138 | Tired of Overthinking Your Calling? Partnering With God in Your Work

Find the full episode here: LivingOnPurposeInChrist.com/blog

What if your message could flow from peace instead of pressure? We explore the quiet shift from performing for approval to partnering with God in your work, your creativity, and your online presence. Instead of chasing confidence, we practice koinōnia (κοινωνία)—biblical partnership that turns content into worship and replaces comparison with companionship.

We start by naming the exhaustion so many women face—getting honest about the feeling and feelings of trying to sound polished while disconnected from the joy of walking with Jesus. Then we dig into the heart of alignment: asking better questions like “Holy Spirit, what are You inviting me into?” and “What is mine to say?” You’ll hear how the New Testament vision of koinōnia reframes your desk as a place of shared purpose with Christ.

From there, we get practical. God designed your brain, and He cares about your emotions. We explain how the amygdala triggers fear of judgment and how simple sensory anchors—using essential oils and aromatherapy—paired with prayer can quiet the inner critic. Through a gentle Aroma Freedom approach, you learn to name lies, breathe, and replace fear with biblical encouragement and Scripture-shaped clarity. This creates a fresh space for your devotions, allowing boldness to rise up even before you feel ready.

We close by inviting steady, Spirit-led creativity that feels like you: grounded, reverent, and consistent. Discernment guards your path, identity fuels your voice, and joy strengthens your walk. If something in you is stirring and you want help turning this insight into daily practice, book a free 15-minute discovery call at PaulaBehrens.com#discoverycall so we can pray, clarify, and see whether coaching fits your season. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a little biblical encouragement, and leave a review to help others find this conversation.

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Transcript

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Warm Welcome & Gentle Invitation

Paula Behrens 0:00

If you've ever stared at your screen, knowing God has put something inside you to share, but feel scattered, self-conscious, or unsure how to begin, this episode is for you. If you work from home, run a small business, lead a ministry, sell essential oils, coach women, write devotionals, or simply feel a quiet tug from the Lord to encourage others online, but you keep hesitating because you do not feel ready, this is for you. And I want you to listen all the way to the end today because I will be sharing a gentle next step you can take if you feel God's stirring within you. I

Discovery Call & Coaching Overview

Paula Behrens 0:34

want to invite you to book a free 15-minute discovery call with me to see if coaching might be a good fit for this season of your life. Not pressure, not hype, just clarity and prayerful support. Are you finding it challenging to maintain your spiritual practices or yearning for a more peaceful, God-aligned day? I'm Paula, and I've been there too. Balancing spiritual habits with a busy life can be difficult. I longed for a deeper connection with God but struggled with consistency. Then I found the perfect approach. If you seek simple ways to deepen your connection with God, this podcast is for you. Please take a moment to follow the show, leave a review, and share with your friends who need a little biblical encouragement today. Hey friend, I know how exhausting it can be to chase after a devotional routine that's just not working for you, constantly restarting with good intentions while fighting through distractions that keep pulling you away from God.

The Exhaustion Of Performance Culture

Paula Behrens 1:34

I've walked that path myself, that cycle of trying my best but falling short. That's precisely why I created the Aroma of Christ Coaching Hour. It's a sacred space where we work together to develop a peace reset utilizing a complementary essential oil sampler that I'll send to you ahead of our session. This unique approach will bring emotional alignment and clarity to your spiritual journey. Imagine stepping into a rhythm that truly refreshes your soul, anchoring you in God's presence for that lasting sense of calm you've been craving. This is your invitation to make it doable today. Turn your quiet time into a source of thriving faith. Save your seat now for an Aroma of Christ Coaching Hour plus peace reset at PaulaBehrens.com /coaching. That's Paula Behrens B E H R E N S .com /coaching (no spaces). It's time to start breathing peace into your walk with Jesus. All right, let's get started. Grab your Bible, dust off your journal, and cozy up to your favorite beverage and let's dive in. Today we're talking about something that I believe many Christian women quietly wrestle with. How to partner with God in your business, your creativity, and your calling without performing for the world. There's a difference between striving and partnering, you know. There's a difference between performing and co-creating with God. There's a difference between building a platform and building with the Lord. And many of us have been unknowingly trained by the culture to perform. We watch what others are doing, we measure ourselves, we tweak our voice, we polish and repolish. We try to sound professional, inspirational, strategic, impressive, and slowly, subtly, we disconnect from the simple joy of walking with God. The result is not usually loud failure, it's quiet exhaustion. You love Jesus, you want to reach others, you want your work to matter, but you feel heavy, scattered, inconsistent.

