caused me to really godeeper, and so I had to pray
like Lord.
(03:15):
What is it that I'm supposed tobe saying?
Otherwise, I'm just, you know,giving you a motivational speech
, which is fine, but I don'tthink that's what God wanted
when he wanted me to write thebook.
And once I prayed about it andbegan to ask the question, then
God took me through every singlechapter and I was processed.
And listen, that did not happenovernight.
(03:35):
For the last three years,actually, I have been processed
by God.
I have been walking through theprocess of healing and
realizing that things like meputting up a wall of protection
for myself so I don't get hurtthat actually impacts not just
me as a person and the peoplearound me, but how I lead Me
being friendly but not open.
(03:58):
That impacts how I lead.
So I walked through the process.
I dealt with some things thatsome things I didn't even know
was there, but some things thatI just really had to deal with.
And listen, I am verytransparent.
I can't even believe I'mtelling y'all my business.
Oh my gosh, the first twochapters.
I just reread it the other dayin preparation for this episode
(04:19):
and I was like, oh my gosh, Ican't believe I told y'all all
my business like this.
But I put it out there becauseI believe that God is going to
use this book to help others, tohelp someone out there, even if
it's just one person, to leadbetter and understand that God
is with them.
And so that is the bookEquipped by God Graced to Lead.
(04:56):
Again, I'll put the links in theshow notes.
I would love for you to supportme and purchase the book, but
let me tell you let episodewhere I talked about you know.
It's about equipping women tobe Graced by God, whether you
lead in the boardroom, you leadin your home, you lead in your
business, you lead in ministry.
I talked about all of that, andso I have been really
(05:17):
consistent and very proud ofmyself for pushing forward.
We've have over a thousanddownloads now.
That's more than what I everthought.
I really wasn't chasing aspecific number or anything, I
was just being obedient.
But let me tell you, when yousay that you're being obedient
to something, isn't it like Godto change up things as you go?
(05:37):
And so lately God has beenchanging my message a little bit
and I'm telling y'all it isuncomfortable.
So remember I just said thatyou know how I started, but
where God is taking me now isslightly different.
I still am talking about womenin leadership and influence
positions who are Graced forthose positions by God.
(06:01):
I still believe in the fact that, as women who are believers,
that we don't need to separateour faith walk from our
leadership walk and ourleadership journey.
I wholeheartedly, now more thanever, understand that we are
not meant to lead alone.
There should be no leading inisolation, and we know that I
(06:22):
think I've shared that in aprevious episode that lots of
women, when you get toparticular positions, the higher
you go, the more difficult itis to find community and why
that's important.
But now more than ever, god isputting in my heart this desire
to make sure that women who arein positions of influence and
leadership have everything thatthey need, are equipped in every
(06:46):
way to walk their faith out intheir positions because God has
called us to walk literallyaffect the environment we're in,
because he needs people to belight carriers in what is really
can be a dark world.
(07:07):
These assignments that you,these places you find yourself
in whether you are a manager, aCEO, whether you are a business
owner, whether you are inministry, whether you are a
business owner, whether you arein ministry, whether you're
leading a ministry or anonprofit organization, if you
are an independent consultantand you are coming in as an
(07:29):
expert, if you are leading inyour family Because, listen, I
understand it's like in my houseI am a married woman, my
husband is the head of ourhousehold, but I am responsible
for influencing my family andleading in some spaces that God
has placed me in within my homefor my children, and so all of
those positions that we findourselves in, those are not by
(07:52):
accident.
God has uniquely chosen each ofus for a specific task and we
and you know, many of themessages of previous podcasts
has said this, but I just feelthat there's some, some women
listening right now, who are injobs, and you're like Lord, why
am I here?
These people are crazy.
What is happening?
Things are falling around me,and perhaps it's because God has
(08:15):
placed you there, because youwill be the one to influence and
impact the space that you're in, and so what's been happening
is my, what I thought I wasgoing to be doing.
