Do It Scared: How to Follow God's Will When It Feels Uncertain w/ Christy Wright

Speaker A: So, like, the Lord called me to leave everything, called me to leave the organization I'd been with for 12 years. And then it was a good while before he showed me what I was supposed to do next.

Speaker B: Hey, friends, welcome to the Jolie Harris Show. Let's dive into today's episode.

Speaker A: Um, you know, in hindsight, of course, it feels like, oh, yes, he's weaving all things together. And I see his hand and his fingerprints and all of it. But at the time, it was really scary. And I. I know that certainly not everyone's story where God calls them to leave something before he reveals what the next thing is. He does it a lot. And I've actually heard of a lot of believers, specifically over the last two years, that God is calling them to leave behind something known, something safe, something good, something comfortable, some. A steady paycheck, um, somewhere that they felt very rooted. And it's like he's uprooting them. And he, uh, definitely uprooted me. And so there was such an element of trusting the Lord when I had absolutely no idea what was next. And it was very much an Abraham type of call where he said, leave everything and I'll show you where you're going. It was a long time between the living and the new thing, which was obviously really scary. But the Lord is always faithful. We know he is. And he is the reason I left, but he's also the one that carried me through. So I. I would not have ever done it without the Lord. Um, but because it was the Lord's idea, then I knew I was going to be okay. Yeah.

Speaker B: Well, I love what you said about how God, he didn't tell you right away what you were going to be doing, but when it was time, he gave you the instructions. Similar to Noah with the ark. God gave him those step by step instructions. And he doesn't give them all to us up front, but he will give them to us. But. Yeah, I would love to park there for a minute, um, and hear your story about how the Lord showed you what to do next.

Speaker A: Yes. Well, God called me to leave in November of 2021. And this was two months after I launched my latest book, take back your time. It was actually like the greatest year I'd ever had in my career. And so in the middle of this. In the middle of this good thing, um, you know, God calls me to leave and, and he told me, I, um, want you to rest for three months. I want you to do nothing for three months. And when it's time to do something new, I will tell you what to do. Now, doing nothing is real hard anyway. It's especially hard when you're going, how am I going to pay my bills? Like, I've left everything and. And you're telling me to be still and do nothing. And so, thankfully, I had had, um, a big savings from the year before because I had such a good year in my career, and I saved a lot of that money. We just stocked away money, not knowing that we would end up needing it the next year to live on. But God knew. God knew. And so I was able to use savings and. And feel somewhat comfortable for those few months while I rested. It's just amazing how the. The Lord's ideas are always the best ideas, and it's often something we could never think of on our own. But then once we. Once he drops that idea in our heart, you look back and you go, well, of course. Right? Like, it's one of those that makes perfect sense once he reveals it. Anytime you're doing something new, you're scared. That's natural because you've never done it before. So you're like, I don't know if it's going to work or not. So that's a very normal, natural fear for you to have. But I think one of the things that the enemy really, um, kind of bullied me with that first, um. When I very first launched my business in August of 22, so I'd not done anything for eight months. You start to have this fear because I kind of went dark, you know, for my audience. I wasn't on social media or anything. I was home with my family. And you start to hear this lie like, nobody's gonna like you now that you're not at Ramsey. Nobody's gonna care. You were only successful because they were, you know, they put money and effort and marketing into you. Nobody's gonna care. Like, they're gonna laugh at you. You're a joke. And if you listen to those lies, you won't try. You won't put yourself out there. If we can learn to combat the lies from the enemy, and we can learn to truly put on the armor of God. If we can learn to root ourself in his word, if we can go out, fling ourself out there only on God's promises, and we will be amazed at how God brings the harvest. God brings the fruit. God feeds the 5000, but he won't feed the 5000 if we're not willing to face the very real fears and fight against those very real fears that are haunting us every step of the way. Because the enemy is never going to let up. He knows the potential of you using your God given gifts and stepping into God's promises and God's calling your life. He knows the potential and that's why he's tormenting the daylight side of you. You don't have a target on your back because you're doing nothing. You have a target on your back because what you're doing is so valuable. But we've got to have weapons and battle strategies against the fear and the lies from the enemy. Because if not he will sabotage what God wants to do through us.

Speaker B: Oh yeah, absolutely. And I think sometimes people can also have the misconception that when someone maybe they elev to a certain place, whether in their faith or they have a bigger platform, they have more experience, whatever it is, that it's just easier. Right. That they don't go through the same hardships. They don't go through the, the fear, the doubt, the imposter syndrome, which is just obviously as you just said, it's not true. So hopefully that sets some people free that regardless of what stage you're at, it's the enemy and we have to see that and recognize it to be able to like move forward, take up that shield of faith.

Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And uh, you know, when I used to teach on fear in my Business Boutique days, especially at the Business Boutique event, I would quote a few famous people just as an example that you can never out earn fear. You can never be so successful that you're not scared again. Because anytime you do something new, then you're scared because you've never done it before. Joyce Meyer says new levels, new devils.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Even if you conquer your fear of one thing, like I'm not scared of speaking anymore. I know how to speak. But if you do something new, start a new business, do a new thing, then that fear creeps up again. And so I think we have to get comfortable with that. And uh, that's where it comes down to the whole thing. I used to always teach do it scared. You don't have to wait till you're not scared to do the thing you want to do. You do it while you're scared. And it's in doing that you're conquering the fear that you can do it.

Speaker B: But hey, really quick, we're about to get right back into the episode. If you are struggling with money, anxiety, worry, I have something for you. It's a free five day devotional that's going to help you overcome Money anxiety. Check it out@, uh, joliejharris.com moneydivo that's joliejharris.come moneydivo. I'll also leave that link for you in the description. All right, let's get back into the episode.

Speaker A: I remember, um, reading several quotes. One was from Kate Winslet, Academy Award winning actress, beautiful, perfect, Titanic star Kate Winslet. And she had said, you know, each day I would wake up and go off to a shoot and I would think to myself, I'm a fraud. I can't do this. They're gonna find me out. Maya angelou, who's written 11 books, and she said, I have written 11 books. And each time I think, uh, I've run a game on everybody, they're going to find me out.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker A: And so when you hear those stories, you go, oh, I'm in good company. I've got fears. Okay. It doesn't seem to be stopping them. It doesn't have to stop me. I'm gonna do it anyway.

Speaker B: That's so good. That's so good. I think that's gonna uplift a lot of people who are going through that, and they're gonna realize that, hey, I'm not the only one. That's everybody, as believers, we're going to be targeted. Like you said. That's really good. Christy. Um, in addition to, you know, fighting against fear, what other areas have. In, uh, what other ways have you had to personally believe God?

Speaker A: Yeah, I think, you know, it's this. I love saying this line because I think it's true, but it's also very tactical. We're going to work like it all depends on us and pray like it all depends on God because we need both. Okay, that's true. But let's think about what does that look like in real life? In real life, it looks like I'm going to use every part of my brain that I can to do the very best job. I'm going to have the best strategy, I'm going to have the best systems. I'm going to have budgets, I'm going to have goals. I'm going to have everything in place that I can to do the very best job that I can. I'm not leaving God out of the equation at all. Um, in fact, I believe all of my ideas and strategies come from him anyway. He created my brain, so it all is from him and for him and, uh, unto Him. But there are times that you really just will hit a dead end and you'll hit a roadblock. And I think Often that we, when we get to those roadblocks, because we're naturally so self sufficient, we can just try to bust through it ourselves. And the thing that I would encourage people to remember is the best ideas are God ideas. So if you don't have the right idea yet, ask him, ask him and ask him and ask him again. He's not too busy. For example, I pray before every single podcast recording that I record. When I'm sitting down, I'm like, lord, so speak through me, speak through this episode, speak through the teaching, speak to your children. Like I really, really try to. I have certain practices and habits like praying before podcast episode. That is a rhythm. But I have other times where I have been in countless meetings, uh, this is true at Ramsey as well, by the way, where we're just hitting a roadblock, man, like we cannot figure it out. What are we supposed to do? What are we supposed to, you know, there's just no way. And I'll say we need to stop and pray. We need to stop and pray. God can help us with this. Yes. And so it is, it is the work, like it all depends on you, where I'm going to work and try my hardest. But I'm also going to integrate prayer and believe that God cares about the details of my life. The other thing, and I'll say this just because this is super relevant real time, like yesterday, 4 o' clock at the time of this recording. You can never, ever go wrong by obeying. Even if something looks like a setback on the front end or a cost on the front end, or giving up or leaving money on the table or man, it's just going to cost you. It's going to cost you a reputation, it's going to cost you in money. It's just going to cost you in some capacity. You can never go wrong by obeying the Lord. You always, always, always do the right thing according to him, even if not the right thing according to everyone else. Whatever God is leading you to do, obey it. Even if it seems counterintuitive, he might be saying right now, um, this project that's been making you money, I want you to sunset this, I want you to hand this off and you're like, lord, it makes money, but Lord, it helps people. But Lord, I love it. If he is saying to set that down, it is because he has something else for you, something better for you, something that, that thing that you're holding on to is actually going to turn into handcuffs that you're not going to be able to Take hold of what he has for you if you won't let it go. It's that trapeze artist imagery of you got to let go of one of your handlebars before you take hold of the next. And that flying through the air is wild and terrifying. But you serve a good father that didn't ask you to do that, to drop you. He asked you to do it because you're going to take hold of something new and better and more. Right. In this season. So we have to be willing in our businesses to let go when he says let go so we can take hold of the new.

