How to Trust God with Your Fears and Hard Decisions. Purpose Driven Entrepreneurship.

Let’s talk about how to trust God with hard decisions.

How do you move forward when you’re afraid of making the wrong choice?

What do you do when fear is loud, the answers are unclear, and the situation in front of you feels impossible?

In this episode, we’re digging into the quiet beliefs we hold about God and how those beliefs shape the way we make decisions.

It is one thing to say that God is good, faithful, and in control.

It is another thing to live like we truly believe it when the outcome matters deeply to us.

I share a personal story about fear, faith, and an opportunity I almost allowed uncertainty to take away from me.

We’ll talk about how fear can lead us to overthink, delay, or avoid the very steps God may be asking us to take.

Because learning how to trust God is not about having every answer before you move.

Sometimes it looks like praying, examining what you believe about God, and taking the next right step even while you are still afraid.

This is about how to trust God with difficult decisions, uncertain outcomes, unanswered questions, and the things you cannot control.

Plus, we’ll explore a simple but powerful practice inspired by The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman.

This practice will help you pay attention to the way you see God, release the pressure to get everything right, and move forward with greater peace.

You may not know how everything will work out.

But you can learn how to trust God every day, do your best with what is in your hands, and leave the outcome with him.

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I grew up spending a lot of time by myself. I read a lot. I would daydream like it was my day job, and I was very inside my own head. This is typical for a very introverted kid, right? None of this trait served me well, to be honest with you. Being so into myself and not being able to connect with other people was hard. But one good thing that came out of this season for me was my ability to go deep, to spend ample time digging deep into one thing and not be distracted. And when it came to my relationship with God, it served me well. I wasn't always disciplined about it, to be honest with you, but the practice of asking questions, reading and learning to get answers and learning to talk with God made me really appreciate him and his place as my father. And it also helped that I didn't have a flesh and blood father, so he filled that space for me. I'm sharing this because in this episode, I want to talk about how your decisions are one way or another affected by this one thing, and that is what you believe about God. This is a faith-inspired podcast. So if you're a regular, you know how we roll. But if you're new, I am so delighted that you're here, and I'd like to hear your takeaways from this episode. Let's get into it. You're listening to the Driven Introvert Podcast, the place to be for dreamers, doers, and entrepreneurs who are ready to birth the dreams, callings, and ideas the Lord has placed in their hearts. Do you sense that God is calling you to step out and do something new, but you're held back by fear and uncertainty? Do you struggle with believing that you can do great things because of your quiet, reserved, and introverted nature? Welcome here. I'm Remy Roy, your host and founder of ShePact.com. I'm an author, an entrepreneur, a creative, and a committed try. I'm here to help you get on stock and make progress on your God idea. Let's go. Alright, today we're diving into something deep, and this is what do you believe about God? We are continuing our read of the book The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Friman, and this chapter really hit home for me. We're on chapter four, and it's titled Picture God. So we've talked about the importance of making space before making decisions, clearing out the clutter in our minds, naming the unnamed feelings that we have about where we are and the decisions we're trying to make, and then identifying the things that keep us from moving forward. But here's the truth, and I've had to face this truth for myself. What you believe about God shapes everything, especially how you make decisions. There's a gap between what we say and what we do. And Emily, the writer of this book, explains this very well. She says, there's almost always a gap between what we say we believe and what we actually believe. None of us are exempt. And I find this to be true. I've said with my lips that I trust God, that He has a plan for me, that He is with me. But have I always lived like that is true? Not really. Maybe you can examine your own life too. For me, I've spent so many years of my life being afraid, afraid of not having enough, afraid of being overlooked, afraid that all my dreams were just gonna stay that dreams. Afraid that I would never be able to do the things that I really wanted to do, that I wouldn't have the umph, you know, that it factor to go do them. And that fear, it showed up in how I made decisions or didn't, the things that I decided to do or not. I would shrink back, I would delay decisions, I'd say, let me think about it. I'll never follow up because nah, I'm afraid of doing that. Not because I didn't want the opportunity, but because I didn't believe I had what it takes. I said I trusted God with my mouth, but my actions told another story. So let me ask you, what do you believe about God? Not just the big general things, you know, that we like to say, He's good, God is faithful, he's the creator of the universe, or he's okay, he's there, no. But personally, what do you believe he thinks about you? Do you have any thoughts about this? What does God believe about you? What does he think about you, about your life, about your future, about your family, about your decisions? Do you believe he cares about the hard decisions you face every day on your job, about your next move, about your family's future, your children? Or do you think he's just watching from a distance, waiting to see if you get it right, quote unquote? I love this part of the book. Emily says, and I quote, if we believe God is mad at us, we will be afraid of making a wrong move for fear that he will snap. If we believe God is distant, we will feel alone and untethered even in our decision making. If we believe God is a scolding parent, we may delegate our decisions to someone else so we can avoid the consequences of making those decisions, right? If we believe God is indifferent, we may feel he probably doesn't care what happens one way or another. All of this could not be further from the truth. And I have felt these things for myself. Maybe you have to. So I mentioned at the beginning that growing up, I was so very into myself. The thing is, I had a deep awareness of God. And thanks to my mother for this. I knew he was always with me, but in my day-to-day life, I didn't live like that was true. I was afraid of what people thought about me. I was afraid of failing, afraid of never