What God Really Wants From You - iBelieve Truth: A Devotional for Women - June 23, 2026
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8, NIV).
Have you ever wondered whether you were really fulfilling God's call on your life? Maybe it was a specific job, ministry, or mission you felt led to achieve? Or it was less about a job and more about a family, marriage, or having kids. Whatever the call, it's easy to confuse who we are with what we do. But what does God really want from us?
I spent most of my twenties trying to answer this question. Though I knew God called me to write at 14, I was stuck in a career I didn't love for five years. During that time, I also freelanced, dog sat, and was a stringer for the local paper. Now that I've been writing full-time for nearly two years, I've still pondered that question: What does God want from me?
Despite fears that we may not be doing enough or may have found ourselves on the wrong path, what God wants from us is a lot simpler an equation than we make it out to be. Micah 6:7-8 describes it this way:
"Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:7-8, NIV).
While Israel was focused on religious performance, God tells us to stop and do three things: do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.
To do justice means to live lives in accordance with God's will. It's about living righteously and caring for the poor and vulnerable. In essence, we reflect God's own heart. Today, doing justice is like volunteering at a food bank, defending the vulnerable, raising money for animal shelters, or mentoring at-risk youth. But doing justice can also look like treating those in your family and community with respect and speaking out for those who can't speak for themselves—standing up for what is right, even when it's hard.
To love mercy means to receive it and give it. Mercy is compassion shown to an offender or to one in one's power. And if Jesus so lovingly lavished that mercy on us, we're certainly called to share it with those around us. Living out mercy isn't just forgiving, but showing compassion to other imperfect people when it would be easier to hold a grudge. It's looking to Jesus as our model and living our simple, intentional gestures of charity and kindness. Not because you have to or will gain brownie points with God, but because you want to. You know it's the right thing to do.
To walk humbly with God is perhaps the most important of the three "to-dos" because without Christ, we are nothing. Walking humbly with God is daily dependence on Him. It's choosing to surrender rather than strive. It's choosing a relationship over performance. Honesty over cliché answers. Listening rather than rushing ahead and slowing down to His pace to hear.
What God really wants from you is less about what you produce and who you become. As you ask yourself these questions, reflect honestly with Him:
-Where am I pursuing appearance over obedience?
-Who needs my mercy today?
-How can I walk closer to God?
Dear Jesus, today, help me to rest in the fact that what you want from me isn't a specific career or ambition but my heart. Help me to rest in you and live as you would. Enable me to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with you all the days of my life. Amen.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/WillSelarep
Related Resource: Instead of Doing More This Summer, Maybe You Need to Do Less
If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.
Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.
Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.
I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years. This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to follow the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
