Full Transcript for Stop Second-Guessing What You Hear From God and Move Forward With Your Art

now. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:54.400 And this is really huge. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:57.120 Fear is not discernment. 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:02.079 In fact, Paul says in 2 Timothy 1.7 that God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, but of what? 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:04.560 Of power and of love and a sound mind. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:06.319 And I love those words, right? 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:10.960 That word power there actually means that God gives you the capacity to move. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:16.479 And love keeps you rooted in relationship with Him rather than all this self-protection, right? 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:23.120 And and sound mind means sound judgment, like discipline, clear ways of thinking, right? 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:24.879 Not being pushed around by fear. 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:26.080 That's God's heart. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:32.560 So fear-driven confusion and paralysis are not at all the way the Holy Spirit works. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:34.879 It is not his goal for your life, period. 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:42.879 So just because you might feel, you know, fearful of making the wrong decision in a moment does not mean that that's the Holy Spirit warning you. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:49.120 And just because you deeply desire something right on the other side doesn't mean that God's automatically telling you to do it either. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:52.319 That's where we need the discernment of the Holy Spirit. 00:02:52.400 --> 00:03:05.599 But listen, discernment was never meant to become this exhausting sort of spiritual interrogation, introspection where you're just terrified that one wrong move is going to ruin your whole life and ruin God's plan for your life. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:11.439 And, you know, there's another part of this guy's story that really stood out to me in exactly in line with that. 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:19.360 And it was this he said, you know, Matt, along my journey, I've been taught that, you know, the Bible says that the heart is deceitful above all things. 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:21.360 So how can you trust anything that's in your heart? 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:24.800 Now, now listen, that comes right out of Jeremiah 17, 9. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:31.919 And yes, that is absolutely scripture, but Jeremiah 17 is not the end of the biblical story about your heart, right? 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:33.520 Especially in the new covenant. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:38.319 I mean, God also promised Ezekiel that I'll give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:40.479 And then Jesus came, and guess what? 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:47.120 When Jesus came in your heart, you got born again, and you got made a new creation, and the Holy Spirit came to live with inside of you. 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:54.000 And then in Romans 8, it says that those that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons and daughters of God. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:04:06.000 So, no, that doesn't mean that every thought or feeling

or desire that you have is automatically from God, but it also means that you don't have to live suspicious of everything that's happening inside of you. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:11.919 You can absolutely bring your desires and dreams and ideas and opportunities, all of that stuff, right? 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:19.040 Into relationship with the Lord and learn to recognize his voice and his leadership as you walk with him. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:26.399 You know, I love it where Jesus said in John 10, My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:28.879 Friend, that that is relationship language. 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:32.160 That's not fear-based condemnation language, right? 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:44.480 See, no matter what you've been taught or even what you've seen modeled in the past, God is not hiding behind some tiny spiritual bullseye, hoping that you don't accidentally miss it and you're gonna, he's out there ready to punish you. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:46.959 No, listen, he's your dad, he's your father. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:53.279 He he knows how to lead you, his heart is to lead you, he knows how to correct you, he knows how to redirect you. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:55.680 And yeah, sometimes we're gonna misunderstand, right? 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:58.639 The Bible says we see through a glass dimly. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:00.720 I do that all the time, right? 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:05.199 But our confidence is not ultimately in our ability to perfectly hear God. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:10.399 Our confidence is in his ability to love you and lead you faithfully. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:12.639 And listen, that changes everything. 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:15.759 Because instead of constantly asking, well, what if I get this wrong? 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:16.800 What if I screwed up? 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:20.240 You can start asking, Father, what are you showing me here? 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:21.279 Why am I feeling this? 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:23.199 Why am I seeing this from this perspective? 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:27.120 What's the next faithful step that I can take with you? 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:35.199 See, the the issue with this musician that I've been talking about today was not whether every creative desire that he ever had was automatically from God, right? 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:37.120 We we know that's not true for any of us. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:42.639 The issue that was was that fear had become louder than his relationship with the Lord. