FOR THE WOMAN WHO KNOWS SHE WAS MADE FOR SOMETHING BIG, BUT KEEPS FEELING SMALL, UNSEEN, AND UNDERPOWERED IN HER EVERYDAY LIFE. 

You feel it. That pull that says you were made to carry something significant. Something that matters. Something for God. 

And then you look at your actual Tuesday — the laundry, the inbox, the school pickup, the thing that didn’t go the way you planned — and that feeling of significance gets real quiet. You start to wonder if you’re doing enough.

If any of it is even working. If the big thing God put in you is ever going to look like anything from the outside. 

If that’s you, I want to hand you something today that took the pressure off me completely. Because Jesus said something about where the Kingdom of God actually lives, and once it lands, it changes how you carry every ordinary day. 

The Kingdom of God is not out there. It’s not someday. It’s inside you. Right now. And what’s growing in there is bigger than you think. 

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You’ve Been Looking for It in the Wrong Place 

In Luke 17, the Pharisees come to Jesus wanting to know when the Kingdom of God is finally going to show up. And Jesus tells them: The Kingdom of God does not come with observation… for indeed, the Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:20-21).

Here’s what’s interesting… The Pharisees wanted visible evidence, and He knew it. They wanted to see a throne. An army. A takeover. They were demanding something they could see. Jesus doesn’t bow to the demand. 

He says: You’ll perceive it, but not like that. You won’t find this Kingdom with your natural eyes. That word “within” means in the midst, on the inside. The Kingdom of God isn’t a physical place. It’s a dimensional reality God plants inside of people. And the only way you can “see” it is to perceive it by the Spirit. 

So if you’ve been waiting to feel powerful, or look significant, or have proof you could point to before you believed the Kingdom was really at work in your life, that’s why it’s felt like it’s hiding. You’ve been searching in the natural for something that lives on the inside of you. 

The Thing That Takes the Pressure Off 

Now here’s where it gets good, because Jesus doesn’t leave us guessing about what this inside-Kingdom is like. He tells us a story, and it’s the one parable that shows up in all three of the first Gospels — which is Scripture’s way of underlining something in bold.

The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. The smallest of all seeds. But when it’s sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade (Mark 4:30-32). 

The mustard seed is tiny. Almost invisible. Smaller than a pinhead. If you judged it by how it looked, you’d probably doubt it. But that’s the whole point. 

You can’t judge the Kingdom of God by its size when it’s sown. Because a seed never stays small once it hits the soil and has some water and time. A tiny mustard seed actually grows into a tree six to nine feet across, big enough that an entire ecosystem of life comes and makes its home in the shade of it. 

That’s what God planted in you. Not a small thing. A seed of something that becomes a beacon of vibrant possibility for a whole world of life around you.

So, the pressure you’ve been carrying to make yourself big enough to matter? You can put it down. Your job was never to figure out how to grow that big. Your job is to steward the seed that’s already been programmed to grow. Real big. 

The Seed Needs Soil — and You’re the Soil  

Here’s a detail I can’t get over. A seed only germinates and grows big in one place. Not on a shelf. Not in a book. In soil. In the ground. In the earth. 

And who is the earth? You are. I am. We were literally formed from the dust of the ground. God designed it so that the seed of His Kingdom needs you to grow. It needs a living person with the Holy Spirit inside her for that seed to germinate and grow and become something the world can actually see. 

This is why it’s not enough for information about the Kingdom of God to sit in a random book on a shelf somewhere. Information about God’s Kingdom doesn’t expand the Kingdom. You do.

When the seed of the Kingdom is planted in a real woman living a real life in the Spirit, that’s when it comes alive and starts to grow into something people can start to perceive and want to know more about. 

That’s when you become a beacon – a signal fire set on a hill – to display what it looks like to live in God’s Kingdom all the time. And they’ll want to step in, too. 

You Don’t Get Disqualified for a Bad Day 

The mustard tree Jesus referred to in His parable is its own protected sanctuary in the midst of the desert. Birds nest deep in its protective branches. A certain species of butterfly lives their whole life in it; not just visiting, but staying, keeping the bark healthy, pollinating, partnering with the tree at every stage. Even the trunk is remarkable: it’s naturally antimicrobial, resistant to rot and fungus and infestation. God built protection right into it. 