Speaker B: Oh yeah. And it can be a little bit tough because like you said, we don't always know why. And so it can make us feel really uncomfortable because we'll even find ways to explain it away to other people. Right. We don't want to look foolish. And then there's that thought of like, well, what if it's not God? What if it was my gut? What if, uh, it's the enemy? Confusing me. Right. So, so how do you overcome kind of, you know, that mental, like, back and forth when you're not really sure?

Speaker A: Yes. I love this question. Because discernment is really hard and it's not a formula.

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker A: And you're right, we do have those fears. Um, here's what I'll say when it comes to trusting, uh, in obeying. If you obey the Lord in small things, things that are really insignificant, he says, send that text. He says, do this thing, you know, whatever it is, give this money, close this thing. Small things. As he proves faithful in the small things that you were faithful in, it builds your confidence, not only in him and his faithfulness, it builds your confidence in yourself and your discernment. And I know sometimes Christians get weird about confidence in yourself and self. Self. Okay. No, no. You have to be confident in the Holy Spirit in you.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: If you're constantly questioning what the Holy Spirit is telling you to do, that's not humility, that's you arguing with God. It's actually incredibly arrogant to argue with God. Because if God is saying, I have told you, I have told you, I have told you. And you're still telling me. You're too young. You can't speak. You're not qualified. Oh, you think you know you better than me, your creator.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Moses, Jeremiah, we just had incredible arrogance to argue with the Lord. So I think sometimes we say, I'm not sure it's you. No, you know what you need to do. But as you. As you are faithful in those small things, and it builds your confidence in the Lord, who is faithful when he comes through in that thing, and then it builds your confidence in yourself. So I'll give you a great example. So about the last week or so, at the time of this recording, I have been praying about prophecy. Prophecy is a word that I. Two years ago, Joe, I'd be like, I don't even know that word. Feels really, really biblical, technical, theological, fancy, academic? I don't even know that. Feels scary. I don't know. So for someone that didn't grow up in the church, you know, this language is intimidating to me. The last year, the Lord has been growing me and prophecy, and I'm learning what that means to be able to speak into the world. What is dropped in you supernaturally that you would have no way of knowing. You would have no way of knowing this thing. And as you connect with other believers and they. They have maybe a piece of the puzzle and these prophecies come to life, and it's like, oh, it's so weird you said that. Or it's so crazy you said that when you're going, it's so weird. It's so crazy. It's probably Jesus. It's probably this.

Speaker B: This happens to me all the time when I'm listening to your stuff, whether it's an Instagram reel.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: I'm like, what?

Speaker A: How do you people say that all the time? I'm like, I don't, but God does. I don't, but God does.

Speaker B: Absolutely.

Speaker A: Yesterday morning, I wake up this morning, and I have this idea in my head about a person, Like a piece of information about this person. Um, that makes no sense. I've not thought of this person in years, and I feel led to text this person about this thing. Okay, now it's good news. But what if I'm wrong? What if I'm. What if I'm texting them about that, that I have this sense that this thing is true for their life, and I'm wrong? So what about. Is it false hope? Is it arrogant? Is it. I'm just totally off base? So I had all that wrestling, and I said, lord, I. I want to obey, but would you just confirm it for me that I'm supposed to text this person about this very tender, delicate thing? And a song came on, uh, the Blessing by Carrie Jobe. And there's some lines in the song that were. That were my confirmation. So I sent the text. As I sent the text, I get a text back from this Person that is just on and on and on. I cannot believe you sent this. God is so good. Here's what's going on. You were absolutely on point. This is exactly what's going on. I mean, it was totally confirmed on something delicate. But I don't believe God would have trusted me with that prophetic moment and that beautiful text and connection between me and this person where God was able to. To show up to that person if I hadn't been faithful. When he says, you know, go give money to that person or go send this text or trust on this. These stupid things, we're like, God, that doesn't even make sense.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Does it even matter where God says, run a lap around, Run an extra lap or walk seven times, or pray a circle around things where you're going, I look so dumb and crazy. Well, if you're not willing to be faithful and build your obedience in the small, quote, unquote stupid stuff, he's not going to trust you with the big stuff. And so I think discernment is strengthened through practice and through willing to discern and obey in the small, insignificant things. Then when you get the bigger things, then you really can trust. No, I know this feeling. I know this feeling. It's this persistent nudge in this direction. I can trust it.

