In this inspirational talk, Chrystal Hurst urges listeners to fully embrace their current lives, even while working toward future improvements. She shares a personal story about living in a modest 800‑square‑foot apartment, choosing to host friends despite lacking furniture, and discovering that those simple moments became cherished memories. Hurst emphasizes that waiting for ideal circumstances can cause us to miss the value of the present. She then draws a biblical parallel to Moses in Exodus 4, highlighting how Moses’ acceptance of his simple staff enabled him to fulfill God’s mission. The core message is a call to recognize and value what we already possess—whether material items, personal traits, or circumstances—and to use them as stepping stones toward our larger purpose. Hurst concludes by encouraging listeners to identify “what they have in their hand,” celebrate small moments, and commit to developing their lives further.
Chapters
Listen, you've got to embrace your life. I know there are some parts of your life you don't like. I know there's some things that you want to change, but you are the only one who can fully embrace your life because you're the one who's living it. Yeah, you need to fight for your life. Yes, you need to look at your life to see what's worth fighting for. And whether you like it or not, you've got to embrace your life. I was in my first apartment and it was 800 or so square feet. It had 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. And I remember telling someone that when I get a couch and when I get a kitchen table and when I have a coffee table and when I have a nice size TV, then and only then will I invite people over to hang with me. And one of the folks I shared that with said to me, "Well, why would you wait? Your life is happening right now. Embrace the life you have right now while you work for the life that you want later.". And so I took that advice. And one of my girlfriends, we're friends to this day, tells me that some of those moments where I was sitting on the floor on a pillow and she was sitting in the only seat that I had in my whole apartment, a rocking chair, and I would make hot chocolate, put whipped cream on it, and we'd sit there because I had no TV and talk. Those are some of the best memories that she has of our friendship. I have those memories with her and with some other people because I chose, even in a season of life that had a bunch of stuff about it that I wanted to change, I chose I chose in that season to embrace the life I had and to embrace the person I was. Listen, you might be working on changing some things about your outward appearance, your inner health, or maybe even just about the life that you're living, where you live, what you're driving, the job that you have, the friends that you keep. That's fine. But while you work on what you want to have, don't reject what you have in front of you right now. Embrace your life. Choose to see what's beautiful. Choose to celebrate the small moments and realize that probably what you have in your hand might be the key to what you want in your future. In Exodus chapter 4, Moses was a little concerned that Jesus was telling him, or that God was telling him, to go and tell the people of Israel to leave Egypt and to tell Pharaoh, "Let my people go." And he said, "Are you sure?" "Are you sure you want me to do that? I don't know that I'm equipped. I don't know that I'm ready to be the leader of a whole nation of people and to lead them out of captivity and into freedom." And with this big charge in front of him, Moses questions God, and God says to Moses, "What do you have in your hand?" And Moses had a staff. And if you know anything about the story of Moses, mainly written about in Exodus, you will know that a lot of the miracles that he did A lot of the direction that he gave, a lot of the walking that he did, even through the desert, he did it with that staff in his hand. And that staff, the thing that he had in his hand, was a part of him embracing his life. He didn't think it had much value. It was just the staff of a shepherd. But when he decided to embrace what he had, that was when he could work for what he wanted, which was the freedom of his people, a life serving God, and a life living in his purpose and calling. What do you have in your hand? What do you not even like, or maybe you don't think very much of? Embrace it. And embracing your life by looking at your life will help you to fight for the life you have right now. Listen, I love helping you think about your life. Not only are we gonna fight for it and look at it and embrace it, but you've got to do the work of developing it. And we'll talk about that next time.