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:48.879 And listen, when fear gets louder than your relationship with Jesus, second guessing automatically takes over, right? 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:50.240 Doubt takes over. 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:54.319 And that is never God's best for any of us, especially artists. 00:05:54.639 --> 00:06:09.680 Now, listen, real quick, if this whole struggle with identity and confidence and hearing God's voice and trusting how he designed you, if that's starting to hit home for you right now, I want you to know that uh that's exactly why I created my foundations course. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:11.199 It's just 27 bucks. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:13.839 Uh, I always put a link here in these videos. 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:27.600 And it's one of the things that God's using in the lives of thousands of artists all over the world to draw them closer to him, renew their minds, heal their hearts, and prepare them to walk in every good thing that he's designed for them as kingdom creatives. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:30.480 Uh, as usual, I'll put a link right here in the description. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:31.680 You can grab it today. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:45.040 But right now, I want to keep going in this train of thought because I want to show you how to actually start walking this out based on what God's taught me in my own life and also through what his word and through experience has taught me over the years. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:53.040 And don't worry, this is not about blindly following every thought or feeling that that pops into your head and just saying, well, that must be God. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:58.800 No, in fact, it starts with what God has already made super clear. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:05.600 And it's this God will never lead you in a way that contradicts his word or his character. 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:14.720 So, you know, you we can trust if what you're feeling or sensing requires compromise or dishonesty, manipulation, bitterness, immorality, whatever it is, right? 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:15.920 You don't need another sign. 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:18.160 Pretty clear that ain't from the Lord, right? 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:21.680 But but most creative decisions aren't that obvious, right? 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:22.800 They're not that black and white. 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:25.759 They're usually things like, Lord, should I paint this or that? 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:26.959 Should I pursue music? 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:29.680 Should I pursue, you know, apply for this opportunity? 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:31.839 Should I start a business with my art? 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:39.040 And, you know, unfortunately, there's never going to be a Bible verse that says, thou shalt open an Etsy shop, right? 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:47.360 So once you're you, you know, once you know you're in the boundaries of scripture, you start moving in the bounds of relationship. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:49.279 And that kind of leads to the second thing. 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:55.920 It's it's learning the difference between the Holy Spirit's conviction and fear-based accusation. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:01.360 Now, this is really huge because the Holy Spirit is not about confusion, right? 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:04.800 In fact, his role, the Bible says, is to lead us into all truth. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:07.600 That is, you know, deeper into Jesus. 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:11.600 And so, of course, the Holy Spirit may

correct you and challenge you. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:14.480 He may tell you no, he may shut a door in your life. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:22.639 But listen, his leadership always draws you toward Jesus and gives you something that you can respond to in him. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:30.959 Fear and accusation, I've just found, tend to sound more like accusation, you know, like pointing your finger like, what if you miss God? 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:31.839 What if you do it wrong? 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:32.960 What if you ruin everything? 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:35.039 What if this desire is selfish? 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:37.759 Just kind of on, you know, auto-loop all the time. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:39.519 There's no clear invitation. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:41.679 It's just, what if you screw it up, right? 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:43.919 Accusation and anxiety. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:47.919 And so this is where knowing God's word is so important. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:54.080 You know, for example, in Romans 8, it says that there's now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:09:04.080 So when that voice that you're hearing is constantly second-guessing and accusing and condemning and driving you into fear, listen, you don't have to count that as discernment. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:09.279 You can just ask yourself, hey, based on God's word, does that sound like Jesus? 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:17.039 Is this actually the Holy Spirit leading me, or is this fear trying to keep me from moving into what God's got for me next? 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:24.080 And this is where I'd say thirdly, pay attention to what remains as you surrender those desires to the Lord. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:30.000 You know, I really don't believe that desire is something that, you know, we have to automatically distrust as believers. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:36.000 But at the same time, I don't believe that every desire that we have is a divine, thus saith the Lord word, right? 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:43.200 So desire can absolutely be one of the ways that God uses to get our attention, but it's not every way, but it's a great way, right? 