What does this mean for you as a Kingdom carrier? When the Kingdom is growing on the inside of you, God builds the protection in, too. You do not have to white-knuckle your way through, terrified you’re going to ruin it. If something is meant for you, it will come to you. If it’s not, God will keep it away from you.

Your job is to steward what’s growing, not to anxiously guard it like it all depends on you. Because it doesn’t. Thank God! 

And this is the part I most want you to hear: You don’t lose your capacity to carry the Kingdom because you had a bad day. Because you were short with someone. Because you got it wrong.

The butterfly was useful to the tree when it was a larva, when it was a caterpillar, and when it finally had its wings. Every single stage.

You are a good steward of the Kingdom because God is the one who placed it in you and gave you everything you’d need to steward it well. Not because you performed perfectly or figured it all out today. 

So What Do You Do With This? 

You stop striving to build something impressive (and performative), and you start stewarding what God already planted. They will see it when it grows naturally by His leading. 

Being a beacon isn’t about doing more, hustling harder, or making yourself visible enough that people finally notice. A beacon is a signal fire set on a hill. It just has to burn and be seen.  

Half the battle is simply standing there, grounded, letting the thing God put in you shine, and trusting Him to grow the seed into shade and food and community for the people around you. 

So, how will you steward the Kingdom that’s already inside you? Maybe it’s leaving ten more minutes at the grocery store because you always end up in a conversation that matters. 

Maybe it’s a little more patience with the person in front of you. Maybe it’s finally believing that the small, hidden, ordinary-looking thing you’re doing is the exact seed God is growing into something that shelters a whole ecosystem of life. 

You don’t have to feel big to carry something significant. You just have to let the seed God planted… grow. It’s already in there. And it’s already becoming more than you can see. 

🎯 Your Next Steps + Resources For You:

☀️ Join me for Get Ready with God: 
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✅ Come worship with us at REVIVE Church of Tampa: 
Sunday worship at 11am, in person and online.
1803 N. Howard Ave, Tampa, FL 33607. 
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📖 Scriptures Referenced in This Episode: Luke 17:20-21 | Mark 4:30-32 | Joshua 1:8 | Matthew 13 | John 3 | John 15 

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Erica co-leads a local church alongside her husband, Doug, in Tampa, Florida called REVIVE Church of Tampa. You can visit the church’s website for more information about who we are, what we believe and how we show up as the Church in the heart of West Tampa and beyond.

REVIVE Church of Tampa

REVIVE Church of Tampa streams service live on Sunday mornings at 11am ET. You can find that livestream on our church Facebook page:

Live Service – Sundays at 11am ET

If you’re interested in joining the online campus of REVIVE Church of Tampa, you are welcome to join our community group on Facebook where we offer weekly discussion around the Friday and Sunday messages as well as discipleship Zoom groups and the opportunity to host others in your home as you stream services. You can find us here:

The ROCC: REVIVE Online Campus Community

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About this podcast:

Welcome to the Positioned to Prosper Podcast with Erica Pyle, where we dive deep into Biblical mindsets, strategies, and inspiration to help you thrive in every area of your life. Whether it’s faith, health, relationships, finances, business, or ministry, Erica’s here to equip you with the tools you need to get unstuck, overcome overwhelm, and avoid burnout as you pursue your purpose with intention.

Join Erica, co-lead pastor of REVIVE Church of Tampa, and founder/lead mentor of The Jesus Girl Gang, an online, group coaching mentorship for Christian women with a pioneering spirit, as she shares powerful teachings, practical advice, and pivotal strategies for breakthrough living without compromising on the things that matter most to you. With over 13 years of experience in pastoral ministry alongside her husband Doug, Erica brings a wealth of knowledge and a passionate heart for helping you live out God’s best for your life.

Each week, tune in for transformative insights that will empower you to build a Kingdom business or ministry, nurture your personal well-being, and create balanced, prosperous relationships. If you’re a faith-driven woman seeking to align your life with God’s purpose, you’re in the right place.

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