From Striving To Partnering With God

Paula Behrens 3:38

You start strong, and then the inner critic whispers, Who do you think you are? You are not ready yet. You need more training, you need better lighting, you need more followers, and so you pull back. But what if the real issue is not skill? What if it is alignment? Scripture tells us in Proverbs that when we acknowledge the Lord in all our ways, he makes our paths straight. Not when we acknowledge him occasionally, not when we consult him after we have already made our plans, but when we acknowledge him in all of our ways. That includes your creativity, that includes your Instagram caption, that includes your coaching offer. God is not just interested in your quiet time, he's interested in your content, he's interested in your confidence, he's interested in the way you show up in the world. Jesus said that apart from him, we can do nothing. That is not meant to shame us, it's meant to free us because it means we were never meant to create alone. When you try to build from pressure, it feels heavy. When you create from identity, it well, it feels lighter. That doesn't mean without effort, it means aligned. And I want to talk to you today about that shift because I'm preparing something special, a workshop that I believe will meet many of you right where you are. But today is not the workshop. Today is a stirring. I want you to begin asking a different question. Instead of asking, how do I grow faster? Ask, Holy Spirit, what are you inviting me into? Instead of asking, how do I compete? Ask, how do I partner? Instead of asking, how do I look confident, ask how do I rest in who I already am in Christ.

Koinōnia (κοινωνία): Partnership As Biblical Reality

Paula Behrens 5:39

There is a powerful Greek word in the New Testament that speaks directly into this. The word is koinōnia (κοινωνία). Koinōnia is often translated as fellowship, but it means more than coffee and conversation. It means participation, partnership, shared life, communion. In 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks about our koinōnia (κοινωνία) with Christ. In Philippians, he speaks of partnership in the gospel. It is the same root idea, not spectatorship, but participation. When we talk about partnering with God in our work, this is not poetic language, it is biblical reality. You are invited into koinōnia (κοινωνία) with Christ in your calling. This word paints a picture of shared investment, shared purpose, shared labor. It is not you striving while God watches, it is you walking while God leads, empowers, corrects, and comforts. In Acts, the early believers lived in koinōnia (κοινωνία) with one another and with the Lord. Their faith wasn't put into little compartments, it flowed into daily life, into work, into witness. Imagine what would change if you saw your own online presence not as a performance stage, but as a place of koinōnia (κοινωνία) with Christ. Imagine sitting down at your desk and whispering, Lord, what are we creating today? That small shift changes everything. Because performance is fueled by fear, but partnership is fueled by love. And this is where many Christian women get stuck. They love God deeply, they have beautiful hearts, they want to encourage others, but they feel self-conscious, they feel scattered. They start posting, then stop. They have ideas, but they do not follow through. And

Nervous System, Scent, And Calm

Paula Behrens 7:36

often the root is not laziness, it is nervous system overload. Now, I want to talk about something practical for a moment. Something that might surprise you. God created your brain. He understands how your body responds to stress. He understands how memory, scent, and emotion connect. Psalm 139 tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made. That includes your nervous system. When you feel anxious about showing up, your brain goes into protection mode. It is simply biology. There's a part of your brain called the amygdala. In simple terms, it's your alarm system. When it senses threat, whether that is real danger or simply the fear of judgment, it activates stress responses. Your heart rate increases, your thoughts race, you overanalyze. Your body cannot always tell the difference between a lion and a comment section. But here is the beautiful part. God also designed your brain to calm down through sensory input. Scent is directly connected to the limbic system, which processes emotion and memory. When

Aroma Freedom And Prayerful Rewiring

Paula Behrens 8:53

you inhale a familiar, grounding aroma like certain therapeutic -grade essential oils, it can signal safety to your brain. That's what we do in our online coaching sessions using the Aroma Freedom technique, which is a gentle process that pairs prayerful reflection with calming sensory anchors. You pause, you breathe in a specific aroma, you invite the Holy Spirit into the moment, you identify the fear or limiting belief, and then you replace it with truth. It's not mystical, it's not new age. It is grounded in how God designed the brain. Neuroscience shows that repetition rewires the pathways. The brain forms new neural connections when we repeatedly practice new responses. When you combine truth, prayer, and calming sensory input, you create space for transformation. And here's why this matters for your calling. If your spirit feels safe, your message gets simpler. If your identity is settled in Christ, your creativity flows with clarity. You know, so many women wait until they feel completely confident before they share. But boldness, in Scripture, often precedes feeling ready. When God called Moses, he didn't feel ready. When Esther was first called to step forward, she didn't feel ready.

