How to Recognize the Stage of Stewardship You’re In

Have you ever wondered why you can feel ready for change, pray for change, work toward change… and still repeat the same patterns?

It’s discouraging. It’s confusing. And it can make you feel like something is wrong with you.

But nothing is wrong with you.
What you’re experiencing is actually part of the way God transforms you.

You’re moving through the Stewardship Cycle of Transformation a heart-level process that shapes who you’re becoming before it reshapes what you’re doing.

This cycle has five stages: Awaken, Submit, Steward, Multiply, and Abide.
And learning to recognize where you are in this cycle is the key to understanding what God is forming within you.

Let’s walk through them together.

Awaken — When God Opens Your Eyes

This is the moment when God brings something into your awareness.
You start noticing the pattern.
You see the habit.
You feel the tension.

Awakening feels uncomfortable, but it’s a gift.
Clarity is the first sign that God is calling you deeper.

If you’ve been feeling a nudge to shift, grow, or change, you might be in the Awaken stage.

Submit — When God Invites You to Surrender

This is the stage we resist the most and the one we need the most.

Submit is where God begins the inner work.
He asks you to release control, expectation, old habits, old identities, or old coping strategies.

Submit doesn’t always feel spiritual.
Sometimes it feels like having the same hard conversation with God over and over.
Sometimes it feels like letting go of something you thought you needed.
Sometimes it feels like slowing down when everything in you wants to speed up.

But this stage is where transformation actually begins.

If life feels tight, reflective, or like God keeps bringing the same issue to the surface, you’re likely in Submit.

Steward — When You Start Implementing the New

Once you surrender, God gives you a strategy.

This is where your planning tools matter.
This is where you build rhythms.
This is where obedience becomes action.

Stewardship is practical, grounded, and intentional.
You start practicing the new habits that match the woman God is shaping in you.

If you feel motivated to organize, structure, or follow through, this is the Steward stage.

Multiply — When God Expands What He Planted

Multiplication looks outward.
It’s the fruit you can see:
• new opportunities
• deeper clarity
• stronger capacity
• open doors
• spiritual authority

But multiplication without preparation leads to burnout.
That’s why God never sends you into multiplication without taking you through surrender first.

If you’re seeing momentum or increased influence, you may be entering Multiply.

Abide — When You Stay Rooted in God

This is the stage that sustains everything.
Abide is about maintaining connection, peace, and presence.
It’s where transformation becomes lifestyle, not a moment or a project.

If you’re feeling rested, centered, or grounded in God’s presence, you’re in Abide.

How to Discern Your Stage

Here’s the simplest way to recognize where you are:

• If you feel stirred → you’re Awakening.
  

• If you feel stretched → you’re Submitting.
  

• If you feel focused → you’re Stewarding.
  

• If you feel accelerated → you’re Multiplying.
  

• If you feel rooted → you’re Abiding.
  

And here’s the beautiful part:
There’s no “wrong” stage.
You’re not late.
You’re not behind.
You’re being shaped.

God moves you through each stage with intention, grace, and timing.
Your role is simply to recognize where you are and cooperate with His process.

Take a moment today and ask yourself:

“What stage am I in right now?”

Not where you wish you were.
Not where you think you should be.
Where are you?

Because when you understand your stage, you understand what God is doing in this season of your life, and you stop fighting the very process that’s meant to free you.

And if you want support as you walk through these stages, you’ll find that inside the community. We walk through transformation with honesty, grace, and real accountability because none of us were meant to grow alone.

If this message spoke to you, it’s time to start rebuilding from the root.
Join the waitlist for the Steward Well Life Community where we’re learning to steward purpose from presence, not pressure and in partnership with God.

Written by Telanna Jeffers, founder of Purpose Minded Woman and the Steward Well Life Community, based in the United States. Telanna equips high-capacity, faith-driven women to manage their calling with grace-based productivity. Through her signature Stewardship Path and Cycle of Transformation Framework, where inner transformation meets outer stewardship, she helps Christian women align their hearts and habits to live a life of purpose, peace, and partnership with God.