Speaker B: M. On your podcast, you talk a lot about keeping the faith and going forward in the midst of challenges, particularly when you're waiting on God. When you're in that wilderness season, you don't know what's next, but you know that God has something for you. Why do you think it is so hard for us to stay hopeful in that waiting time?

Speaker A: Because we are so stinking impatient. We are so impatient. We're not unlike the Israelites that were like, what are, uh, we doing? Don't you know? God will take the winding road. God will take a very, very long time to get us to where he wants us to go, but he always gets us there. But we are so stinking impatient. Well, there's obviously training and preparation and purpose in the waiting, in the winding. It's never wasted time. It feels very wasted to us, but it's not wasted time. And we could not handle the blessing. We could not handle the promised land. We could not handle that without that training, though. We think we could. We think we're so ready. And he's like, I know again, I know you better than you. You are not ready. And so regardless of whether we ever see his purpose in the waiting or not, whether we see it in hindsight or we never see it at all. God. God has so much he is doing that we don't see. And because we're so impatient, we try to make it happen on our own, we lose hope. We assume because he didn't do it today, he's never going to do it. Well, why would we assume that? He is always faithful. He is always true to his word. His word never returns empty. He is faithful to his promise. It's probably just going to take longer than you think. Be harder than you want and take longer than you want. Think about Abraham. He named Abram Abraham, which means the father of nations. 25 years before he had a son. 25 years before he had a son. He gave him the promise of generations. So how much of a fool do you think Abraham felt like going? Hi, I'm Abraham. Hi. Nice to meet you. Um, I'm Abraham. Hi. Um, I'm Father of nations. Oh, you don't have any kids. Weird. Yeah. I know. It is crazy. 25 years of this.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And we can't wait a year. We can't wait six months. And so I think if we just see the pattern in scripture. Yes, God takes a long time. Yes, it sucks. I mean, let's just say it like, it's not fun to wait. It's not. No. I don't think anyone would go. I'm having a blast. It's so fun. Man, I wish I could wait longer. No, none of us are. But we. But what we want more than the thing, I hope, and what we want more than speed or quickness or this to be expedited, is we want the Lord. And we want him, the person, his presence. And so there are things I want right now, Joe. I want to move. I love my house, but I'm ready to move. I've been ready to move for a while. He keeps telling me I'm gonna move, but I just keep saying, lord, if I am here in this house, it is because it is good for me. M. You are good, and you are here. And I want you more than I want that house. And so it is this constant reminder that we want him.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: More than we want the thing. And we want his will and his timing more than we want our own will and our own timing. Even though it feels like every day is a constant battle for that.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And so I think that if we can remind ourselves of that, that whatever he said, whatever promise he's dropped in your heart, whether it's about a feeling or a spouse or a house or a business, it took way Longer than Abraham wanted. Your job. My job is to keep the faith and keep our hope, even if he takes forever, because if he said it, he will do it. And our hope is in him anyway, not in the house or the spouse or the thing.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's really good, Christy. Um, you had a reel that kind of touched on this a little bit. I don't know if you remember, but. But it was all around the word yet.

Speaker A: Quiz me, Joiz.

Speaker B: Christy, real quick. Do you remember talking about the word yet?

Speaker A: Yep.

Speaker B: Yeah, so. And for those who haven't seen the real. Um, you said, you know, the fact. I'm paraphrasing here, but the fact that the Lord said it, but it hasn't happened, that doesn't mean it's not going to happen. It hasn't happened yet. And you kept emphasizing the word yet, which later, after this, I'm going to tell you an interesting story about this reel. Can you dig into that just a little bit more for people? Um, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of listeners right now that they do have that promise from God in their heart. And there's just days where it's hard to believe it. They know it right up here. But on a practical level, day to day, it can be difficult to stay encouraged and. And have that renewed hope that, yes, this is going to happen.