Boldness Before Readiness

Paula Behrens 10:20

When the disciples were sent out, they were still learning. Yet they partnered, they took that step, they trusted. And I believe there are women listening right now who have been sensing a nudge. You feel it when you're folding laundry, you feel it when you're praying in the morning, you feel it when someone messages you for encouragement. There is something in you that wants to share more intentionally, not to build a brand for ego, but to build something faithful. And yet the inner critique keeps interrupting. This is where discernment becomes so important. Spirit-led discernment is different from impulsive action. It is not rushing, it is listening. It is asking, Holy Spirit, what is mine to say? What is not mine to carry? What is my next right step? Discernment protects you from comparison. It keeps you from copying trends that do not fit your calling. It keeps you from striving to look like someone else. When your creativity flows from identity in Christ, it feels like you, it feels grounded, it feels reverent, it feels steady. And consistency becomes easier because, well, you're not pretending. You are simply participating. You are walking in koinōnia (κοινωνία) . Now I want to gently say something that may challenge you. Some of you are not stuck because you lack ideas. You are stuck because you are afraid of being seen. Being seen means being vulnerable. It means someone might misunderstand you. It means someone might disagree. But if God has given you a message, hiding it out of fear is not humility, it's hesitation.

Discernment Over Comparison

Paula Behrens 12:13

Second Timothy tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. A sound mind includes clarity. Power does not mean loudness, it means spirit-enabled strength. Love means your motive is not self-promotion but service. When you create from that place, the pressure lifts. And this is exactly why I'm preparing something special. A space for faith-focused women who want to share online but feel stuck, scattered, self-conscious, or inconsistent. A space to learn a simple spirit-led process to quiet the inner critic, reconnect with God, and create content that feels like you. Not hype, not hustle, but alignment. I'll be sharing more about the workshop over the next few weeks, so stay tuned for that. But today I simply want you to begin noticing where you have been performing instead of partnering. Notice where you have been striving for worldly approval instead of resting in your identity in Christ. Notice where your nervous system tightens when you think about showing up. Then pause. Breathe. Invite the Lord in. You do not have to build alone. In fact, you were never meant to. When Paul speaks of partnership in the gospel, it is relational. It is shared. It is joyful. There is joy in creating with God, not a frantic output. J oy. And joy is strength.

Naming The Fear Of Being Seen

Paula Behrens 13:53

If you are listening while working from home today, maybe at your kitchen table or maybe in a small office space, I want you to imagine something. Imagine opening your laptop tomorrow, and instead of thinking, what should I post? You pray, Lord, what are we sharing today? Imagine feeling a sense of calm clarity, rather than comparison. Imagine steady steps instead of stop and start inconsistency. This is possible. Not because you've become someone else, but because you've become more aligned with who you already are in Christ. And if something in you is stirring, if you feel that gentle nudge that says, I want that kind of partnership, I would love to talk with you. At the end of this episode, I want to invite you to book a free 15-minute discovery call with me. It's warm, it's focused, and it's prayerful. We simply explore where you feel stuck and whether coaching support would be helpful in this season. No pressure, just clarity. Because

Practicing Peaceful, Steady Steps

Paula Behrens 14:59

sometimes what you need is not more information, but a safe space to discern your next step. You were created for koinōnia (κοινωνία) , partnership, participation, shared life with Christ. Your work can be worship, your content can be ministry, your consistency can be rooted in peace rather than pressure. And as we move closer to registration day for the upcoming workshop, I will be sharing more details. But for now, I want you praying, asking, listening. Because when you listen for God and then take those steady steps, confidence begins to grow, not from applause, but from alignment. And alignment produces fruit. Jesus said that when we abide in him, we bear much fruit. Abiding is not performing, abiding is remaining, remaining in his love, remaining in his truth, remaining in his presence as you create.

Workshop Tease & Alignment Focus

Paula Behrens 16:02

So today, let this be your invitation to shift from striving to partnering, from scattered to spirit-led, from self-conscious to settled in Christ. And if you feel ready to explore that more personally, I would be honored to meet you for a free 15-minute discovery call. Go right now to paulabehrens.com #discoverycall to save your spot. That's Paula Behrens B-E-H-R-E-N-S .com # discovery call (no spaces). On this quick call, we will simply pray, talk through where you are, and see if working together feels like the right next step. You don't have to figure this out alone. You are invited into partnership. And friend, when you create from that place, showing up becomes lighter, clearer, and more consistent. Not because you are finally perfect, but because you are finally aligned with Christ.

Abiding That Bears Lasting Fruit

Paula Behrens 17:04

Thank you for tuning in today. And remember, just like setting biblical boundaries, it's okay to say no to things that don't serve you well, like that third piece of cake at the church potluck. If you were blessed by this episode, be sure to share it with a friend and leave a review so that we can reach even more listeners like you. Check the show notes for all the links. Join us next week as we continue to discover how to Live on purpose In Christ. Until then, keep leaning into Him and walking in His Wisdom. See you next time.