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:45.519 And I mean, in Psalm 37, it says, what? 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:49.519 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he'll give you the desires of your heart. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:53.759 So we bring those desires to him excited and freely. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:10:01.919 We we hold it openly before him and we say, Father, you know, I really want this, or I'm really feeling this definite, you know, deeply in my heart. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.480 And Lord, would you just confirm if this is from you? 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:06.320 Or and if it is, grow it. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:08.799 If it's not, you know, shut the door, redirect me. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:16.320 And then in that moment of freedom, you just watch and you think, well, does that desire keep returning? 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:18.480 Does it

become clearer as I pray? 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:24.559 Does it align with how God's wired me and gifted me and lead it, you know, leading me in my life? 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:30.879 Do, you know, trusted leaders and other believers in your life kind of recognize that that God's doing this on your life? 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.039 Listen, over the years, I've kind of learned to not dismiss those patterns. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:44.480 You know, I'm actually learning more and more that God uses those desires to confirm the design that he has for our life as artists. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:46.480 And that is super exciting. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:52.080 Now, fourth, and this may be the hardest one for us chronic second guessers out there. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:58.879 Fourth is this take the next faithful step before you have absolute certainty. 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:00.399 Listen, here's the truth. 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:04.240 You and I may never get 100% certainty about anything, right? 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:06.879 I mean, that's why they call it walking by faith, right? 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:09.679 That's why the Bible says we see through a glass dimly. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:15.200 A lot of God's leadership becomes clearer as you walk with him, right? 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:20.159 I mean, I've experienced that again and again in my own life, in the studio, in business, in ministry. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:26.480 There have been tons of times where I've sensed a direction from the Lord, not totally sure about it, but I pray about it. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:28.240 I believe God was leading. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:30.879 And then I just simply had to take the next step. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:31.840 And you know what? 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:35.519 Sometimes God came in that moment and he confirmed it really clearly. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.720 Sometimes he was like, hey, you're on the right track, but let's just adjust it. 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:41.039 Sometimes he redirected me completely. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:42.639 Sometimes he just shut the door. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:44.159 Sometimes he said nothing. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:47.679 And I kept walking because there was no other clear direction. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:49.919 But listen, none of that is failure. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:51.919 That's called relationship. 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:59.519 That's called trusting God's heart for you as a father who loves you and has good plans for your life. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:05.919 Listen, this is where fear will always come and want to tell you, you know, don't move until you know for sure you're gonna miss God all this. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:08.240 You know, you're gonna screw up the whole thing. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:12.320 Listen, faith says, Father, I believe that you love me. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:13.840 I believe you're leading me. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:15.440 I'm gonna take this next step. 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:19.519 I'm gonna keep listening, I'm gonna keep watching for your spirit to lead me. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:25.840 And you just start walking confidently as a son and as a daughter who knows that his father has his back. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:28.559 Listen, that's really different from impulsiveness. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:31.039 You don't have to worry about, you know, am I running ahead of God? 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:34.159 You know, that again, that's walking by faith. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:40.399 And that's where I want to come back to in this story, this musician, because I mean, ultimately, God may lead him deeply into music. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:45.600 He may lead him into filmmaking, though, or weave both together in some way that he can't even see right now. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:46.480 I really don't know. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:48.879 And it really doesn't matter at this point, right? 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:57.120 What I do know is this he doesn't have to delete the song and be paralyzed by fear just because he can't see the whole plan. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:12:58.799 He can bring the songs to God. 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:07.600 He can keep learning, he can keep listening, he can keep taking the next faithful step, and he can trust that his father is going to lead him the whole way. 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:11.360 And listen, that's the freedom that I want for you and for me too. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:15.120 Not the freedom to do whatever you want and just, you know, slap God's name on it. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:15.600 No. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:29.440 The freedom to walk closely enough with the Father that you're no longer terrified and second-guessing every decision, but you're empowered to walk by faith because God's goal is not to make you a perfect decision maker. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:38.960 God's goal is to form you and me into the image of Christ and to teach us how to walk with him by faith is deeply loved, sons and daughters. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:43.200 And you know, this is where I always come back to, you know, something I say on the channel all the time. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:48.639 I I really believe that God cares much more that you create than what you create. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:14:16.960 And so as you create, I would just say trust the goodness of God in your life that, you know, he's given you gifts, he's given you the capacity, the talents, the desires, he's woven creativity, his creativity into your very DNA and design and with relationship with him, and inside that relationship, that there's a ton of freedom to use to put to work the things that he's put inside of you, the things that were his idea in the first place. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:35.120 You know, for a lot of people, especially those who've come out of very controlling, kind of rules-oriented, hyper-religious sort of environments, that kind of freedom, you know, it can absolutely feel kind of scary at first because you get used to kind of needing exact extra

instructions from the Lord. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:44.000 And so this kind of walking by faith thing feels almost kind of dangerous, but but trust me, that's just a part of growing up and maturing in the Lord. 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:49.440 You're learning to walk with the Holy Spirit, not just living out of this constant fear of making a wrong move. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:52.879 And friend, that is so very freeing. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.360 Hey, I want to pray for you real quick as we end. 00:14:55.519 --> 00:15:00.960 Father, I I thank you right now, Lord, for every artist, for every creative watching this video right now. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:11.919 God, I pray in Jesus' name, whatever they're dealing with, God, every place of fear, accusation, religious control, fear of missing out, fear of that's causing them to shrink back. 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:17.600 God, I command it right now to be broken over their life in Jesus' mighty name. 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:23.200 Holy Spirit, I pray right now, God, that you would remind them who they are, your sons and your daughters. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:28.799 God, I pray that you'd remind them that you live inside them, that you lead them, that you know them. 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:43.360 God, I pray, give them confidence in this moment, Lord, to start recognizing your voice and the courage to start taking the next faithful step in everything that you call them to do without fear and without second guessing. 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:52.159 Father, even dreams right now that have been buried in their heart for so many years by fear and anxiety, God, I pray right now you'd begin to uncork them. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:16:03.039 You just begin to spring them forth right now in their mind and in their heart, and they would know that you're leading them and you're drawing them into the next thing that you have for them as sons and daughters. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:05.200 God, we pray today, Lord, teach us. 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:10.639 Teach us how to walk like this so that we can walk in all the freedom and all the purpose that you have for us. 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:13.279 We thank you for that, Lord, in Jesus' name. 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:14.240 Amen. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:18.480 Listen, my friend, it really truly is an honor to walk with you every week. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:19.840 I do read every comment. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:35.200 And so I pray that you'll you'll leave a comment, you'll let me know what God's saying to you as you're watching this video, even as you're taking some time to even pause this and just ask the Lord to speak to your heart about maybe areas that fear and anxiety and second guessing have gotten a hold in you. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:40.960 Listen, He wants to, he wants to break that free, break that off of your life today so that you can walk in freedom. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:45.600 And listen, if you're if you're wanting some help in that, which everybody needs, everybody needs help in this. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:52.720 I've not I've not ever met one artist that is walking in the fullness of them of this revelation by themselves. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:55.039 I didn't until the Lord began to show me. 00:16:55.120 --> 00:17:06.960 And that's exactly why I started doing the foundations course, the Thriving Christian Artist Pathway, all the coaching that we do is to help you start walking in everything that God's got for you. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:15.039 To heal your heart, learn to hear his voice, walk confidently in your gifts and in your design, and uh experience the abundant life that Jesus has for you. 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:18.799 Again, the link to all of those resources are right here in this video. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:25.920 And you can click it and uh you can join us today inside the coaching community and start seeing uh God doing incredible work inside your life. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:26.400 All right. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:27.599 Hey, I love you, friend. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:34.240 Do all the stuff like, comment, share, turn on your notifications so you never miss any of the great content that I'm producing. 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:44.640 And I want you to stay around for this next video because if you're wanting to know more about hearing God specifically in the studio as you're creating, you're gonna love this next video. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:45.599 All right, see you there. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:45.920 Bye.