As it relates to the Graced toLead podcast and Graced to Lead
in general, the company that Ihave is called.
One of the companies is calledthe Graced to Lead Collective.
(08:35):
That's what's related to thispodcast.
I do coaching, I do speaking,but all of the purpose has kind
of shifted and y'all that'suncomfortable.
And so if you are in a placeright now where you're like I am
doing what God told me to do,I'm feeling great about it, and
then God's like yeah, I know Itold you to do this thing over
(08:56):
here, but now I need you to moveand do this over here.
Or now I need you to move anddo this over here.
Or now I need you to shift yourmessage a little.
Or now I need you to.
You know, I know I told you towrite that book, for instance,
but now I need you to go speakover here to this group of
people.
Well, I know I told you tostart that consulting business,
but now I need you to go overhere and I need you to work for
this company right now.
(09:16):
If you are in a place where youfeel like you're being shifted
midway, let me tell you first,you're not alone.
And two, if you lean into theshift and are obedient, some
amazing things can begin tohappen.
So let me talk.
Let me give you an exampleusing the book.
So I was really excited tofinally have this book out right
(09:40):
, and I thought that what wouldhappen is I would release the
book and my platform would bereally.
You know, I say platformloosely, but what I would be
talking about is a lot of thecontent in the book and what God
is doing right now iscompletely different.
And yes, I'm going to betalking about the content of the
book and what God is doingright now is completely
(10:01):
different.
Yes, I'm going to be talkingabout the content of the book.
The book is really the tenetsof what I talk about on this
podcast, but God is showing menow.
There's a little bit more Ihave to do.
There's some workshops I needto do, there's some devotions I
need to do and, honestly, thetalk about leadership is
important, but I feel Godcalling me into a place of
(10:22):
talking more about the faithwalk in leadership, which is
slightly different than what I,because, listen, you know it's
unless you deal with stuff inyour heart, and you can't deal
with stuff in your heart unlessyou bring it to God and, hey,
(10:46):
you might need therapy.
When you start talking likethat, that's not necessarily the
feel good stuff, that's notnecessarily the you can do it
stuff, which is what I thought Iwas going to be the champion of
Right.
I am slowly realizing that Godis calling me to have some more
difficult, deeper conversations,and that is not at all why I
(11:07):
got into this.
I wanted to, you know, I wantedto say honestly I'm obedient
and that was great.
So I did it.
But I also wanted to have somefun and I wanted to be like you
know the podcast you come to andyou can laugh a little bit, I
mean, and I think that, becauseI know I sound crazy y'all the
whole point is even, as I'msaying, as I'm talking to you
(11:30):
right now, I had some notes andI am not on any of my notes
right now, but listen, even asI'm talking to you, God is
changing my conversation.
He's changing what I'm sayingand what I am trying to get at
here is that it happens that wayon your journey, on your walk,
(11:51):
even in your careers.
I know some people who startedout.
I work in the space of publichealth and I know that there's
some people who started outsaying you know, I am going to
change the world by having thisjob and doing this work.
And over the course of theircareers they're now finding
themselves shifting.
Maybe some of them moved intotechnology.
Maybe some of them are beingcalled to lead nonprofit
(12:14):
organizations and we weretalking about public health but
also becoming.
Now I've seen some folks whoare getting into the world of
political activism, right andsocial activism.
How do you handle the shift whenyou start doing what you know
or what you believe God wantsyou to do, when you start
leading well, when you startfeeling confident about that
(12:35):
thing, and then God shifts it?
That's the question.
How do you handle that?
It can be difficult.
So I'm going to talk a littlebit about that and then I'm
going to stop talking y'all, butlet me just tell you, the first
thing that you feel, at leastfor me, is fear and uncertainty.
(12:57):
You finally have your systemstogether.
Uncertainty.
You finally have your systemstogether.
You finally have a way of doingwhat God has asked you to do.
You finally have that bookwritten.
You finally get that businessplan and you're moving along in
the business.