measuring up. So I want to ask you again, what do you believe about God? Because that belief will shape every decision you make. And let me tell you something I've learned the hard way. Confidence does not come from self-assurance. You can't be self-assured all day, but that doesn't mean that every decision you make will come out of that self-assurance. It comes from knowing you are not alone. That's where confidence comes from for me. From knowing that the God of the universe is invested in my life, in my story, in my decisions, in my future. So Emily has a simple reflection in this book, and we're gonna talk about it when we get to the practice section, but I want to talk about it here because I think it's really important. She says, imagine God, what do you see? And for me, I'm thinking, what does he look like? How do I feel when I imagine him? When I do this, I picture myself curled up, almost like in a fetal position, in a safe place, not out of fear, but out of just surrender and comfort, surrounded by God's everlasting arms. I'm not anxious, I'm not nervous, I'm not trying to figure everything out. I'm just held. I'm just held. I feel ensconced. I feel protected. That image is what I take with me as I make decisions in life and even in business, I tell you. Especially now as I build something new. Some days I wake up excited, other days I'm kind of spiraling into worst-case scenarios. But when I remember, I'm held. I'm held. He's with me. I'm helped. I find peace. And this is not the kind of peace that anyone can give you. This is not the kind of peace that knowing all of the plans, all of the details can give you. You can still know everything and still be anxious. But it's the peace that comes from knowing that whatever happens, I'm held. So, what's your next right thing? Wherever you find yourself, maybe you are on a career crossroad, maybe you have a parenting decision to make, you know, concerning your child. That's something that you've been worried about. Maybe there's a major life transition. Don't barrel through, don't overthink. And please don't hand your decision-making power over to someone else out of fear. Trust God and then do the next right thing. There's this poem in the book that I really, really love. And um, it's actually a prayer that Emily um shared from another book that she really enjoyed. And I love this poem. It's written by Mrs. George A. Paul. And I'm gonna read just one verse of this poem because it really, really spoke to me. It says, Many a questioning, many a fear, many a doubt hath its quietin' here. Moment by moment, let down from heaven, time, opportunity, and guidance are given. Fear not tomorrow's child of the king, but trust them with Jesus to do the next right thing. I love this so much. You don't have to have it all figured out. Yes, there will be questioning, yes, there might be fear, yes, there might be doubt. But moment by moment, every time an opportunity you are given, it's because God is in the details. So don't be afraid of tomorrow. Trust Him with Jesus, do the next thing. Just take the next faithful step, my friend. He's with you. Alright, every chapter, Emily has a practice, and I'm loving this because I love reflection. If you know anything about me, you know I love to reflect. And in this practice, she talks about um imagine God. So I'm gonna read it and I will really want you to lean into it. Close your eyes and go through it. Here's the practice. Emily says, and I quote, imagine God. When you close your eyes and imagine God, what is the first thing you see? Are there colours, shapes, outlines? Do you see a face, a hand, the curve of his shoulder? What emotion rises up in you, if any? What is the look on his face? What about yours? Take time to consider what you've come to believe about God. Then read Psalm 23 and see if your friend Jesus has anything to say to you today. Now we move forward. Armed with a little space for our soul to breathe, with some finally named narratives about our life and God, we're ready to begin doing the next right thing. For me, like I said, when I think about God, I think about everlasting arms, I think about just like a big palm that I'm just ensconced in. I'm laying there, I'm comfortable, I'm safe and protected. This is the same attitude, this is the same mindset I want to take into everything. As I record this, I'm having to make uh difficult decisions about the business that I'm working in right now, in terms of timing, in terms of the team, in terms of what we need to actually get things done, in terms of how to reach out, how to market, how to connect with people, how to make the vision resonate with other people. And I realize that all of this is just beyond me. This is what makes me know that I cannot do any of it by my own strength. But I am believing and trusting that my God, the one who created me, the one who has great plans for me, the one who gave me the idea in the first place, is capable of giving me all that I need. Some resting in him. It's possible to be working and be resting at the same time. I'm doing all the things I have to do, but ultimately, on a spiritual, deep spiritual level, I am resting in him and trusting him to speak to me as I go through it. So here are my final thoughts for you. If you're facing a decision and you don't feel confident about it, ask yourself, where is my trust? Is it in me? My ability to get it all right? Because sometimes that pressure can be a lot. That pressure can be a lot. You look at your family and like, gosh, I have to take care of them. I have to take care of them. I have to make the make sure that they're gonna be okay. How do I do this? And that pressure can be a lot. So if if your trust is in you, ah, that is gonna fade really fast. Or is it in God, the one who promises never to leave or forsake you? He's not waiting to punish you for a wrong decision or a wrong move. He's walking beside you. And that changes everything. I would love to hear from you. Where are you right now when it comes to trusting God with your decisions? What step are you afraid to take? What do you want to believe? What do you believe right now, and what do you really want to believe about your decisions and about God? I would love to hear from you. If you have any stories you want to share, any questions, or you just want to chat, email me at thedrivenintrovert at shepact.com. Thank you so much for listening to this episode, and I'll see you in the next one. Bye. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoy this conversation, please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the podcast. I'd also love your feedback on this episode. You can scroll down on your app and click write a review. I'd love to read your takeaways from this conversation. As always, don't forget to take courage, trust God, and go pursue your big ideas. See you next time. The Dreven Introvert is produced by ShePack.com and Remy Roy. Want to ask a question or share a comment on a future episode? Click on the link in the show notes to record your question in a voicemail.