70 | Afraid of Choosing Wrong? How to Discern With Peace Instead of Fear

Esther was afraid because she knew what could happen if she approached the king. She did not know what the outcome would be. She could have stayed frozen in fear.

Have you ever felt afraid of making the wrong choice when discerning your purpose? So instead you stay stuck and do nothing at all? Then this episode is for you.

Today we're going to be talking about why fear keeps us stuck, how to move forward with peace and instead of fear and one practical step to help you discern with more peace, grab that laundry basket that's calling your name and let's dive in.

If you're tired of feeling unsure about your purpose because you don't know how to hear God clearly and you want simple, faith rooted steps to discern his will and move forward with confidence, you are in the right place. I'm Michelle Cradle, Catholic mom of three and a discernment coach for Catholic women.

I learned how to move from confusion and and overthinking to hearing God's voice clearly and moving forward with confidence in his will. If you're ready to grow closer to God, begin discovering how God uniquely made you and experience mindset transformation.

Grab that laundry, pop in those earbuds and let's do this. I remember praying and asking God what He created me for, but feeling unsure if I would ever really understand his guidance.

I would listen to Catholic priests and sisters and I would spend time journaling. I would reflect during prayer. And yet there were just those moments I still questioned if I was capable of discerning his direction clearly.

What I eventually realized is that the problem wasn't that God wasn't guiding me. The problem was is that I didn't yet understand how to recognize his guidance and take the next step with Him.

Once I began learning how discernment actually works, inviting God into that process and paying attention to the clues that he was revealing and taking those small, faithful steps forward, everything began to change.

If you're sitting in that same place, you're wanting to follow God's plan, but you're unsure how to discern his will or hear his guidance clearly, you're not alone. Sometimes you just need that guidance walking through that process. That's exactly why I offer discernment coaching sessions.

In these one to one sessions, we'll prayerfully look at where you are right now and begin identifying the next step that God may be inviting you to take.

If that's something your heart has been longing for, you can learn more or book your discernment coaching session at michellebrannam.com coaching that is M I C H E L L E B R-A-N-N-A-M.com/coaching and the link is also in the episode description as well. I had finally pulled together all the pieces after researching how to find your purpose in a way that aligned with the Catholic Church and.

But then came the moment of truth. I finally found the area where God was calling me. But then I started having thoughts. What if I get this wrong?

What if this is not actually where God is leading me? And honestly, I think many of us, we experience that fear when we're discerning decisions with God. But then I realized something powerful.

God cannot guide me if I do not take the next step. So today I want to talk about that fear of choosing wrong. Because I know what it feels like to stay stuck in fear instead of moving forward with God.

Sometimes the hardest part of discernment is not necessarily the decision itself. It's the fear of making the wrong one. We can become so afraid of choosing wrong that we just stay stuck in this constant discernment phase.

We overthink, we hesitate, and we wait for that perfect clarity. And we keep wondering, what if this is not God's will? Or what if I mess this up? Because the truth is, the unknown, it can feel scary.

We don't know what is ahead. We do not know how things will turn out. And because of that, sometimes it just feels safer not to decide at all.

But eventually, not making a decision becomes a decision too. This is so key, so powerful, that I want to repeat this again. Eventually, not making decision becomes a decision too. We remain stuck.

We do not move forward. We stay exactly where we are. Because fear is just keeping us from taking that action. And I think sometimes we call it discernment.

But really underneath, it's fear of making that wrong choice. And God, he's not leaving you to figure this out alone. But we have to move forward and make a decision so that he can guide us.

God, he is a good God who wants good for you. He already sees what is ahead of you, even when you cannot. He is not bound by the time like we are God.

He already knows every possible outcome, every possible road, every possible decision that we can make. This reminds me of standing at a fork in the road. One path, it may look easier. One path may look harder.

But the truth is, we really don't know what is ahead on either road because we have never walked it before. Sometimes that road that appears easier actually becomes difficult later on. And sometimes the harder road grows us in ways that we never expected.

But when we are discerning with God, we're not walking alone, even if we make a decision. And we later realize that did not exactly go how I thought God, he's still able to guide you, redirect you, and work through that.

This is why Deuteronomy 31:8 is so comforting. It says, the Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. So God goes before you.

He's already ahead of you. Now, sometimes I think we need complete clarity before taking that action.

But many times, God, he's just simply asking us to take that next faithful step with Him. And this reminds me of the story of Esther. Esther was afraid because she knew what could happen if she approached the king.

She did not know what the outcome would be. She could have stayed frozen in fear, but instead she stepped forward in faith. And I think this is what so many of us are being invited to.

Not having every answer, not having every detail, but trusting God enough to take that next step with Him. Because if we stay stuck in fear and never move forward, we may never step into the very thing that God is calling us into.

One practical thing that you can do with when discerning a decision is just take out a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. And this would be like the worksheet when you always did in school with the pros and cons. And you're basically going to write on one side.

So one thing that I really want you to think about is what happens if I move forward? So I want you to list all those things on the left side of that paper down. And then on the other side, what happens if I stay where I am?

Spend some time with that to really reflect on what happens if I move forward and what happens if I stay right where I'm at. Because sometimes seeing it written out, it just helps us to move out of the fear and into clarity.

It brings that clarity forward in front of our eyes. It helps us to prayerfully process that decision with God instead of staying stuck in the overthinking and in the fear.

If it's on paper, we can see it, and it becomes more clear to us. So now let's take this from head to heart. This week, I want to invite you to prayerfully do this exercise with God.

So get quiet, invite him in, and sit with yourself and ask yourself, what what happens if I move forward and what happens if I stay where I'm at? Then bring what comes up into prayer with the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and to help you to move forward in peace.

And if this exercise helped you, please share Inside the Facebook Community Finding youg Purpose, Discernment and Strategy for Catholic Moms I would love to hear what came up for you during this time with God.

And if you're feeling stuck in discernment and you're wanting guidance walking through this process with God, I would love to support you inside a discernment coaching session. Together, we'll prayerfully look at where you are right now and we'll identify the next step that God may be inviting you to take.

And you can learn more@michellebrannam.com/coaching and the link is in the episode description so just to recap, here's a quick summary of what we talked about today. Fear keeps us stuck, but God calls us to move forward in faith. God is not leaving you to figure this out alone. He's walking with you.

Staying stuck in fear is still a decision. You don't need your whole future figured out right now to take that next faithful step. Just be obedient and take that step with God.

Remember, my beautiful sister in Christ that God uniquely created you for a unique purpose. You were made to do great things. God is within you and you will not fail. I look forward to continuing this journey with you.

I'll meet you next Tuesday for another conversation. Until then, may God bless you and give you peace. I hope you enjoyed today's episode.

If so, take 30 seconds to share it with a friend who's feeling unsure about her purpose and one simple faith filled steps to discern God's Will. And if you learned something today, please leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts. It lights me up to know that this show is helping you.

Okay, time to tackle that laundry and unload that dishwasher. Gotta go. I'll see you next Tuesday for another conversation.