You finally find your footingin your job.
You kind of have navigated thespace and you understand how
things work.
You finally have put up thesystem for your household and
(13:21):
everything seems to be workingwell.
And then God says, yeah, that'sgreat.
Now it's time to shift.
We're going to do somethingelse.
Now what you feel initially iswhat?
But I don't, I can't do that, Idon't know how to do that.
That's not what we agreed upon,that's not what you promised me
(13:43):
, that's not what you said.
And it becomes a scary thingbecause, quite frankly, the
scariest part about obedience issubmission to the unknown.
You're submitting to like well,I don't know about this, but
I'm going to go anyway.
What?
That's what it feels like andhonestly it's easy to say, oh, I
(14:08):
trust the Lord, but real talk,you're like for me.
I'm going to talk about myself.
Real talk is like, but for realLord, like I me, I'm going to
talk about myself.
Real talk is like, but for realLord, like I mean I trust you
or whatever right, it's fear.
And so what I am learningthrough this process for me is
what's helping is acknowledgingthat.
(14:29):
Acknowledging I don't knowabout this, I'm uncertain about
this, I'm afraid, and because Ihave a community now and listen,
if you don't have a community,go back and listen to that
Leading in Isolation episode.
You cannot I repeat, you cannotdo this alone, because I have
my advisory board, which I talkabout in the book.
(14:51):
I have my council of wisdom.
I can go to them and say,listen, this is what I hear God
saying and I'm scared, I'muncomfortable, and in every
instance when I've done thatparticularly now because this is
happening in real time y'all Iget a word of advice or wisdom
(15:11):
that's rational and that soundthat helps me understand that.
Ok, all right, I can go inspite of my fear.
Right, you know what else youfeel besides that kind of fear
and hesitation and unknown isyou immediately begin to realize
that you don't have theresources to do the other thing.
So, like I've built a systemfor this podcast, I have the
(15:34):
book written, I have my coachingprogram established.
Those are great, right, they'redone.
I can do those things.
But when God is telling me nowokay, well, this is great, but I
want you to do more Biblestudies, y'all Bible studies.
You want me to do Bible studieson leadership?
Now, really, in addition to thepodcast, you want me to have an
(15:56):
actual gathering, communitygathering, with women who lead
in an intimate space, and you'regiving me all these details
that in some cases, go againstwhat we're known when we gather.
And the first thing I think islike Lord, who has the resources
with this?
You know how much eggs cost,lord?
You know I have two kids incollege.
(16:19):
You know how much collegetuition is.
I have a child in middle school.
You know how much these schoolfees are.
Like Lord, are you sure?
Like how is all of thissupposed to happen?
I don't have the resources.
I think I need to go back toschool again.
I don't know if I'm equippedfor this.
Right, that's the second thingI've been feeling lately, and
(16:40):
what I was reminded of again bymy advisory council is listen,
you didn't have the resources tostart the other things that you
did.
I didn't have the resources orthe knowledge even to start a
podcast.
I didn't have the resources toinvest in my coaching
certification, I didn't have theknowledge on how to get
(17:00):
published or how to publish abook, but God provided as I went
.
And so that's the reminder that, even in this shift, even for
you, if God is shifting you, ifyou've been doing one thing all
this time and you feel this move, this stirring, if you've been
doing one thing all this timeand you feel this move, this
(17:21):
stirring, this feeling of I needto be doing something else and
you're worried about theresources, just do the one step,
do the thing first, the firstthing, and watch God provide,
especially if he has given thatto you as an assignment.
I have a friend right now whoworks in.
She was a nurse for many, manyyears, a really good nurse, and
(17:43):
she is at a place in her liferight now where, all of a sudden
, she's passionate about food,y'all food, growing food,
healthy food, gardening tips andshe started out just I going to
plant this thing.
But now God is really givingher a passion for it because she
feels passionately aboutpreservatives and she's tied it
(18:03):
to her work and what she's seenin the nurse as she was nursing
for all these years and she'sout here doing that thing and
people think she's crazy.
