Do you know what God’s purpose is for your life? If your answer is, “I’m not sure,” you’re not alone. Ricky Dickson, the former CEO and President of Blue Bell Creameries, gives the inside scoop on his story of discovering God’s will for his life. Ricky explains how his faith helped him thrive in his leadership journey. As Ricky writes in his latest book, “One Scoop at a Time,” life can be difficult and uncertain. Yet, God can lead us from fear to faith as we rely on His purpose—not our own—for our lives.

Continue reading for highlights from this episode of the Even You podcast, or watch the full interview below.

Tell us the story of Ricky Dickson, the believer in Christ and the CEO and President of Blue Bell.

You know, you try to do the best you can in living it out and in everything you do. But, you know, we fail every day. I fail every day. Your heart has to go out, and you have to live your faith. So often, we speak it, but we’re not living it. I can’t remember who said it, but they said we should be witnessing every day, and if you have to use words, go ahead. That really stuck with me because people are watching. They are watching the moves and what you say and what you do, where you go, what you brag about, jokes you tell. That defines who you really are. I was taught that early on by my parents, and, again, I’ve failed many, many, times.

But the heart and soul of it is that we’re here with a purpose—that God has placed us here with a purpose. There’s a chapter in the book that talks about the time I was asked to move to Oklahoma and the potential of a new position promotion. And I got there, and it just got really quiet. And I thought, “What’s going on?” So the day came. The phone call comes through to say, “We want to meet with you.” I’m thinking, “This is it. This is why I moved away from home.” And it was just the opposite. I walked into the room, and it got really quiet. I was handed about a page and a half of handwritten notes by my immediate manager. It listed things that I wasn’t doing that I should be, or things that I was doing that I shouldn’t be. Not that I was really out of whack, but I was. I had left the center, and I had drifted, and I had gotten caught up with the title. So, I go back to my hotel room, and I’m thinking, “What’s just happened? I moved up here. I shouldn’t have even come.”

Almost out loud, I just remember saying, “God, You asked me to come here. I thought this is where you wanted me, and I thought I was being faithful.” And as soon as those thoughts came out, He said, “You’re not here for your promotion. You’re here for My purpose.” To this day, it still gets the hair on my arms sticking out. What I heard Him saying was, “Look, I’ve got a purpose for you, but don’t get so caught up on a title that you miss what I’m doing. This is about me. It’s not about you. And if you live your life for My glory, the love that comes back is just unbelievable.” And He loves me even in spite of that.

So, I determined at that point, I either needed to get mad and look for another job—although it would be hard to leave ice cream—or embrace it. And so, I did. And within seven or eight years, I’m running the plant in Broken Arrow. I’m a sales guy with a marketing and journalism degree running an ice cream plant in Broken Arrow.

I truly believe God has a purpose and a season sometimes for the purpose. But my prayer always is, “God, not only don’t let me miss Your purpose but put the passion in me to do whatever that job is. If you want me to be in ice cream, then put that passion in. I want to be the best I can at it.” And then don’t just say it but live that. I’ve tried to use that philosophy as I’ve moved into different positions. I believe in empathy and not just sympathy. I want to understand what the employee is going through. Through all of this, I want to reflect Christ in everything that I do. I think there’s a really right way of doing it, and that’s to just live it. And then for those that want to hear about it, then share it. There are things that you can do where you don’t beat them over the head. When they see you’re genuine, then that comes to life.

We went through some hard times as a company, and people go through hard times individually. That’s really the concept of the book. How can you find peace in the middle of the storm when you’re going through the tough times? The mountaintops are beautiful, but they’re usually short-lived. They’re pinpointed. It’s the journey going up and down the mountains. You hit the valley, and it’s painful. You just get back up and start climbing again.

Sometimes, we look at what’s next and assume that we will have the passion to do it, and that’s what guides us. But asking God to give you passion for whatever He has for you is powerful. What did it look like when you prayed for passion?

The passion, fortunately, was still the ice cream. I was still working for this iconic company with an unbelievable foundation. Let me add one more P to purpose and passion, and that’s patience. Patience is the third component. I wasn’t being patient. I move to Oklahoma, and now give me the title. God’s saying, “You’ve got this all out of whack. I am molding you not only for My benefit but also for yours so that you are ready for My purpose.” And sometimes it takes years to get ready for the purpose in which He has. For the passion part, I think if I were to have walked away, I would have been walking away from what He had willed for me to do, the reason why I was there—to be president of this company. I use Bubba Watson’s comment, the golfer that when he won the Masters, they said, “What’s it feel like?” And he said, “I never got this far in my dreams.”

That moment in that hotel room helped put it back in perspective. Don’t get me wrong, I had dreams, but it didn’t consume me. I said, “God, if this isn’t where you want me, I’m going to trust that wherever it is You do have me that I do have that passion.” I think the fact that I stayed with Blue Bell kept the excitement, even though it may have been not on my timeline.

Mark Batterson is a pastor, and I love his writings. I quote him pretty much all the time. He has a book that I read, and he says, “We start dying the day we stop dreaming. And ironically, we start living the day we discover a dream worth dying for.” I love the dream. I believe God put that in me. “God, whatever it is that You have me designed for, give me that passion within it, and then let me go.” This book is really an offshoot of that one statement. Mark Batterson wrote a book called “Chase the Lion,” and it’s about an Old Testament character that chases a lion into a den on a snowy day. Who chases a lion? His whole thing was dream big and then go for it.