Speaker A: Yes. Okay. I love this question. So one of the things that we are very, very, very in control of are our words. M. We're actually, I think, more in control of our words than we are our thoughts, because thoughts come in. I don't know about you, Joe, but they're coming in all the time from all directions. I don't feel like I have. I can control what I focus on and what I allow to stay in my mind, but I can't always control what comes in. Things come in all the time. I can always control my words. And if, uh, you can control your words, and the Bible says our words have power, they absolutely have power, then what's so interesting is even when you can't control your mind, you can control what you say. So you can. I love how my friend Mignon Francois says this. Her name's so fancy. Mignon Francois. This is what she says. She says, speak what you seek until you see what you say. I'm gonna say that again. Speak what you seek until you see what you say. Say what you want until you see it is what she's saying. And so I will say all the time, out loud, truly out loud, whether it's out loud to my children, to my dog, to myself. In an emp. I say things out loud all the time. This has become a practice over the last few years. I will declare what is true. Because when my feelings are all in a tangle, when my thoughts are all chaotic, I can control my mouth and I will declare what is true. God, you are good. God, you are faithful. God, you have not forgotten me. God, you will fulfill your promises to me. God, you are in control at all times. God, you are working even when I don't see, see it and feel it and know it. God, you are working even now. God, you are for me, not against me. I will just declare, declare, declare. As I control my mouth and control my words, it sets my mind on those things. And what comes out of my mouth is so much more powerful than what's in my mind because I'm bringing into the world, into the natural world, into the universe. I'm bringing truth of, uh, God into the world, which is obviously focusing my mind on it because I'm having to think about it in order to say it. And it is saying, this is what I'm going to breathe life into. This is what I'm going to focus on. This is what I'm going to meditate on and, and build my life on versus someone that says out loud with their tongue that God created God takes forever. It's never going to happen. I mean, there's no good guys out there. The real estate market is this. My business is never going to work. If you say that, you better watch out because you're planting seeds with your words. You're planting seeds into the world with your word. So the, the Bible talks about the power of our tongue. And so while we can't always control what thoughts come into our mind, we can control what we say. And so often I will a, uh, good. A good practice that I've used is I will even in the same sentence acknowledge my feelings. So I'm not ignoring my feelings. I will acknowledge my feelings, but I will correct my feelings in alignment with God's truth. So I have done things before. Like last year we listed our house because God said, list the house. And then we took our house off the market because God said, take it off the market. And he told me in advance when we listed the house, I was like, lord, am I supposed to accept an offer? And he said to me in advance, the point wasn't to sell it, the point was to list it. I, uh, don't even. That means I don't even know what that means. But then when we didn't sell it, it's like, oh, did we. Did we fail? And he's like, no, I told you in advance, it wasn't just to sell it, it was to list it. So I will say out loud some in. In this context many times since, but that's one example. God, I feel stupid, but I am not stupid. God, I feel alone, but I am not alone. God, I feel like this is never going to work. But I know that if you said it, it will work. And so I will acknowledge my feelings and then correct them in alignment with the truth of what I know about God. And so I was I just controlling my words? And so your example of the real about yet is one way to do that. Instead of saying, God hasn't answered my prayer, add that word, God hasn't answered my prayer yet. That yet speaks hope, belief, faith, trust. That yet is the confidence, assurance. Just like Hebrews 11:1 says, uh, hope and what we do not see, the confidence, assurance of what we do not see. It's yet. It's not that he hasn't done it, it's that he hasn't done it yet.

Speaker B: Oh, that's good. That's so encouraging. Well, thank you so much for this, Christy. Wow. Um, it's just been such a treat. Hear you speak on, you know, the topic of keeping your hopes up as we wrap up here. I love to ask, how do you do business in his image, and what does that mean to you?

Speaker A: Oh, I love that question. So for me, doing business in his image is simply being me. And so if I am made in his image, then me showing up as my most authentic self, not trying to be what someone else is doing on Instagram, not trying to do what someone else is doing, but just be being me, then I can trust that not only will it work, meaning become a profitable, successful, impactful business, not only will it work, but it will be something that has more of an impact than I can even imagine. Because it's not just about the transactions of business, but it's about life change and bringing people to the Lord. And all I have to do is show up as me. I just have to be me. And the pressure's off when you do business that way because then you're not trying to perform or keep up with someone else. You just get to be you. And I trust that that's enough. I trust that there are people that need what I have as me, and I trust that that's enough.

Speaker B: Oh, uh, that's good. And where can listeners connect with you? I know you have a, uh, treasure trove of free resources that are faith based.

Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you so much. So if you go to ChristyWright.com free I have a seven day devotional, I have a quick start, um, a get started business plan@christywright.com free and that's really my heart is to help you grow your faith. Can find it all@christywright.com.