Ma'am, you are a nurse and shewas in leadership in nursing
like she wasn't.
You know, she was living realnice, she had a real what they
say, a real good salary, allthat thing.
But God shifted her into thisnew space and she was saying how
(18:27):
?
She didn't even have the spaceto garden, how is she going to
talk about gardening andgardening tips?
And has now acquired space.
God has just provided thisthing so much for her that she
has acres of land that she canuse to garden on.
And it came out of the mostunexpected ways and I can't
really give all the detailsbecause I don't want to tell her
business.
But listen, the point is thatGod provided as she stepped out
(18:50):
there and even as people arelooking at her like she's crazy,
she's still moving forward.
God will do that for you.
So if you're feeling shiftedmidway, if you're being turned
around and saying no, and evenif, even if you have something
that's incredibly successfulright now, something that's
(19:11):
going really well for you, andyou feel the shift happening,
you feel a tug like, oh, this isnot.
I need to be moving into someother place.
Can I just tell you to be freeto move with God.
What are you holding on to?
If God built the first thing,can't he help you build the next
thing, even if it doesn't makesense to other people?
(19:31):
Part of it is is also that wehave to keep our mouths closed.
I'm over here telling y'allabout my transition.
I haven't exactly told youeverything, but I'm telling you
about my transition right nowbecause I believe that that's
what God.
I'm not on my notes at all soclearly.
This is what we're supposed tobe talking about.
I started this episode to talkabout the book and and God's
(19:53):
taking me in a differentdirection.
But sometimes, though, when Godgives us ideas and says, hey,
we need, I need you totransition into something else,
or, you know, put something inyour heart to move on.
You don't need to tell anybody,maybe your trusted advisors,
but maybe you keep it toyourself and you move in silence
.
That's, you know, you move insilence until God releases you
(20:18):
to speak about it.
Because, let me tell you,sometimes you can tell somebody
something oh, I'm transitioningfrom, you know, working in this
corporate setting to going outon my own and people be like
you're crazy.
Don't do it, girl.
They put fear in you.
Right, you're working as ateacher and you really want to
sing.
God says I need your voice, Ineed you to sing.
(20:41):
You know how many people try togo into the arts and
entertainment industry and theyfail.
Don't do it, girl.
Sometimes you have to do itquietly, with God, until he
releases, until he sendssomebody along and says hey, I
noticed this thing about you.
Can I help you?
Right?
And the last thing I want tosay and I'm going to stop
talking is that God will indeedsend you help.
(21:04):
It's amazing how, once I let goand I said, okay, I'm going to
do this podcast and it's notgoing to be perfect I don't have
a podcast studio, I'm not evenquite doing video for all of the
episodes and I haven't evenreleased video for the episodes.
I'm not doing the things thatthey tell you in the podcast
university to get you know ahundred thousand downloads and
(21:26):
you know your name and life.
I'm not doing all of that, butI'm doing this because I believe
that's what I'm supposed to bedoing.
Believe that's what I'msupposed to be doing.
And oh, by the way God's nowsaying okay, write the book.
So I get the book done.
So I did the book, and now hetold me something else.
But let me just tell you, alongevery step of the journey here,
god has sent me help.
Help in the form, literally, ofpeople that have come up to me
(21:51):
and said you know, I just wantto help you with this, and not I
mean, some of them are doing sojust because God has assigned
them to do it, like they're notexpecting anything in return.
It's a blessing for them.
Whenever I've been stuck with Idon't know why this is
happening on my podcast Somebodywill come along and have a
conversation oh, you're havingthat issue.
(22:13):
Well, you know, I have apodcast too, and this is how I
handle it.
Or, oh, you're having someissues with your website.
Well, I know a great designer.
Let me just give you thisresource.
Let me just help you out.
Right?
God sends the.
I'm telling you, I have not beenin a situation where I have
felt like I don't know what todo.
(22:34):
I don't know how to dosomething, or I have this vision
, I don't know how to execute it.
When he didn't send the helpand I know that you know I have
a lot of coaches on here too.
God has actually sent me theright coach for the right season
too, just to help me get to thenext.
He will send the help.
And so if you are in the placeright now where you're feeling a
(22:58):
shift happening, a transitionhappening for what you know,
what you're confident in, whatyou've been doing, how you've
been doing something intosomething new, I am here to tell
you that perhaps the time tomove is now, because God has
need of you in this other space.
It's not by accident that youhave a new passion, a new dream,
(23:22):
a new idea in your heart.
But I'm telling you now, thetransition from that comfortable
space to this new and differentthing can be full of fear and
uncertainty.
It can be full of doubt, it canbe full of people saying girl,
you are crazy, listen here, whatare you doing.
(23:44):
But I'm here to tell you that,as I am even walking this
journey out right now, what Iunderstand is that God will
provide clarity as I go, so, asyou do the things, he'll provide
clarity If you are connectedand not working in isolation.
Your community can support you,the right people can support
(24:05):
you in the right way, andsometimes those people are not
your family members, listen herenot your best girlfriend from
the eighth grade either, justputting that out there.
That might be a differentconversation, and I can
wholeheartedly say that theresources will come, that he
will put what you need in frontof you, as long as you're paying
(24:27):
attention.
Let me tell you, some of thepeople that came along to help
are the last people.
I thought that would help me.
Some of the ways he's providedare the last ways that I thought
it would come, but it came, andso that's all I have for you
today.
Wait, let me go back to the book, because that was the whole
point of this.
I want to talk to you about thebook Equipped by God, Graced to
(24:49):
Lead.
Listen, do me a favor and goand purchase one.
It's on Amazon and Barnes andNoble, and again, you can go to
my website, belindagastoncom.
If you can't find it there.
It's in a Kindle form right nowand a paperback, looking to get
it on Audible as well, so thatthose of you who are like me,
who listen to your books in thecar on the way to your different
(25:10):
destinations, you'll be able tolisten to it soon, but go ahead
and get the book for me.
Listen, I'm nervous about thisthing because I'm transparent in
the book.
It's not perfect.
I was reading it and I was like, oh, I should have said it this
way or that way.
But I pray over every chapter.
I pray that every person whoreceived this book, who actually
(25:31):
picked it up and began to readit, would find something in it
that would help them.
If it's not going to help you,maybe it'll help somebody.
You know and listen, y'all,don't judge me for those first
couple of chapters, and I'mtelling y'all about myself.
Okay, I'm being honest Because,listen, you can't judge a book
by its cover.
So you know, what you see isnot always what you see, right,
(25:53):
and I'll just say that if you dopurchase the book and you like
it, I would love for you to giveme, you know, write a quick
review of the book.
Help me out.
And if you get your book, do mea favor, let me know, take a
picture of it, tag me.
I'm on Facebook and Instagramat.
I am Belinda Gaston, so you canfind me there.
(26:15):
All of the links andinformation will be in the
description box for this episode.
This was, again, not what Iexpected to say, but I'm being
obedient, listeningtransitioning.
Next week, we're back with anamazing interview.
We're wrapping up season two,y'all.
I've got a couple episodes left.
We have, I think, two amazinginterviews coming up.
(26:38):
So remember, you can find usevery Thursday.
I have had some technologychallenges so I've been a little
bit late on Thursdays, buthopefully we have remedied all
of those things.
Thank you, thank you, thank youfor your support For those of
you who listen to the Graced toLead podcast.
I appreciate you.
I don't take your listeninglightly.
There's a podcast on everyplatform doing everything now,
(26:59):
and I understand that you can dosomething else with your time.
So thank you for listeningUntil we see each other again,
until we meet each other againnext week.
Remember, you are indeed Gracedto lead.
Bye-bye.
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